09 OB XT Ringland Failure - Back to Stock or Rebuild?

The inevitable time has come to make a tough decision about my Satin White Pearl 2009 Outback XT MT. Some of you may remember my original build posts several years ago along with jasejase and his 09 Spec B. It hasn’t been my daily driver for about 5 months now and in preparation to sell the car I’ve had some back luck and suffered a ringland failure.

 

So its decision time – The #4 piston suffered a ringland failure and I noticed it when it happened. Car was driven about 10 miles after the failure and sure enough the compression in #4 was down to 45psi. All other cylinders were perfect for compression and leakdown so I pulled the motor to investigate.

 

What we found is a hairline crack in the #4 ring land. The cylinder walls are pristine minus the normal Subaru engine marks you can see on the bottom of the cylinders. The entire motor is apart and its decision time since I've got to fix the car one way or another and it only has 58k miles on it. Here are the options as I see it:

 

1) Replace all 4 pistons and rings (I know I could do 1 but I do things right rather than to save a couple bucks). Replace all the crank and rod bearings and reassemble the motor.

 

2) Purchase an EJ255/EJ257 shortblock and just throw my heads back on.

 

3) Build the motor - One would only do this if someone was buying the car and saw this as an opportunity to have a built motor for a fraction of the cost of doing it otherwise.

 

The car needs a clutch after 58k miles of which 45k of them were driven with 357whp and 370+ft/lbs. Clutch wasn't slipping but would be pretty foolish not to replace it given the wear that is present.

 

The real dilemma is whether or not to go back to stock or leave it fully Stage 3. Now is obviously this would be the time to go back to stock since the motor is out and changing injectors, turbo, intercooler, etc is much easier with the motor out. I actually have all of the stock parts EXCEPT the original factory exhaust after the downpipe. On the other hand its a 2009 5sp Outback XT that is way to much fun configured the way it is now. You always want your car to go to good home where it will be appreciated when you part ways with it so I'm torn on which is the better option. The car has recently been running 22psi of boost (up from 20) and it had more guts but I think it was just a bit too much to expect from the stock motor. If I left it Stage 3 so that a forum member could purchase the car I would put the 19.5/20psi tune back on the car just so I would feel comfortable knowing it wasn't likely to jettison another motor. So that everyone has an idea of what the car has for purposes of making this decision here is a list of Mods to the car as it sits:

 

 

Engine/Exhaust (All parts have 45k on them)

BNR 18G Turbo w/Upgraded Wastegate actuator

IP&T Filtered Oil Lines

DW 750cc top feed injectors

DW 65c High Flow Fuel Pump

Process West Intercooler

NGK Iridium One Step Colder Plugs

KsTech Cold Air Intake (Stock MAF) with sock

Grimmspeed Boost Control Solenoid

TurboSmart Kompact Blow Off Valve (lighter spring installed)

SPT 1.5 Cat Back Exhaust (modified at muffler to fit wagon)

Poly Bushings on Exhaust

CNT catted down pipe Cobb Heatshield

 

Suspension: (All parts 40k on them)

Bilstein HD at all 4 corners on imported JDM Pinks

Rear Sway Bar Upgrade

Rear Swaybar reinforcement brackets

Front and Rear Upgraded Endlinks

 

 

Brakes: (All Parts 30k on them)

Upgraded to Legacy GT Brakes

Stainless Steel Brake lines

Stoptech Brake Pads

 

 

Wheels:

 

BBS SR 18” Wheels (Summer 2014) – Nearly flawless

Michelin Super Sport Tires (End of life – Need replacement – maybe couple thousand miles left in tread)

Factory Wheels for Winter (Clear Coat Cracked – like most factory wheels)

Michelin X-ice Snow tires (Plenty of tread left for multiple seasons)

 

Other Upgrades:

Cobb V3 Accessport

AVO Short throw shift arm

Upgraded Transmission Mount

Poly Shifter Bushings

Tunes from EFI, Brenn Tuning, Tuning Alliance, & SC Tuning.

2” Class II Receiver Hitch

Extra S Tranny Fluid

Dealer Serviced (reg maintenance)

 

 

The car will definitely get sold once I've put it back together and put 500-1000 miles on it again just to make sure its solid again as I just don't drive it as much as I should since its not my DD anymore. I'm just torn about which way to go given the situation. Ideas, Suggestions, Comments are welcome!

 

If anyone knows someone who might have interest in this car have them drop me a PM. There are all kinds of options for putting this thing back together and I'm interested in the consensus amongst all of you (some of which may have gone through similar scenarios).

 

I'll post some pics of the piston in a follow up post in the morning.

With the history of the car on stock pistons, I'd put stock style back in, turn down the boost, have Mike street tune it after the break in.

 

Can you do the work yourself ?

 

Will you have Eastwoods in Somersville check the heads and do the block work ?

I can do the work myself with the help of a buddy of mine who is a Ford/Volvo mechanic. We took the car apart at his place since he had the hoist and all the oddball tools that made the job go faster.

 

There is a place locally that will be inspecting the block, surely honing it, and checking the heads etc. We will do the tedious re assembly work. I was going to order the STI pistons from crawfordperformance.com since some others in the forum have posted the link several times. Can't beat $120 shipped for stock pistons and wrist pins with zero miles on them. I'll pickup everything else from the Subaru dealer so it's a full OEM rebuild if I go that route.

 

I should probably post a gauging interest thread to verify there is interest before putting back together.

Any clutch options that are more suited to 450+crank hp that feel like stock?

Very Funny! I had very good luck with the OEM clutch and wouldn't have taken it apart to replace it at this point had the ringland not failed. Maybe just another OEM Clutch. 45k of Stage 3 power and it was still grabbing but you can see the friction material has definitely worn down. I'm sure it had another 10k in it but its apart - make it like new!

If your going to fix and sell it, I would put it back to stock unless you find a serious buyer that wants your car configured as it is and that buyer is willing to pay the price you want for the mods. Modifications are almost always worth a more separately than part of the used car sale.

Pics as the OP was having some upload troubles.

 

 

 

Overall car...

If you're selling, i'd put stock parts (pistons or new SB) back in and either put it back to stock tune or have it tuned to stage 0 levels. Sell off mods piecemeal. that'll get you the best overall return but will take more work.

I'll chime in, as I have some hours logged on this car. Both driving, and working on it.

 

It's amazingly clean. The OP is super detailed and maintenance oriented. This car was putting down the exact same numbers (a couple more actually) as my spec.b. For a wagon, it handles amazingly well due to the handling mods.

 

It would be a shame to see this go back to stock. This car without any modifications is rare enough... Add on the stage 3 plus suspension/brake/handling mods, and you have a true unicorn. Putting it back to stock is a tad time consuming, in labor, and parting it out. I know the OP, and like many of us, he's pretty damn busy with family, work, etc. But more so... he'd truly be wasting the efforts put into it to date. It would be nice for this car to stay on the lgt car scene.

 

My two cents!

OP you should keep this car.

 

Me thinks you will regret selling it.

357whp on stock pistons and that kind of boost and a stock clutch? Thats your problem right there You're a lucky man to have gotten 45k mi. out of that set up. Kiss your tuner, he did a good job. You've got a rare bird in good nick. I'd build it, (mildly: forged pistons for example, I'll let everyone else argue 4032 vs. 2618, I have my own opinions...) if you want to keep it at those power levels or just buy a stock SB from Heubergers and detune it down to 300 at the wheels. Still a fun car at those power levels.

If you are busy, I'd go with #2. Also people will feel better knowing it's a factory SB, versus one that was slapped together to sell it. That will be the opinion of some potential buyers. Not saying that you'd cut corners, just saying from a buyers perspective, Built by Subaru inspires more confidence.

 

Then turn the boost down a little, drive it a little and post it for sale.

 

Did you take any pictures of the clutch? Curious to see what it looks like.

I originally was going to keep it but I just don't drive it as much as I thought as a non Daily Driver. Its a waste to see if sit in the driveway and not get driven. I would much rather see someone else get some excitement from it than it sit in my driveway and/or parking lot at the office.

 

Car is a blast and as with all of my previous cars I will certainly miss it but I've learned keeping them doesn't work out in my case.

I would have the machine shop verify everything before being re-assembled and then I would drive it as well for a bit to make sure it was good. I don't do things half *ssed =)

 

Putting a $2000 short block in just because is a hard pill to swallow vs having it all verified and re-assembled with an already good block and all OEM parts. As JaseJase will tell you - I don't do things via shortcuts - not my style.

357whp on stock pistons and that kind of boost and a stock clutch? Thats your problem right there You're a lucky man to have gotten 45k mi. out of that set up. Kiss your tuner, he did a good job. You've got a rare bird in good nick.

 

 

Yes - its been a good car/build. I have no complaints about how the car held up over that haul. I've owned the car since 8k on the odometer so its been a good car for a long time!

And you likely baby it a tad more than some of drivers may. Just saying.

OP you should keep this car.

 

Me thinks you will regret selling it.

 

You're assuming that his replacement was something less spectacular.

UPDATE: Motor goes to the machine shop tomorrow to have the crankshaft measured, and the heads inspected. Want to make sure that its 100% if I'm going to go option 1. If it comes back outside of factory tolerances we go Option #2. Not messing around here and I'll have an update in the morning to share.

No I'm assuming 2 spectacular cars are better than 1. [emoji6]

Second one makes up for just having one. Lol

UPDATE: Motor goes to the machine shop tomorrow to have the crankshaft measured, and the heads inspected. Want to make sure that its 100% if I'm going to go option 1. If it comes back outside of factory tolerances we go Option #2. Not messing around here and I'll have an update in the morning to share.

 

 

 

Nice. Where you're going is one of the best in the area.

Just curious. Were you regularly logging or viewing live ECU parameters while in stage 3 (like FKC or FLKC)?

Can you clarify something for me? I thought with a number of miles on the engine that the factory bores are out of round and it's not possible to just hone them and throw in OEM pistons. That's one of the reasons why after-market ones can be a little larger

 

I have never built an engine though, so maybe I am not understanding something.