Rod bearing failure?

I own a stock 2006 Legacy GT with 123k on it. Was driving it last week and noticed a ticking sound coming from the engine so I parked it and had it towed to the shop. The engine light never came on but the ticking was definitely noticeable.

 

The shop called today and stated it was rod bearing failure and is going to cost around 9k for a new motor. They said it wasn't worth fixing but said someone else had seen the car sitting there and wanted to make an offer on it.

 

Another shop quoted me $500 to tear down and diagnose. My head is just spinning right now. It is a beautiful car, only put 8k miles on it since the purchase 13 months ago.

 

What would you guys do in this situation? Take it to another shop and get a second opinion? Tear down the motor and diagnose? Sell it? Any advice will be appreciated.

Run from the first shop.

Anytime they say “engine is toast, gonna cost $$$$, and oh by the way someone would like to make an offer on your worthless car”, never return. 9/10 times they just want the car.

 

I would get another opinion or tear down if you have the tools and time.

Where are ya located?

Located in Ct. Definitely don't have the tools or know how for the tear down so would have to find a shop. This place even offered to have me test drive a different vehicle when I go in Monday. Just doesn't sit right with me.

 

Edit: Also the ticking seemed loudest at idle and seemed to smooth out around 2500 rpm. Also after the car sat for a few days it didn't make the noise after driven for about a mile. Not sure if ticking caused by a rod bearing would come and go? Also at what point would someone expect the engine light to come on when a rod bearing fails?

Edited November 7, 2020 by ohno06gt
Adding information.

if you were able to drop the oil pan and inspect for contamination that would give you an idea of whats wrong and to be even more thorough, remove the oil pickup and oil baffle as well and you could see for sure if its rod bearing failure, you take a stick and push the rod, if it moves, its toast... or what normal people do is drain the oil in the pan and look for particulates or shavings.

 

You might just need a valve job, which is expensive as well on this car, but not 9k expensive....

 

I'm in NY, but I know Max Capacity is in CT, if he is in your area, I would ask him what mechanic he uses! I wouldn't trust that mechanic at all! Like Infosecdad said, RUN!

 

Max's thread

https://legacygt.com/forums/showthread.php/got-some-new-stuff-engine-r-r-184106.html

When you #ynansb , cheapest and most efficeint route is to buy a new short block from a subaru dealership costs like 1800 shipped, then you get your heads rebuilt for usually around 300-400 each. You purchase a subaru oem gasket kit, another 225. A timing belt kit, 200-300, a new oil pump 150, and oil cooler 250.

 

So if #ynansb, you need a new short block, then 1800+700+225+250+150+250=3375 in parts alone! If you do the work yourself, you learn a lot about your car and anything after that is childs play. It is not easy if you have no automotive experience. Or if you want you can pay someone else to do this for you for like what 2 days work tops (for someone who knows what they are doing), 16 hrs, @ like 125 an hr for labor, which is 1k a day, so maybe 2-3k in labor, + another 1k for the WTF situations .

 

Or you could by a rebuilt longblock, for maybe around the same price, not sure how much, maybe 4k? But you still need the accessories, timing kit, oil cooler, maybe oilpump, etc. Use google. Cause then your labor costs would go down a bit if they just have to swap the long blocks, as opposed to assembling the long block and then installing.

 

Everything depends on your budget and your testicle fortitude really!

Edited November 7, 2020 by Tehnation

Just saying, 9K is definitely a lot of money for a stock rebuild on an engine like this. Are we not including the cost of a turbo in there? At 123K, if it hasn't been done, and it was contaminated with rod bearing material, that might bring the price up to 9K for sure. My engine rebuild that I just had done totaled about $6700 all in, and that's with my dealership employee discount being able to buy parts at cost. My turbo was fine and dandy with only 30K on it, so I had no worries there.

 

I know it's probably not what you want to hear, but I think it would be best to cut your losses and move on from this car. Turbocharged Subarus are not for the faint of heart, even stock ones in good shape like yours. If turning a wrench on any part of the car bothers you, this isn't the car for you as they aren't particularly reliable cars. I'm not much of a wrench myself but I've saved a few bucks on troubleshooting sensors, replacing sway bar endlinks and other easy stuff like that.

 

Best of luck. Byron can probably offer some help as he's in Connecticut and might be able to get you help you need. His profile picture is of an old Honda Civic at a drag strip, username Max Capacity.

Turbo!!! forgot, but we toss that in the WTF situation lol. So maybe another 400-500 on top of all that to have your turbo rebuilt, which is usually cheaper than buying a new one. I think 6-7k is around the standard range for having a reputable shop do it like Pleides stated. That's usually the number I see, 9k seems a bit high, but that would depend on where you are in CT.

 

Heres a little more on rod bearing failure from flatirons, they probably explain the why's better, like why do you need this and that.

 

https://www.flatironstuning.com/blog/what-do-you-need-to-know-if-you-have-had-a-bearing-failure

I'd figure out the problem first though. Could just be a valve, which is a hell of a lot cheaper to fix! Which is probably why the place wanted to buy it off you, tell you its a bigger issue, buy it then fix it for cheap. Or they could be right and are just speeding things up for you lol!

Located in Ct. Definitely don't have the tools or know how for the tear down so would have to find a shop. This place even offered to have me test drive a different vehicle when I go in Monday. Just doesn't sit right with me.

 

Edit: Also the ticking seemed loudest at idle and seemed to smooth out around 2500 rpm. Also after the car sat for a few days it didn't make the noise after driven for about a mile. Not sure if ticking caused by a rod bearing would come and go? Also at what point would someone expect the engine light to come on when a rod bearing fails?

 

Which town in CT ? click on the "click here" link in my sig to see how to do it right the first time, if you need to a new short block. If your in the north central area I know the shops you need. They are in Somersville CT.

 

The low oil pressure light will come on when oil pressure is down around 2psi.

 

You need to check the oil level and see what the oil looks like.

Edited November 7, 2020 by Max Capacity

I'm located in Torrington. So far no oil or check engine light has came on, the oil was changed about 100 miles before the ticking started. Car is currently still in the shop so won't be able to pick it up until Monday.

 

Shop said there was metal flakes in the oil but I personally never saw it. A friend of mine said the ticking sounded like valves/lifters before it went to the shop but I have no idea.

 

Thanks for the help everyone. I'm getting a feeling this shop wants the car.

Look around Torrington, there should be a repair shop with a lot of older Subaru's sitting outside, talk with those guys.

 

I did a google search, https://www.google.com/search?q=older+subaru+repair+shop+in+Torrington+CT&rlz=1C1OKWM_enUS906US906&oq=older+subaru+repair+shop+in+Torrington+CT&aqs=chrome..69i57j33i22i29i30.18960j0j15&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8

 

Did you talk to one of these local repair shops, Gary's or Bahr's ?

 

There may be other places in neighboring towns, its not like there aren't a ton of older Subaru's in that area.

Edited November 7, 2020 by Max Capacity

Yea I'm pretty sure that's the shop I brought the car to, I can send the name in PM if you want. They are trying to make me a deal for a 2008 Forester.

 

There is a high performance shop on the edge of town that builds monsters. I was thinking about going in there and trying to get an opinion from those guys.

 

Reading through that build is really impressive, way above my knowledge or skill set though.

Yeah, these cars are great if you have the mechanical talent to do some of the work yourself. They do fall into the "pay to play" category.

 

Look around and talk to the different shops.

 

Good Luck

is this a turbo forester? Are they trying to take your turbo car and give you a NA car??

Get AAA plus, 4 or 5 tows 100 miles a year for like 100 bucks a year. Owning this car thats one of the best investments yet. 100 miles will get you a LOOOONG way!

CT isn't that big. bring your car home, call Max's shop and see what they charge to work on your car. Get AAA and tow it there (google says 47 miles).

 

Any shop that says we have a buyer and here's an equally aged car for a replacement is scamming you both ways. 9k gets you into the low end of a performance rebuild. That 9k is an estimate so expect it to become 11k.

Yea the forester is NA, haven't taken a look at it but he was talking it up. Is rod bearing failure something that would come and go? The noise would be worse at times but other times I couldn't hear it.

Honestly, I doubt it’s a rod bearing failure.

I would discard anything the first place told you, and work with others.

 

I actually watched that video last night, the car doesn't really sound like that. There is no heavy clunking or knocking, sounds more like a tick that seems to come and go.

i'd find a new shop

Thanks for the input everyone. I picked the car up but still not sure what's going on with it. The wife and I are thinking we're going to sell it and get something a bit more reliable for the family. With winter closing in we need 2 vehicles on the road.

 

Breaks my heart but going to get some pictures and video together and see what we can get for it.

Putting her up for sale. Tried posting in the car sales section here but wasn't allowed. Anyone know why?

Because you need to have a certain amount of posts and community involvement before selling anything. I am not sure why people buy cars and then ditch them at the first sign of an issue.

 

GET THE CAR DIAGNOSED! Shouldn't be more than $100 at a reputable shop.

Then you can sell the car if you so choose, but you will be able to let the new buyer know what is wrong. Might even cost less to fix than you realize.

I bought my spec B for pennies on the dollar, previous owner thought the engine was gone as well. Now she has over 500hp on the same 185k mile engine... GL

Edited November 27, 2020 by Marvick08GT