engine rattle at 2500-ish rpm... thoughts?

Damn man, that really sucks. It sucks no matter what, but at that mileage, it brutally sucks!!!!

 

I wonder if you talk to Subaru if they would help you out in any way?

Oh man. So sorry to hear that.

 

Hope you get it sorted out as painlessly as possible.

I wonder if you talk to Subaru if they would help you out in any way?

I got the verdict on Tuesday, called first thing Wednesday morning. They are helping, but I am still out a bunch of $ to keep driving a car I maintain religiously. From what I have read with respect to the class action suit on the WRX/STi, it also comes with an 8 year/80k mile warranty - if that goes through, I will be pushing hard for that, The class action suit apparently from the site below (and lots of others)

https://www.carcomplaints.com/news/2018/subaru-impreza-wrx-engine-lawsuit.shtml

 

Subaru has also agreed to reimburse affected customers for 100 percent of out-of-pocket expenses they incurred for parts and labor paid to dealers for repairs performed during the extended warranty period. The same is true for independent repair shops as long as the car was first presented to a Subaru dealership.

 

However, there are caps for repairs during an extended warranty if performed at an independent repair shop:

 

Shortblock replacement with no additional component replacements - $3,500

Shortblock replacement with turbocharger replacement or turbocharger rebuild - $4,500

Shortblock replacement with cylinder head and camshaft replacement (No turbocharger replacement or rebuild) - $5,500

Shortblock replacement with cylinder head, camshaft and turbocharger replacement or turbocharger rebuild - $6,500

Regardless of the lawsuit a an engine block or complete replacement should have a 3yr/36k mile warranty from date of repair. Not much consolation, but it is covered.

 

You purchased used correct?

 

I wonder if the PO put this car through the ringer, or used low grade/quality fuel in it.

You purchased used correct?

 

I wonder if the PO put this car through the ringer, or used low grade/quality fuel in it.

Nope - ordered it up after my 02 WRX was hit and totalled. Had 6 miles on it when I drove it off the lot (3 of those from my test drive) - changed oil every 2500-3500 miles, always used synthetic, always used a Subaru filter, always top-tier premium fuel. Never tracked it, never autocrossed it, just drive it to and from work, and the occasional trip out of the city. There has been absolutely no abuse/neglect to this engine.

Nope - ordered it up after my 02 WRX was hit and totalled. Had 6 miles on it when I drove it off the lot (3 of those from my test drive) - changed oil every 2500-3500 miles, always used synthetic, always used a Subaru filter, always top-tier premium fuel. Never tracked it, never autocrossed it, just drive it to and from work, and the occasional trip out of the city. There has been absolutely no abuse/neglect to this engine.

 

Then I am thinking of one of the other members here. That stinks fore sure then. I am not big into blaming oil, but what oil do you use? It almost definitely has to be a combination of things.

I ran Castrol 0W30 synthetic for 9 changes, then switched to Castrol 0W40 synthetic for the more recent 9 changes.

I ran Castrol 0W30 synthetic for 9 changes, then switched to Castrol 0W40 synthetic for the more recent 9 changes.

Exactly the oil some of us run now with no issues. I suppose you will learn more on teardown. Do you know which piston was affected yet? If it was #4 then I would think it is an obvious relation to the wrx/sti issue.

 

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That sucks about the bearing failing with so little miles, what is your plan for your car?

New shortblock gets here on Tuesday, should have the car back a week after that. Subaru is helping, and dealership is also helping with cost to get things down to a more reasonable level. Doubt they will tear down the current block (Subaru might, but not the dealership)

Exactly the oil some of us run now with no issues.

I know - it's a pretty popular one. I have been poking around and it sounds like there are a number of claims that there are bad/defective/out of spec bearings, etc. in some engines, making failure almost inevitable in such cases... I dunno - there really doesn't seem to be anything I could have done differently. I think it happened when driving to work - I had the brake light flash and the CEL flash, indicating a misfire - I pulled over (this was en route to work in the morning) shut it down, started it up, and everything was fine. The weird thing about the flashing was that the engine didn't feel like it was misfiring, even though the flashing continued... when I got home, there were misfire codes for 2 cylinders. The codes never came back. But it was that week I noticed the rattling sound. Even with the rattling, other than the noise, the car felt normal - I didn't really push it or anything because it was making a noise, but it didn't feel sluggish or anything like that.

Also - reached out to the legal firm dealing with the current class action suit. Apparently, a tentative agreement has been reached, but nothing is going to happen until there is an initial "fairness" hearing on June 5th (in the united states district court for the district of new jersey, camden division, if anyone wants to go) - they said at the time, the court will consider the proposed settlement, along with any objections. Sometime after that, the court will decide if they want to approve the settlement, or I guess if the fighting will continue. So I would bet the earliest anything happens with that is late summer, and as I mentioned - it doesn't include the Legacy 2.5GT or the Forester XT, both of which have the same engine for 2012.

 

I just want my car back on the road. I am fortunate in that the dealership has given me a loaner (a 19 Legacy Sport) which is a godsend as my LGT is my daily driver (as it is for many of us)

I honestly think it goes more along the lines of a ringland failure than a bearing failure, at least by initial sounds of the bits in the oil pan, or maybe a bit of both. An out of spec bearing clearance should have manifested much earlier, at least that is how it seems to me. 58k miles is a lot of revolutions on an out of spec rod bearing.

 

You may be better off after break-in getting a custom conservative tune rather than relying on the stock (lean) tune. Just some food for thought.

Edited March 17, 2019 by FLlegacy

It's going to be weird having to do break-in again, that's for sure...

 

So would a failed ring land result in a spun bearing? The chunks in the oil pan were all a coppery-yellow sort of color, so bearing material. When I drained the oil, I had convinced myself there might have been a little sparkly stuff at the bottom, but the oil itself definitely wasn't full of metal... I figured a failed ring land would result in poor compression and maybe misfires... I don't know. I'll ask if they can see what the failure was - I am thinking of asking them to do a few other things, one being taking a look at the throwout bearing, and maybe just replacing it (I get an occasional squeak when getting into gear which I assume is the bearing) - clutch should be fine.

 

I am just at a loss to explain what happened.

Good to hear its getting sorted, and the dealer is helping out.

 

Detonation causing violent downward push and abnormally stressing the bearings is a theory some have proposed for spun bearings in Subarus? I'm curious which cylinders gave you the misfire codes and if they correspond to the cylinders that spun bearings?

Also, if a piece of the piston gets between the head and piston the bearing is going to get pretty beat up at tdc.

 

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Interesting with the settlement - they define which vehicles are included, and which are not - it states:

“Settlement Class Vehicle” and “Vehicles” means model year 2012 through 2017 Subaru Impreza WRX and STi vehicles equipped with an EJ-series 2.5-liter turbocharged engine, manufactured between October 11, 2011, and November 16, 2016, and bearing vehicle identification numbers (VIN) ending with CG203168 and up for 5-door models, and CG006225 through H9826807 for 4- door models.

 

Excluded from this class action settlement are model year(s): 2012–2017 Impreza 2.0i, 2.0i Premium, 2.0i Limited, 2.0i Sport Premium, and 2.0i Sport Limited; 2011–2017 Forester 2.5i, 2.5i Premium, 2.5X, 2.5X Premium, 2.0XT Premium, and 2.0XT Touring; 2012–2017 Legacy 2.5i, 2.5i Premium, 2.5i Sport, 2.5i Limited, 3.6R, and 3.6R Limited; 2012–2017 Outback 2.5i, 2.5i Premium, 2.5i Limited 3.6R, and 3.6R Limited; 2013–2017 Crosstrek 2.0i Premium, 2.0i Limited, 2.0i Hybrid, and 2.0i Hybrid Touring, all BRZ models, and all Tribeca models.

 

What's interesting is that neither the Forester XT with the EJ25 nor the Legacy 2.5GT are included in the list of "excluded" vehicles, but literally every other trim level is. Seems intentional... I don't know - I am guessing as a Legacy 2.5GT owner, I am SOL, but I'm definitely submitting my paperwork to Subaru anyway - it's the same engine! Worst that happens is they say no, then I can fight back against that - hopefully, the settlement is approved and I get refunded, though.

 

The date range is weird. I didn't think they changed anything of note for the EJ255/EJ257 going from 2011 to 2012...

DrD123 sorry to hear about the bearing! Turns out mine ate a bearing as well but I’m at 89k miles. Subaru is helping out towards the short block replacement because I was able to show them service records since it was new. Dealer says there is a chance the metal contaminated oil made it to the turbo and heads. They won’t know if they are damaged until it’s all apart.

 

If it just needs the short block then it will get fixed and life will go on. If it needs head and a turbo then I’m gonna lose my mind...

I figured - I listened to the video you posted and mine sounded pretty similar. When I dumped the oil, it certainly wasn't full of glitter or anything like that, but when they sent me pictures of the oil pan, there were definitely a bunch of chunks in there. It gets really, really expensive if the heads and turbo need replaced. I have a database of what's been done since new, as well - they also asked for receipts, and I did the best I could - I always use a Subaru filter bought from one of the local dealerships so asked if they could check for anything I was missing from them (since they always take down your info on purchases, and the receipts have all my info on them) - for the class action thing, it looks like they are looking for oil change intervals greater than 8k miles, of which I have none (all of mine are 2500-3500 miles). Edited March 18, 2019 by DrD123

Brought it home today. New short block and oil pump. Also had them install a '13+ front swaybar I had in the garage, and replace the throwout bearing since it squeaks every now and then. They also replaced the front airbag (not a scratch - they did a nice job). Dealer was extremely helpful - I can't say enough positive things about them. A quick inspection of the engine and everything is right where it should be (clips and fasteners, etc.) They provided me a loaner since day one, and helped me work to get the price down to something more manageable.

 

Certainly sucks to have this happen on a car I have meticulously maintained since driving it off the lot brand new in 2011, but it's back now! (and no more ticking )

I have a 2012 LGT with 130k miles. Been noticing a similar vibration/rattle sound around 2500-3000 RPM but only when the car is decelerating. It’s last as long as it’s in that RPM range. What was the end verdict of this repair, and rough cost? I need to do my belt and pullys soon anyway and I’d like to fix this too if it’s the same thing.. thanks!

If it only happens during deceleration, and not when revving the engine while sitting still, it's likely your center differential (which is cheaper than a short block+oil pump+gasket kit+labor to repair)

If you need a short block, the block is $2250, oil pump is $200, gasket and seal kit is $350, and then there is ALOT of labor - engine has to be pulled, and everything removed, inspected, and reinstalled on the new block (heads and turbo take a lot of attention to make sure they are ok). It is not an inexpensive repair.

 

It does give you an opportunity to address wear items like the clutch or timing belt and related parts with no additional labor, as well as, say, add a bigger front swaybar (since doing that install really requires that the engine be lifted up)

turned in the paperwork for the engine bearings class action suit... when they define the class, they state which vehicles aren't included, and list every single model and trim level except for the LGT and the FXT which obviously both have the EJ25 in them... crossing my fingers that they take care of it.

^good luck, hope they do the right thing and include our cars in that.