Need new Motor .. any advice?

Greetings Lads n Ladies!

 

So here is the deal. About 2 weeks back, I'm on the road back from outta town, and its like 2 in the morning and 7 degrees. As I'm driving I notice the cars speed falling off excessively, even if I attempt to give it more gas. As I finally limp to a stop, after about 30ft, I notice smoke coming out of the hood, immediately shut it down and get out the car .. FF .. AAA comes to scoop me takes car to house, I contact GWC Warranty, they say take it to one of our 'Gold' Standard repair shops .. FF ..

 

Mechanic finds that the main oil line to the turbo had deteriorated and fallen off, causing oil to be flung all over the motor, causing the turbo to fail, and starving the motor of oil. After replacing the hose and refilling the engine with oil, it runs but there is severe internal noise, and a horrid idle. ..FF.. Warranty only covers my engine, turbo, and trans .. not the hose:mad: (weasel insur comps, smh) ....

 

Anywho, I need a new motor for my 05 lgt (5EAT). The mechanic quoted me 5500.00 for a used engine/turbo/labor installed. I haven't really shopped around too much as I should. And have read tons on obtaining a sti shortblock and just rebuilding heads, but idk if thats a cheaper or better route or not worth it at all....help:spin:

 

 

 

 

 

.....tldr

Blown Motor on a 05 LGT.

Have about 5k to spend on motor since GWC wont cover repairs.

Looking for best solution for that budget.

Im sure MANY have been thru this, so just looking for some solid advice from a trustworthy source.

 

Thanks in advance

The oil feed to the turbo is a steel line, not a hose. The line should not have broke.

 

New EJ255, 257 can be had for around $1900. then a gasket set $250, rebuild the heads,$1000.

 

the rest is labor and a turbo.

 

I got a vf52 for $1300, i think.

 

 

BNRturbo sells a 16g for around $800 I think.

 

Here's my thread form last May.

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

Hmm, I wonder if I should contact Subaru about that hose, in that case? ... thanks for the quick response heh

Don't call it a hose, it's a hard steel line.

 

You should be able to see a picture of it in my thread

LOL ty Max, you are the subbie father of wisdom hahaa .. really hope subaru pulls thru on this. I cant beleive GWc is being so anal about my claim..smh. Finally got the time to fully read thru your thread, ty for spending the time to share your rebuild, tons of good info!!

You can fight the warranty company and ultimately if you are a big enough a-hole they will start to pay out, squeaky wheel etc. but their preferred shops/places they will force you to use will likely not build you a good a motor as one where you are overseeing it yourself. So I don't know which way you want to try and take that. Find yourself a really good specialist and for that money you should end up with a hell of an engine that will put a smile on your face again. I wish you the best of luck and hope we see a nice engine build thread start up soon!

 

Sigmafour is right. First, you should have taken it to your mechanic. That is allowed. You walked your car into the lion's den...their mechanic looked for any reason at all to weasel the warranty company out of the repair. These 'mechanic shops' of theirs are not there to serve you, they're there to serve the warranty company. If they won't cover the repair, contact a lawyer, contact your local better business burea and see where to proceed. Max is right, this isn't some rubber hose that deteriorates over time, it's a hard line. It's not a time replaceable part. The first thing is get your car to your mechanic and not this shop that wants to give you a used engine.

 

I just went through a very similar repair with my warranty company, although my failure was a ring land and not a supply line. An oil supply line is part of the engine lubrication system and should be covered. Keep fighting them!

Soo much great info, keep it coming! I knew I was getting raked over the coals on this ... Its funny I spoke with the mechanic today, and oh how the story changed, now its the oil return line that he found that came off. I guess this is actually a rubber hose, with 2 clamps....smh. I'm new to my area and wish I knew a specialist for subbies but have yet to find one. I will try to contact my BBB asap. What are thoughts on taking it to an actual Subaru dealer .. Oh forgot to mention, Im supposed to be moving to FL the first week of March (o work, you sure do get in the way sometime) Sooo time is def not on my side

Oil return line came off ?

 

There have been a couple of issues with them cracking, well 1 that I know of.

 

I replaced mine with the vf52 in Aug of 2011, it was hard but not cracked.

 

Your's is hard by now, it's not going to "just, come off". It's about 5" long and forced on the nipples by the turbo the is bolted to the up pipe which is hard bolted to the engine block.

 

IMO there is no way that hose is going to "come off".

 

The only way for it to "come off" is if you lift the trubo up.

Im on the same page as you, I'm not the god of motors or subbies for that matter, but I just don't see this issue occurring in a normal everyday driven car, ever. I spoke to the mechanic today, and he still has no help really to offer, Subby dealer said that itd b a waste of time to have car taken there...

 

I have found a possible motor (longblock) to replace mine tho. Heres the email from the guy. He is building a show car, and pulled the stock motor, and its been sitting since. Anyone able to look up the vin to see some kind of background on it?

 

Greg,

 

The longblock is sitting on a pallet in my garage. It could be ready to ship by the end of the week if you want it. Plumbing, turbo, gasket sets, etc not included- but you can just bolt/unbolt most of the stuff from your old engine.

 

I have the VIN from the car it came from:

2005 SUBARU LEGACY GT LTD AWD VIN: 4S3BL676456205662

I would like to see it go to a good home, as it is a good mill.

 

Opinions?

If I were in your shoes, I would be very pro-active in this. If you let the shop or the warranty company 'run the show' and stay hands-off, you won't end up getting things done the way you want. Nobody cares about your car like you do, so you'll need to be firm and pro-active.

 

The first thing I would do, IMO, is get that car out of that shop asap. It doesn't sound like this shop is concerned with getting your car fixed right, they only care about taking your money. I can bet the price they quoted will probably end up being much more. Find a good shop you can trust and get it there. The timing sucks with your move, amazing how things always happen at the wrong time! You're biggest potential problem is going to be with the warranty company once the car is properly diagnosed at your shop of choice. They can send an adjuster out to verify everything with your new mechanic, and just try hard to fight them to cover the failures.

 

Sounds like you may have a good engine candidate. Also, check nasioc forums as they seem to have a lot of short blocks and long blocks listed there. Then of course, you can always buy a short block new and have the heads re-finished (shouldn't cost too much, unless they need a rebuild). Hope things start going in the right direction, look forward to pics and hearing of the progress!

 

*Edit add on...not sure where in MI you are, just did a quick search on here and a place called Pure Tuning near Toledo, OH popped up. It had some good member reviews from the Subaru and Mitsubishi community. (not trying to push anything, or come off that way as I'm sure you'll end up getting it all done right)

The warranty company still refuses to pay, after speaking with 3 reps and 2 diff managers, I wrote to the BBB, and will be going about this all out of pocket.

 

Spoke with the mechanic again today, he finally reassembled everything, and got it "running" ... however he said its smoking terribly, there is a loud rattle in the turbo itself, and that there is a chance only the turbo was ruined.

 

I'm leery to believe anything he says at this point, lol, so gonna go with the stock long block that has been sitting on a pallet for 3 months, and going to have to source a turbo. I at some point wanted to upgrade to stage 2 .. possibly 3 further down the road, but looks like I get to start now....So couple of questions, well my ideas anyway, just want to be sure my understanding is correct.

 

This car is a DD .. auto-x about twice a month tho, and the occasional 'legal street race' .. So I figure a BNR 16g, Accessport, and full turbo gasket kit would be a start to bolt onto my new long block. Do we have a bnr vendor on lgt? ... Later I could get the 650CC fuel pump, injectors, up, dp etc?..

 

Right now my main focus is getting up and running before I have to leave to FL .. RREEAALLLY don't want to tow a motor and vehicle down heh, but figured may as well start on going stage 2

Sorry you wasted your money on a third party worthless piece of paper.

 

Good luck!

The warranty company still refuses to pay, after speaking with 3 reps and 2 diff managers, I wrote to the BBB, and will be going about this all out of pocket.

 

Spoke with the mechanic again today, he finally reassembled everything, and got it "running" ... however he said its smoking terribly, there is a loud rattle in the turbo itself, and that there is a chance only the turbo was ruined.

 

I'm leery to believe anything he says at this point, lol, so gonna go with the stock long block that has been sitting on a pallet for 3 months, and going to have to source a turbo. I at some point wanted to upgrade to stage 2 .. possibly 3 further down the road, but looks like I get to start now....So couple of questions, well my ideas anyway, just want to be sure my understanding is correct.

 

This car is a DD .. auto-x about twice a month tho, and the occasional 'legal street race' .. So I figure a BNR 16g, Accessport, and full turbo gasket kit would be a start to bolt onto my new long block. Do we have a bnr vendor on lgt? ... Later I could get the 650CC fuel pump, injectors, up, dp etc?..

 

Right now my main focus is getting up and running before I have to leave to FL .. RREEAALLLY don't want to tow a motor and vehicle down heh, but figured may as well start on going stage 2

 

Wow, sorry to hear about the warranty company. Are you able to cancel that warranty and get some type of pro-rated refund? At least you'll get some money back to help you out, it's obvious they don't want to help you out.

 

We do have a vendor here from BNR, Bryan@BNR is his member name here. This is his website http://bnrsupercars.com and he prefers you call him. It's really a great deal when you consider how expensive turbos can be, and this is a quality piece.

 

You may want to upgrade your intercooler, especially since you plan on bigger injectors...you'll get varying opinion about it, I went with a Process West top mount. It's very high quality, and it's considered the best one. It is pricey ($982), and not all the vendors have them, but you can contact Boston Motorsports for one. Great vendor to work with.

 

Along with the typical up pipe, down pipe you mentioned (I found a used STi up pipe for $60 shipped, and the CNT dp is a nice piece for a great price, but again so many options and each has their own opinion on it), tune will be important. Shamar (Infamous1) on here and infamoustuning@yahoo.com email address is the e-tune I went with. There are several threads on here about him, and all very positive. I'm still on his base tune while I break in my new short block, but already the car drives much better than stock. No stutter, very smooth, and very responsive. I'm beyond happy and can't wait to log and get the revisions.

 

Hope some of this is of help, and I'm sure you'll get some more ideas from others. Best of luck in getting her back up and running...if you end up doing all that, you'll really love the car then.

Just saw this also, oddly enough it's going to be in FL and may be of interest......http://legacygt.com/forums/showthread.php/sti-2-5-engine-available-1950-delivered-daytona-200049.html

Useless $1100 piece of paper .. exactly what it was. I asked to be refunded, however there is a no refund portion of the contract which states no refunds unless car is totaled. Ofcourse

 

Thanks for the heads up Serb! Just got off the phone with Brian, coolest guy Ive talked to in forever, hahaa. We ended up going with the BNR18g, with upgraded actuator, and a gasket kit since he had it in stock. He even cut me a deal after he heard what happened, ha! Def will be going back to him for business. Next stop, find a e-tune from infamous .. or a used Accessport that someone doesn't need:icon_twis

Wow, stepped up with an 18g! You should end up with some pretty good power there. I bought a used Accessport and used that to load my infamous tune. There is also a way to do it with a laptop and vagcom cable, I'm not familiar with it and don't have a windows laptop, so the Accessport was just simpler for me. Sorry to hear you can't get anything from the warranty company, but at least Brian helped out a bit.

 

Good luck with it, and hope to see some pics and a dyno!

Sooo finally got into my new motor project, after removing intercooler, and dp, (stupid rusted bolts) .. it seems things are not what the mechanic said....vids to follow of turbo

OOOhhhh yeh ...... Warranty/Machine shop are out their minds .. smh

 

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iIFykuEjeww]Turbo runout discovery - YouTube[/ame] ...

 

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ihy6PDuvYeo]Bad turbo is bbaad... - YouTube[/ame]...

 

 

Yup lol Thts my buddies bus hes in the midst of restoring .. ill snap a few more pics if i get to it ..... more to come!

LOL, the plot thickens! Hopefully you will be able to pull something out from the warranty by proving that it's not what 'their' mechanic said. I don't know if threatening to have a lawyer call them would work. Have them send out an inspector to take pics so you can show them what exactly is wrong with the car. Now that it's apart, they can clearly see what exactly is wrong and that is should be covered. Hopefully...

Well ... Looks like the only issue with the motor was a blown turbo. Replaced the blown turbo with the 39k one, cleaned the intercooler, intake inlet, and up of coolant/oil/grime and started it up. No odd sounds, smells or anything out of the ordinary really...went for a 20 mins drive after it warmed up, no hiccups at all.

I

I didn't get on it too much, maybe half throttle once, but car ran perfectly. There is alot if oil still in the up cat, so gonna have to replace with a nice bellmouth soon:)

 

I still dont understand what my warranty/mechanic was talking about. We have about 5 hours total into this, and its already running. My mechanic charged 5 hours labor for me to be able to take car .. sigh.

Anyway, random pic time!!!

Good luck over the next few weeks of driving, you may want to do a few quick oil changes.

Thanks max.

I think ill run a seafoam treatment thru the oil system, and put a good day of driving on her, then do a fresh oil change before my trip to FL.

 

It did smoke a lil from the engine bay, but it appears it was just coolant, ..very sweet smelling smoke, and only once the car warms completely up.

i would still be skeptical after flushing a few quick oil changes. With how that exhaust turbine looks i would be frightened im driving a ticking time bomb and that there is damage on the internals from the metal shavings, it does not take much to blow bearings or scar the crank when metal is in the oil....food for thought