I just got my turbox bov, would that void my warrenty.

If the dealer can prove that the increased boost allowed by the BOV was the cause of whatever failure you have, yes, it can. If they can't, or more likely you never have an engine failure, it doesn't matter.

To make a small correction, a BOV does not increase boost. All it does is let the air escape to the atmosphere instead of being routed back through the system. While this is not optimal for the car, because it now can not accurately read the air, it still runs fine (or at least mine does.). If your car starts running like crap, which it will probably not, take off the BOV and return it to stock. As it is not that hard to do, you may want to think about returning the car to stock form whenever it goes in for dealer service and then swapping it back later. There is always the chance of a dealership being insane and refusing to work on your car because of the valve. ( It has happened, Weasel 555 had to return his car back to stock for them to check his CEL)
Anyway, put your BOV in and go crazy!!
Later,
Pete

If you need a warranty repair, put the stock BOV back in. Some dealers will let it slip by, but most won't honor the powertrain warranty with an aftermarket BOV in. Considering it takes 15 minutes to swap them, it's probably not worth the risk to leave the aftermarket in, so hang on to your stock BOV. That's what I did, anyway, after asking people at my dealership (Van Bortel).

I just read an article from Austrailia on simple mods to the exhaust system causing turbo failure and immediate warranty issues. I will try to find a link. Subaru is instructing dealers there to look for tell tale signs of tampering. I imagine these issues will fly north to us in the near future. Beware.


Mark
www.kartboy.com

Here is the text (sorry about the formatting):



WRX modifications could void warranty, says Subaru Sydney Morning Herald
Aug-13-2001
author: Toby Hagon

Subaru is calling for
enthusiastic
WRX owners to stop potentially dangerous vehicle modifications that
could
void warranties and damage engines. The Japanese importer, which sells
the
high-performance Impreza WRX, said three recent cases of turbo failure
apparently brought about by relatively simple exhaust modifications had
sparked the latest warning. According to Subaru national technical
services
manager Derek Ashby, the modified exhaust system gets too hot, causing
ceramic pieces to break off and work their way into the turbo,
ultimately
causing failure. "These companies are selling a short dream," Ashby
said.
"We're suggesting people go back to their exhaust supplier and talk to
them
about the problems some of them are having." After the latest round of
problems, Ashby is proposing a mail-out to Subaru clubs possibly
followed by
a direct mail-out to WRX owners warning of the dangers of
modifications.
"Basically we'll be recommending that you can't do any modifications,"
said
Ashby. "We're looking to put together a layman's explanation of the
dangers
and send it to (WRX owners) clubs." Ashby said that while Subaru will
give
its customers the benefit of the doubt in certain situations, the
company
would only be warranting manufacturing faults, not damage caused due to
aftermarket alterations. "We're getting quite expert at spotting (the
false
claims)," he said. He said that the problem was growing as more owners
modified new vehicles in the hope of more power and greater
individualisation. "We get frustrated with so-called experts thinking
they
know more than the factory engineers. In the end, the person that
suffers
most is the customer," Ashby said. One of the biggest modifiers of
WRXs in
Victoria is Air Power Systems, or APS. APS director Peter Luxon
sympathises
with Subaru Australia and the problems of modifications, although he
doesn't
totally agree. "There are obviously some operators who are modifying
cars
who don't really know or understand what they're doing," Luxon said.
"The
problem for the reputable companies like us - who sell a complete
engineered
package - is that we all get tarred with the same brush." Subaru WRXs
have
been a popular choice for modifications as owners look for cheap ways
to
boost performance relatively easily. The latest model, which is
slightly
slower than its predecessor, has also seen many owners trying to boost
performance. But Ashby said many of the modifications can affect the
longevity of other components as well as reliability. "No one really
knows
what effect the modifications will have," he said. "The more cars
become
controlled by computers, the more potential there is for something to
go
wrong." Ashby also queried how some of the aftermarket operators can
claim
compliance to the Australian Design Rules. But Subaru doesn't want to
look
like a party-pooper, and recognises the demand for personalisation.
"We
recognise people's desire to individualise their cars and hopefully
down the
track we can offer something," Ashby said. "But if we did it, it would
have
the full backing of (Subaru Japan)."

Ceramic pieces working their way into the turbo?? This would have to come from a pre-turbo exhaust mod like up-pipe or headers, not turbo back exhaust mods. Sounds like poor craftsmanship and research of a ceramic coated header or up pipe that would cause this. Hopefully this wont cause Subaru to believe ALL exhaust mods could cause this. That would just be plain ignorant. I would love to see ceramic pieces that flow upstream through exhaust gas exploding out of an engine.:lol:

Thanks guys, I guess i'll put the stock bov on before i get my oil change over at subaru... Just to be safe. Ed

I would be real curious to hear the reason a dealership could come up with on how a BOV would void ANY kind of warranty.

It gives no performance gains, it actually helps the turbo by preventing compressor surge.

Chris

They probably won't even try, they'll just hand you a bill.

Actually, I think it was discussed in this very forum, someone DID make a modification to their BOV to vent to the atmosphere, and it caused him a fair bit of problems.

Here is the thread: <a href="http://www.i-club.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=79123">Help me!! My car is near death</a> - I don't know the specifics of how a BOV works, to know if the problems he is having are due to it or not, but it sounds like it from the comments there.

Yeah, it was myko011 and here's some of the codes he's reported:
http://www.i-club.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=79359