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Old 12-06-2012, 09:54 AM   #1
db97
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Default went for an oil change, and distress ensued...

Took my 09 WRX to the dealership Monday for an oil change. I supplied them with the Mobil 1 Syn oil. They do the service, and I pick it up later that evening after they close (wife paid for the service and got the keys from them during the day). I drive it 12 miles home. The next day, I drive our minivan, and the WRX isn't driven. Yesterday, I drive the WRX to work, out to lunch, and then back home. On the way home, white smoke starts to come out of the engine and around the air scoop. I call up the dealer stating i'm seeing smoke coming out of my engine, and tell them i'm headed over there (this is around 5pm). While on the phone, the engine becomes very rough, then lethargic, then rough again...makes strange noises, and then basically explodes (I hear a loud banging noise), and the car dies...in the middle of the street. I restart it momentarily to get it over to the curb, but then dies again. AAA takes 5 hours to come, and then finally tows my car back to the dealership at 10pm. While there, I fill out the dropbox paperwork stating what happened, and then checked out the dipstick. It appears to be completely dry! I take pics using my camera phone, and video as well. I drive back to the dealership this morning, and talk to the service guy...he is apologetic, and acknowledges that there indeed is no oil on the dipstick. His exact words were, "Yeah...there's not a drop of oil on this dipstick" - ya think!!! Anyway, he says he needs to push the car back to the lift and find out what happened. Fast forward two hours. They call me back and tell me that the oil filter has a blown seal and oil leaked out?? He said there was oil in the engine, and that it was down 2 qts (so basically about 2.something quarts of oil remained). My question is this...I can already see them saying, "Ohh, we'll just put more oil in it and you'll be fine...blah blah blah" ...b/c I heard this loud bang...is my engine toast?
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Last edited by db97; 12-11-2012 at 08:36 PM.
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Old 12-06-2012, 10:09 AM   #2
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Well the upside is that a dealer did the service and they supplied the oem filter. Your 5yr 60k powertrain should still be intact, they probably will take care of you and I would focus your attention to the service manager and subaru of America at this time.
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Old 12-06-2012, 10:11 AM   #3
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This sounds like BS from the dealer. I would guess that it was down more than 2 quarts. It's hard to say what the extent of the damage is, but one thing for sure is that putting the right amount of oil in is not going to fix this.
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Old 12-06-2012, 10:47 AM   #4
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Was there no oil pressure warning light?

It's very hard to imagine a scenario where you lose your oil, you get loud banging noises from the engine, it dies, but no damage is done. I hope they give you a new engine.
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Old 12-06-2012, 11:06 AM   #5
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Subscribed to see how this turns out, local to you and was about to start using them instead of Neil Huffman since it is closer.
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Old 12-06-2012, 11:21 AM   #6
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^^^^^^^If you EVER see the oil light while your engine is running..............it is OVER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
At the 2.2 psi it takes for the light to come on......bearings will suffer if not fail completely.
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Old 12-06-2012, 12:08 PM   #7
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Default still waiting to hear back from them...

service guy Neal says they "have it up on the lift, took pictures of the blown seal, and may try to restart it" ????

i know from past experience (bought a 02 WRX from them), that they always throw up a big stink about having to pay for anything...even warranty work. all i know is they're saying the filter seal failed and that was the cause of the oil leak. labor and parts are covered under any service work...so if the filter failed, SOA is on the hook. i'm not sure what's taking so long right now...since i told them about the loud bang, i imagine they're gonna have to open up the engine to poke around. my car doesn't have an oil pressure gauge?? i see the engine temp gauge...is there an oil pressure light? when this all happened, the check engine light started to flash, and then came on. i don't recall seeing any other light. also, the service guy told me that there is a variable valve timing thing on the engine that if it senses low oil pressure, it shuts the engine down?? not sure if that makes any sense?? what i'm most afraid of was the loud bang noise. it sounded like a mini explosion??? i've taken my subies to them since 2002...never had any service issues like this whatsoever...neal did tell me they are a good dealer, and that they felt awful, and would make it right??? their definition of right and mine is probably two different things. ughhhhh!

Last edited by db97; 12-11-2012 at 08:38 PM.
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Old 12-06-2012, 12:13 PM   #8
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Default as for Neil Huffman...

when i had my 2002 WRX, i bought the accessory gauge pod thing...and had them install it. those idiots ended up messing up the wiring somehow, and caused the interior dash dimmer switch to not work anymore...then said it wasn't them that broke it??? that's why i never have gone back to huffman for anything...my kingdom for a competent subaru dealership!!!
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Old 12-06-2012, 12:40 PM   #9
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Quote:
Originally Posted by db97 View Post
On the way home, white smoke starts to come out of the engine and around the air scoop. I call up the dealer stating i'm seeing smoke coming out of my engine, and tell them i'm headed over there (this is around 5pm). While on the phone, the engine becomes very rough, then lethargic, then rough again...makes strange noises, and then basically explodes (I hear a loud banging noise), and the car dies...in the middle of the street.
No offense intended, but don't you think you should have shut the engine off, called the dealer, and had the car towed back?
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Old 12-06-2012, 12:53 PM   #10
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just got off the phone with the neal the service guy. he tells me that subaru engines have a failsafe system whereby if the engine oil pressure gets low, then the engine shuts itself off (something to do with the variable valve timing??). his service mgr sherry is talking to subaru engineers to confirm this. he goes on to say that the loud bang i heard was that vvt thing shutting down (??? ...not sure i believe that, but that's what he said). additionally, they put more oil back in the car and have driven it 20-30 miles...and it is running w/o issue. i asked them about what's gonna happen when say in a month or so, the engine breaks or something goes awry...he said 2 things...1) the failed SOA filter is fully documented, and SOA stands behind anything that could potentially go wrong in the future?? and 2) i still have the 5 yr/60k powertrain warranty...i'm at 48k right now. once they confirm the failsafe system did indeed save the engine, they would then release it back to me. now i don't know about all of this, but i guess i really have no choice...once i get it back and start driving again (if i feel anything out of the ordinary then back to the dealer i go)...i guess i better drive it harder from now to 60k miles??? this chain of events has been disheartening to say the least. i've never heard of an oil filter seal blowing???

Last edited by db97; 12-11-2012 at 08:39 PM.
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Old 12-06-2012, 12:53 PM   #11
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VVT isnt gonna cause the engine to shut down.............maybe if the tbelt jumped several teeth......maybe. All that mumbo jumbo about VVT maybe being the cause is absolute BS!!
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Old 12-06-2012, 12:55 PM   #12
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No offense intended, but don't you think you should have shut the engine off, called the dealer, and had the car towed back?
i was about to...from the time the smoke started becoming more pronounced...until when the engine ceased to run was about 5 seconds...and i was on the phone with the dealer while this was happening. the guy said, "oh, that smoke is probably some oil spilled on the manifold that is burning...it should be okay"...then BAM...car dies.
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Old 12-06-2012, 12:56 PM   #13
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Id be tempted to drive the piss out of it.......hopefully run it low on oil enough to burn a couple of bearing up......top it off and call em for a tow. If they wanna play hardball and give you a compromised engine that has been starved for oil.........then they deserve to buy a new engine.
Period.
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Old 12-06-2012, 12:57 PM   #14
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Quote:
Originally Posted by db97 View Post
i was about to...from the time the smoke started becoming more pronounced...until when the engine ceased to run was about 5 seconds...and i was on the phone with the dealer while this was happening. the guy said, "oh, that smoke is probably some oil spilled on the manifold that is burning...it should be okay"...then BAM...car dies.
plus the check engine light didn't come on until the engine shut off. that's why i didn't feel like it was super urgent to react b/c i have had oil spilled on a manifold and make smoke like that...in a previous car (honda).
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Old 12-06-2012, 01:03 PM   #15
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Originally Posted by Paidfor View Post
Id be tempted to drive the piss out of it.......hopefully run it low on oil enough to burn a couple of bearing up......top it off and call em for a tow. If they wanna play hardball and give you a compromised engine that has been starved for oil.........then they deserve to buy a new engine.
Period.
i've thought about the new engine thing...i called my insurance to file a potential claim against the dealer. she said if dealer ends up having to replace your engine, then they would most likely put a used/junk motor in it????? ...which is worse than what just happened to it (imo). she also said the insurance company would do the same (put a motor that is comparable to pre loss state)...since it wasn't brand new?? apparently in KY, a car dealer isn't obligated to put a new motor in a car that they destroyed or was responsible for?????? she said had i lived in IN (which is right across the river), than the consumer has that option...FREAKIN KY and their backward legislators!!!

Last edited by db97; 12-11-2012 at 08:40 PM.
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Old 12-06-2012, 01:11 PM   #16
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I think it would be really smart to call Subaru in this and get it all documented with them.
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Old 12-06-2012, 01:27 PM   #17
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time to sell or trade and get a new car, why take the risk really
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Old 12-06-2012, 01:40 PM   #18
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Originally Posted by aeoporta View Post
time to sell or trade and get a new car, why take the risk really
that is something i haven't even thought about...i could probably get decent trade in value (20k) for a new WRX.
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Old 12-06-2012, 02:57 PM   #19
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Originally Posted by aeoporta View Post
time to sell or trade and get a new car, why take the risk really
Sucks for the person that ends up buying a used car with a bad engine but if they don't replace the engine I wouldn't want to keep the car.
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Old 12-06-2012, 03:19 PM   #20
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So you started a thread before even getting the first update from the service department dragging this dealership through the mud and titling your thread "Bachman Subaru killed my engine" for all of NASIOC to read. GOTTA LOVE IT!

Quote:
Originally Posted by db97 View Post
just got off the phone with the neal the service guy. he tells me that subaru engines have a failsafe system whereby if the engine oil pressure gets low, then the engine shuts itself off (something to do with the variable valve timing??). his service mgr sherry is talking to subaru engineers to confirm this. he goes on to say that the loud bang i heard was that vvt thing shutting down (??? ...not sure i believe that, but that's what he said). additionally, they put more oil back in the car and have driven it 20-30 miles...and it is running w/o issue.
If the engine is running fine it is not blown. If anything, I would demand leakdown and compression test results and go from there. If you have lost faith with the dealership then take it some where else and have the tests performed. If there is still wind in the hole then you're good to go.

Quote:
Originally Posted by Paidfor View Post
Id be tempted to drive the piss out of it.......hopefully run it low on oil enough to burn a couple of bearing up......top it off and call em for a tow. If they wanna play hardball and give you a compromised engine that has been starved for oil.........then they deserve to buy a new engine.
Period.
Paidfor are you a trained subaru tech? I'm just wondering what makes you more qualified to tell the OP what has happend to his engine and what the dealership needs to do to make things right? Why do they need to replace his engine if the oil pressure light never came on and the dealership says it was only down a couple quarts? Did they PM you his compression and leakdown test results before calling the customer? Can you define your use of "compromise"? As in what components have the excessive wear and how are you coming to your conclusion? Did you hear the same noise the OP is stating to have heard prior to the car turning off? If it was not the AVCS (which I'm sure runs off of oil pressure which sounds like took a sudden drop) then what, in your expert opinon, was the noise?
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Old 12-06-2012, 04:02 PM   #21
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Steve.804 View Post

Paidfor are you a trained subaru tech? I'm just wondering what makes you more qualified to tell the OP what has happend to his engine and what the dealership needs to do to make things right? Why do they need to replace his engine if the oil pressure light never came on and the dealership says it was only down a couple quarts? Did they PM you his compression and leakdown test results before calling the customer? Can you define your use of "compromise"? As in what components have the excessive wear and how are you coming to your conclusion? Did you hear the same noise the OP is stating to have heard prior to the car turning off? If it was not the AVCS (which I'm sure runs off of oil pressure which sounds like took a sudden drop) then what, in your expert opinon, was the noise?
I agree with Paidfor ...if subaru takes my money to change my oil somehow fails at this simple task and my car dies due to lack of oil 2 days later i would want a new engine or at least them have to pay to test everything that needs to be tested to make sure it is in good shape. How fair is it to the OP if the car would have lasted 100k miles but at 63k miles he gets on it and it blows up due to past mistreatment from the dealer?
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Old 12-06-2012, 04:21 PM   #22
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^^^^^Yeah.....ole stevo here seems a bit on the rainbow warrior side of things .......and prolly only wishes of the day in which he could actually own a Subaru. Bet he drives his moms minivan while he lives in the basement eating hotpockets. Anyways.....Subaru dealer changed his oil......less than 100 miles later...engine goes KABOOM!!! and has no oil in it and appears to have been "Double gasketed". Thats what you call it when you screw a new oil filter ontop of a exsisting old filter gasket. They seal great untill that day you hit 100 psi of oil pressure then boom........gasket blows out and looks like the filter was left loose. Seen it ..done it ..know what the fuk im talkin about. Putting oil in a car that has been OBVIOSLY run almost dry and not hearing engine noises is not the same as a unabused engine.Period. If they gave me my car back and said ....all that noise was was the crank grinding on the bearings........we added oil and the noises stopped, it must be ok now right? Wrong........get u a new engine ASAP.....preferebly before the warranty runs out. And stevo........do you even have any idea how the AVCS and VVT works? If you did.....youd know that in no way shape or form does even the most fubard system make a loud "Bang" of any kind. The loud bang was more than likely the engine being halted by the lack of oil present in the system. Not a malfunctioning AVCS lol
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Old 12-06-2012, 04:35 PM   #23
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Default SIGHHHHhhh

they called me back...said my car is ready. said it runs "great" ??? of course they would say that. now the guy never did confirm the fail safe thing...he just said they are filing the paperwork to SOA as a defective filter...and they would refund my money and clean the bottom of the engine for free...how nice of them

i asked them...if my engine dies after 60k miles...then what? he said we would have to address it at that time...he also said understand about wear and tear?? i mean maybe it was a defective filter...OR maybe like what one of the posters said...maybe they forgot to remove the previous seal and it caused this to happen..!@#$

i feel like demanding a new engine but something tells me they won't do it...if i go to my insurance company and file a claim...they would pursue a new engine, but ultimately...the "new" engine would only be a used/junked engine from some junkyard (ky law doesn't require vehicles with destroyed engines to have to replace them with new engines...insurance lady told me that)

i'm headed back up to pick up my car...i am going to ask that they run these compresssion and leak tests to ensure the vehicle is properly working. i'm gonna need to talk to the service mgr about that.

in the end, i'm already feeling like i need to get a new car b/c my baby is now "scarred" ...ughhh. and i had 6000 left on the bank note !@#$!!!!!

for you posters in the know...what exactly do i ask them in terms of these tests? a cylinder compression test and a leak test? help me out fellas...appreciate all the feedback.

Last edited by db97; 12-06-2012 at 04:47 PM.
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Old 12-06-2012, 04:42 PM   #24
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Originally Posted by Steve.804 View Post
So you started a thread before even getting the first update from the service department dragging this dealership through the mud and titling your thread "Bachman Subaru killed my engine" for all of NASIOC to read. GOTTA LOVE IT!



If the engine is running fine it is not blown. If anything, I would demand leakdown and compression test results and go from there. If you have lost faith with the dealership then take it some where else and have the tests performed. If there is still wind in the hole then you're good to go.



Paidfor are you a trained subaru tech? I'm just wondering what makes you more qualified to tell the OP what has happend to his engine and what the dealership needs to do to make things right? Why do they need to replace his engine if the oil pressure light never came on and the dealership says it was only down a couple quarts? Did they PM you his compression and leakdown test results before calling the customer? Can you define your use of "compromise"? As in what components have the excessive wear and how are you coming to your conclusion? Did you hear the same noise the OP is stating to have heard prior to the car turning off? If it was not the AVCS (which I'm sure runs off of oil pressure which sounds like took a sudden drop) then what, in your expert opinon, was the noise?
hey steve-o...i'm not dragging their name through the mud. as i said i've been going to this dealership for service since '02, and never had any problems. anyway, b/c i wasn't there...who is to say the filter was really defective or that it was incorrectly installed??? i don't know. I do know that they are basically telling me all is well now...when in fact i know it can't be considering the loud booming noise i heard emanating from my engine when it died. the service guy said, "oh yeah...that's the vvt just shutting off" ??? and he knows this b/c he's heard it time and time again??? riiiight. what i expect as a valued customer of the dealership is for them to do their due diligence and to get this right...b/c like it or not, this happened b/c of work they performed...regardless of whether or not they did it or the part was defective. they owe it to me to do their utmost to make sure this car's engine isn't kaput...or worse, a ticking timebomb that will croak (most likely after i'm out of my powertrain warranty). again, as of right now...i don't feel like they've been as thorough as i would've liked. i am going up there to ask them for those tests to be performed.

Last edited by db97; 12-11-2012 at 08:43 PM.
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Old 12-06-2012, 05:24 PM   #25
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Quote:
^^^^^^^If you EVER see the oil light while your engine is running..............it is OVER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Actually not. Years ago I had the oil filter fall off after leaving a dealer who just changed my oil and put the wrong filter on (not a Subaru). I saw the red light, immediately stopped, and had the car towed. Car ran fine for the rest of the time I owned it. Maybe it had taken some life off the engine, but it certainly wasn't game over.

Quote:
if i go to my insurance company and file a claim
I've never heard of an insurance company covering this type of thing. They cover accidents, not breakdowns. Are you sure this is even an option?
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