15+ WRX Motor failure roll call! - Page 84

Dert McGert · 12-24-2021, 07:56 PM

Model/Year:2017 wrx premium
Milage:32k
Mods:Nvidia catback
Fuel:93

Circumstances: Driving home from work, dash light up. Took it to dealership that has been upkeeping oil chamges/issues with vehicle. Has code p0018. Dropped off 2 weeks ago, told today metal all throughout motor. New motor, is covered atleast.

Actual engine failure:Not sure, assuming turbo went.

Talked to dealer about extended warranty since I have had a few problems with vehicle since I bought it new. Said call soa. Talked to someone there, he said im sol since its a 3 yr warranty and I'm 5 yrs in Feb. Told him I've had quite a few problems with car and was disappointed with it, he didn't seem to care too much.

* Registered users of the site do not see these ads.

Evo2suby · 01-07-2022, 07:12 PM

2016 WRX bought now
79K
Cobb AP with E tune
TGV/EGR Deletes
Cobb flex fuel kit
Had about 30K on it since modding it.
Fuel pump started acting funny, hesitation fuel spikes, probably due to cold weather and too much ethanol. Added some 93 to bring it down. Ran fine next day for about 75 miles until I did a WOT pull. Let go around 6K rpm just as I was about to shift.

2018wrx_newbie · 01-10-2022, 10:47 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Evo2suby

2016 WRX bought now
79K
Cobb AP with E tune
TGV/EGR Deletes
Cobb flex fuel kit
Had about 30K on it since modding it.
Fuel pump started acting funny, hesitation fuel spikes, probably due to cold weather and too much ethanol. Added some 93 to bring it down. Ran fine next day for about 75 miles until I did a WOT pull. Let go around 6K rpm just as I was about to shift.

That sucks. Isn't there a fuel pump recall? Not sure if it is related, or whether you had swapped it out considering you are on flex.

acaccese07 · 03-22-2022, 04:37 PM

Model/Year: 2014 Subaru WRX hatchback
Milage: 109k KM
Mods: Cobb intake - Cobb stage 1 - Muffler Delete 4"
Fuel: 91
I had cobb installed around 107k km with intake

Circumstances: Started hearing a ticking sounds coming from my engine, waited to long to actually check the issue - car died in street.

Actual engine failure: Crank bearing went on my engine.

Solution: Dealer passed a brand new engine under warranty even though i was over the 7 year 100k km engine warranty. Guy from Subaru said to remove COBB since it tends to blow engines (in his view after seeing so many engines blowing to that) and go get a proper tune instead.. I'm taking everything out except muffler lol.. Don't want to chance this again.

ALSO if you try to unflash your COBB before bringing it to Subaru they can see you did that lol as i did that

thanks!

2018_WRX_LMTD · 05-06-2022, 03:14 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by TexasWRXs

Good stuff guys, thanks!

I'm at about 1,000 miles since the engine rebuild....was planning on scheduling a follow-up visit with the dealer just to recheck things pretty soon, and was debating having them do an early oil change...but I'm rethinking that and will just do it myself, probably with Motul or one of the other heavy duty low saps 5w30 oils, and get a UOA done to better understand what's going on, maybe at 5k? Does that sound like a smart plan to you guys? Most of my driving is a 30-40 minute commute twice a day mostly at highway speeds, with some back roads blasting on the weekends. It's Texas, so it's going to be getting hot here soon, and for now I'm off of the ethanol and just running MAP's stage 1 93 octane tune.

Glad to hear the stealership was able to rebuild! Texas here too, DFW. Question, what back roads and where locally?

Thanks.

Sent from my SM-F711U using Tapatalk

krenz · 12-19-2023, 12:15 PM

Model & Year:2016 WRX
Mileage on motor: 50k
Mods: FBO e85 FP Blue turbo

Headgasket failed, white smoke everywhere, led to rod knock.

krenz · 12-19-2023, 12:16 PM

Model & Year:2016 WRX
Mileage on motor: 50k
Mods: FBO e85 FP Blue turbo

Headgasket failed, white smoke everywhere, led to rod knock.

charlie24 · 02-13-2024, 12:01 AM

Model/Year: 2019 WRX Premium
Milage:39,000
Mods: Cobb sf intake, boomba bypass valve, stage 1+ cobb ap OTS tune
Fuel: 93
Oil: motul 5w-30
Circumstances: only 2.5k miles since I installed the intake, bpv and ots tune, I noticed a ticking in engine that was noticeably louder than normal but not obvious enough to assume as rodkncok. I assumed it was just the injectors but I could hear the ticking from inside the cabin which was unusual.
Actual engine failure: cylinder 4 left the chat

It is a cvt. I confirmed with cobb re transmission and the tunes were for cvt. I’m not sure how I ruined the engine after 2.5k miles of having the tune. Bpv had no boost leak, I did oil changes every 3k miles. Is it possible the tune wasn’t dialed in well enough for automatic despite cobb confirming? Could it be from doing pulls ~3x a week? What’s the point of having a car like this when it can’t handle it?

Any ideas as to what could’ve gone wrong will be helpful. I don’t know if I want to keep the car if it can barely handle stage 1+.

Moby-Soob88 · 02-16-2024, 09:24 AM

Has anyone running Ti valve spring retainers seen any excessive wear or failures?

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

4merChiWRXowner · 08-01-2024, 06:59 AM

Model/Year: 2015 WRX
Milage: 50000
Mods: None
Fuel: 93
Oil: OEM
Circumstances: No sounds, no real warning. Power steering and power brakes gave out mid-drive and dash lit up like christmas tree. Towed vehicle and metal flakes and part of a piston ring came out when draining oil. They took the engine apart and it wasn't just the short block... entire engine needed to be replaced... $15k+ to repair. SOA helped with 2500 which went towards labor to take the engine apart and assess situation. Going to junk the car or try to tell it with no engine.

basyager · 08-04-2024, 09:08 PM

lego motors

SubieNoobWRX · 09-30-2024, 02:55 PM

Hopefully this thread is still fairly active!
Year/Model: 2018 WRX
Mileage: 130,000
Mods: Stage 2+
Fuel: 91
Oil: Amsoil OE 5w30

I was driving home one day with cruise and AC on. Car lost power, NO CEL at all, heard a commotion, when I pushed in the clutch, the engine died. Popped the clutch, drove it home because I knew that the rod bearings were shot.
Got it home, have not drained the oil yet, it's not glittery on the dipstick, but it's over full and smells strongly of fuel.
My suspicion is that either my fuel pump or injector(s) failed, dumped fuel into my crankcase, washed the bearings, causing failure.

Currently, I am looking for either a remanufactured engine, a long block, or a place that can do a stock rebuild with upgraded bearings.

ragman · 09-30-2024, 03:12 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by SubieNoobWRX

Hopefully this thread is still fairly active!
Year/Model: 2018 WRX
Mileage: 130,000
Mods: Stage 2+
Fuel: 91
Oil: Amsoil OE 5w30

I was driving home one day with cruise and AC on. Car lost power, NO CEL at all, heard a commotion, when I pushed in the clutch, the engine died. Popped the clutch, drove it home because I knew that the rod bearings were shot.
Got it home, have not drained the oil yet, it's not glittery on the dipstick, but it's over full and smells strongly of fuel.
My suspicion is that either my fuel pump or injector(s) failed, dumped fuel into my crankcase, washed the bearings, causing failure.

Currently, I am looking for either a remanufactured engine, a long block, or a place that can do a stock rebuild with upgraded bearings.

Bummer! Make sure to check those reman block prices with a new short block from places like Heuberger that have them for around $2000.

https://parts.bestbuysubaru.com/p/Su...SABEgIANvD_BwE

zordoszz · 10-28-2024, 07:02 PM

2019 wrx
111k kms(70k miles)
stage 2
was driving and all of a sudden got some nasty knock reads on the ap. -11 feedback and -9 fkl. exhaust cam has a nasty line score on it and carrier, minor metal shavings and coolant mix in the drained oil. cooling system failed pressure test.
time for a new long block to go in.

pizza_pablo · 06-09-2025, 08:45 AM

Model/Year: 17
Milage: 172,xxx
EM: MAPerformance OTS Stage 1
Mods: physically stock
Fuel: 91
Oil: Mobile 1
Circumstances: I let oil change go an extra 500 miles and I may have lugged it a bit on a sandy road. Deep sand, 15-20 MPH mostly second gear for 8 miles. It developed a tap that sounded like an old school lifter tap, but since these engines don't have lifters....
Actual engine failure: spun #3 rod bearing.

mysorrywrx · 07-09-2025, 03:14 PM

I am currently looking at a potential engine failure, but have it in another shop for second opinion. 1st shop says it failed leak down test 70%, has a burnt eroded exhaust valve and will require work that almost equals the cost of an engine replacement.

Here's the rundown:
Was running fine, removed and cleaned MAF for maintenance. Reinstalled and was running rough and stalled at stop, NO CEL. runs better with MAF disconnected. Figured we screwed up the MAF, so ordered a new Hitachi and installed. Same problem. Thought because the battery had been disconnected it may need to relearn idle. During relearn, got misfire on cylinder 2. Moved coil to 4 and replaced spark plug in 2. Reset code, tried again. Still in 2, did not follow coil.

Any advise would be appreciated.

Model/Year: 2016

Milage:122,000

EM: Stock

Mods: Stock

Fuel:91

Circumstances: Was running fine before cleaning MAF, started running rough and stalling.

Actual engine failure: Unknow at this time

02-13-2024, 12:01 AM	#2083
charlie24 Scooby Newbie Member#: 537002 Join Date: Feb 2024	Stage 1+ CVT Model/Year: 2019 WRX Premium Milage:39,000 Mods: Cobb sf intake, boomba bypass valve, stage 1+ cobb ap OTS tune Fuel: 93 Oil: motul 5w-30 Circumstances: only 2.5k miles since I installed the intake, bpv and ots tune, I noticed a ticking in engine that was noticeably louder than normal but not obvious enough to assume as rodkncok. I assumed it was just the injectors but I could hear the ticking from inside the cabin which was unusual. Actual engine failure: cylinder 4 left the chat It is a cvt. I confirmed with cobb re transmission and the tunes were for cvt. I’m not sure how I ruined the engine after 2.5k miles of having the tune. Bpv had no boost leak, I did oil changes every 3k miles. Is it possible the tune wasn’t dialed in well enough for automatic despite cobb confirming? Could it be from doing pulls ~3x a week? What’s the point of having a car like this when it can’t handle it? Any ideas as to what could’ve gone wrong will be helpful. I don’t know if I want to keep the car if it can barely handle stage 1+.

Thread Tools
Show Printable Version Email this Page
Display Modes
Linear Mode Switch to Hybrid Mode Switch to Threaded Mode

12-24-2021, 07:56 PM	#2076
Dert McGert Scooby Newbie Member#: 528045 Join Date: Dec 2021	Model/Year:2017 wrx premium Milage:32k Mods:Nvidia catback Fuel:93 Circumstances: Driving home from work, dash light up. Took it to dealership that has been upkeeping oil chamges/issues with vehicle. Has code p0018. Dropped off 2 weeks ago, told today metal all throughout motor. New motor, is covered atleast. Actual engine failure:Not sure, assuming turbo went. Talked to dealer about extended warranty since I have had a few problems with vehicle since I bought it new. Said call soa. Talked to someone there, he said im sol since its a 3 yr warranty and I'm 5 yrs in Feb. Told him I've had quite a few problems with car and was disappointed with it, he didn't seem to care too much. * Registered users of the site do not see these ads.

01-07-2022, 07:12 PM	#2077
Evo2suby Scooby Newbie Member#: 437700 Join Date: Jan 2016 Vehicle: 2016 WRX Premium	2016 WRX bought now 79K Cobb AP with E tune TGV/EGR Deletes Cobb flex fuel kit Had about 30K on it since modding it. Fuel pump started acting funny, hesitation fuel spikes, probably due to cold weather and too much ethanol. Added some 93 to bring it down. Ran fine next day for about 75 miles until I did a WOT pull. Let go around 6K rpm just as I was about to shift.

03-22-2022, 04:37 PM	#2079
acaccese07 Scooby Newbie Member#: 516426 Join Date: Jul 2020	Model/Year: 2014 Subaru WRX hatchback Milage: 109k KM Mods: Cobb intake - Cobb stage 1 - Muffler Delete 4" Fuel: 91 I had cobb installed around 107k km with intake Circumstances: Started hearing a ticking sounds coming from my engine, waited to long to actually check the issue - car died in street. Actual engine failure: Crank bearing went on my engine. Solution: Dealer passed a brand new engine under warranty even though i was over the 7 year 100k km engine warranty. Guy from Subaru said to remove COBB since it tends to blow engines (in his view after seeing so many engines blowing to that) and go get a proper tune instead.. I'm taking everything out except muffler lol.. Don't want to chance this again. ALSO if you try to unflash your COBB before bringing it to Subaru they can see you did that lol as i did that thanks!

12-19-2023, 12:15 PM	#2081
krenz Scooby Newbie Member#: 530610 Join Date: Jul 2022 Vehicle: 2016 WRX WRB	Model & Year:2016 WRX Mileage on motor: 50k Mods: FBO e85 FP Blue turbo Headgasket failed, white smoke everywhere, led to rod knock.

12-19-2023, 12:16 PM	#2082
krenz Scooby Newbie Member#: 530610 Join Date: Jul 2022 Vehicle: 2016 WRX WRB	Model & Year:2016 WRX Mileage on motor: 50k Mods: FBO e85 FP Blue turbo Headgasket failed, white smoke everywhere, led to rod knock.

02-16-2024, 09:24 AM	#2084
Moby-Soob88 Scooby Newbie Member#: 431141 Join Date: Sep 2015 Vehicle: 2015 WRX WR Blue	Has anyone running Ti valve spring retainers seen any excessive wear or failures? Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

08-01-2024, 06:59 AM	#2085
4merChiWRXowner Scooby Newbie Member#: 538692 Join Date: Aug 2024 Chapter/Region: MWSOC Location: Chicago Vehicle: 2015 WRX Grey	Model/Year: 2015 WRX Milage: 50000 Mods: None Fuel: 93 Oil: OEM Circumstances: No sounds, no real warning. Power steering and power brakes gave out mid-drive and dash lit up like christmas tree. Towed vehicle and metal flakes and part of a piston ring came out when draining oil. They took the engine apart and it wasn't just the short block... entire engine needed to be replaced... $15k+ to repair. SOA helped with 2500 which went towards labor to take the engine apart and assess situation. Going to junk the car or try to tell it with no engine.

08-04-2024, 09:08 PM	#2086
basyager Scooby Newbie Member#: 518233 Join Date: Aug 2020 Vehicle: 2019 WRX	lego motors

09-30-2024, 02:55 PM	#2087
SubieNoobWRX Scooby Newbie Member#: 485036 Join Date: Apr 2018	Hopefully this thread is still fairly active! Year/Model: 2018 WRX Mileage: 130,000 Mods: Stage 2+ Fuel: 91 Oil: Amsoil OE 5w30 I was driving home one day with cruise and AC on. Car lost power, NO CEL at all, heard a commotion, when I pushed in the clutch, the engine died. Popped the clutch, drove it home because I knew that the rod bearings were shot. Got it home, have not drained the oil yet, it's not glittery on the dipstick, but it's over full and smells strongly of fuel. My suspicion is that either my fuel pump or injector(s) failed, dumped fuel into my crankcase, washed the bearings, causing failure. Currently, I am looking for either a remanufactured engine, a long block, or a place that can do a stock rebuild with upgraded bearings.

10-28-2024, 07:02 PM	#2089
zordoszz Scooby Newbie Member#: 534560 Join Date: Jun 2023 Chapter/Region: VIC Vehicle: 2019 WRX	2019 wrx 111k kms(70k miles) stage 2 was driving and all of a sudden got some nasty knock reads on the ap. -11 feedback and -9 fkl. exhaust cam has a nasty line score on it and carrier, minor metal shavings and coolant mix in the drained oil. cooling system failed pressure test. time for a new long block to go in.

06-09-2025, 08:45 AM	#2090
pizza_pablo Scooby Specialist Member#: 367980 Join Date: Sep 2013 Location: Pacific Northwest Vehicle: 2017 WRX / HUQ-22 Lapis Blue Pearl	Model/Year: 17 Milage: 172,xxx EM: MAPerformance OTS Stage 1 Mods: physically stock Fuel: 91 Oil: Mobile 1 Circumstances: I let oil change go an extra 500 miles and I may have lugged it a bit on a sandy road. Deep sand, 15-20 MPH mostly second gear for 8 miles. It developed a tap that sounded like an old school lifter tap, but since these engines don't have lifters.... Actual engine failure: spun #3 rod bearing.

07-09-2025, 03:14 PM	#2091
mysorrywrx Scooby Newbie Member#: 541431 Join Date: Jul 2025	I am currently looking at a potential engine failure, but have it in another shop for second opinion. 1st shop says it failed leak down test 70%, has a burnt eroded exhaust valve and will require work that almost equals the cost of an engine replacement. Here's the rundown: Was running fine, removed and cleaned MAF for maintenance. Reinstalled and was running rough and stalled at stop, NO CEL. runs better with MAF disconnected. Figured we screwed up the MAF, so ordered a new Hitachi and installed. Same problem. Thought because the battery had been disconnected it may need to relearn idle. During relearn, got misfire on cylinder 2. Moved coil to 4 and replaced spark plug in 2. Reset code, tried again. Still in 2, did not follow coil. Any advise would be appreciated. Model/Year: 2016 Milage:122,000 EM: Stock Mods: Stock Fuel:91 Circumstances: Was running fine before cleaning MAF, started running rough and stalling. Actual engine failure: Unknow at this time