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My Subaru WRX died on the road yesterday

T

tontod

Diamond Member
I was going to a softball game yesterday, heard a rattling noise, figured out it came from the engine. I thought it probably wasnt a good thing, but I didnt see any lights come on and the car was operating normally otherwise. I drove it that way for a good 30-40 min or so, then suddenly the car stalled out going around 40 or so. The TCS, cruise control lights came on, lost power steering and the thermostat registered H, and I got a burning smell. The car only has ~24k miles on it, its a 2010. I had to get it towed away obviously. There is coolant all over the engine, and the cap to the coolant expansion bottle was off when I opened the hood to check. Maybe the timing belt/chain went? Its way too early for that and I've been keeping up with the regular maintenance. The dealer called and said they needed more time to do more intrusive checks, I'm thinking its not a good sign. Any ideas as to what could have happened?
 
maybe thermostat got stuck, then unstuck and quickly heated up/flash boiled the coolant? but then it would have overheated before that. So I'm stumped unless I get more information.
 
Water pump died or defective head gasket?
Either way, sounds like you might be getting a nice freshly rebuilt engine. 🙂 or 🙁
 
halik said:
Driving the car when the coolant is in the red probably wasn't the smartest thing to do.
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I dont think it was in the red for very long, it seemed like an electronic fuel cutoff, no sudden thump or anything like that, one second I was fine, the next second the throttle was cut.
 
I'm assuming it is still under warranty and you've replaced fluids as scheduled? If so...probably would be fixed unless obvious negligence?
 
Tristicus said:
I'm assuming it is still under warranty and you've replaced fluids as scheduled? If so...probably would be fixed unless obvious negligence?
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It should be...IIRC there's no scheduled fluid changes (except oil) at/before the 24k mark.
 
its a 2010 it has the same block as the STI only difference at that point is a turbo and some tuning motor wise anyway. and hopefully you wernt hooning it at the time little black boxes suck and there gonna find anyway they can to NOT pay the 6-10k its gonna cost them to put a new motor in your subaru. but hopefully its a defect and they will drop a new motor in for you keep us posted
 
I knew Subaru had head gasket problem but blowing engine at 24K? Is that a new record for them? Forget new engine, they should put you in a new car!
 
I've been going to the dealer for all the scheduled/required maintenance. Yes, its still under warranty. A new 2011/2012 WRX would be pretty sweet, the new body style looks pretty badass. I should hear more from the dealer today, I'll update as I find out.
 
Black2na said:
its a 2010 it has the same block as the STI only difference at that point is a turbo and some tuning motor wise anyway. and hopefully you wernt hooning it at the time little black boxes suck and there gonna find anyway they can to NOT pay the 6-10k its gonna cost them to put a new motor in your subaru. but hopefully its a defect and they will drop a new motor in for you keep us posted
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Whatchu talkin' bout Willis? There's no secret black box on Subie ECU's and even if there were OP hasn't said anything about mods. Going a step further SOA would have to prove definitely that his mods (if he has any) were the cause of the failure to deny the warranty claim.
 
ayabe said:
Whatchu talkin' bout Willis? There's no secret black box on Subie ECU's and even if there were OP hasn't said anything about mods. Going a step further SOA would have to prove definitely that his mods (if he has any) were the cause of the failure to deny the warranty claim.
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Prove? Very naive statement.

Lets say op has an intake. Soa says the intake caused an increase in HP beyond the designed specs of the motor causing the failure. Now its up to you to prove otherwise. The mag moss act for dealers is at most a speed bump
 
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Zivic said:
Prove? Very naive statement.

Lets say op has an intake. Soa says the intake caused an increase in HP beyond the designed specs of the motor causing the failure. Now its up to you to prove otherwise. The mag moss act for dealers is at most a speed bump
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Very naive? Take it up with SOA this is how it works. This has been extremely well documented on NASIOC. As a former owner - sorry I know what the fuck I'm talking about.
 
ayabe said:
Very naive? Take it up with SOA this is how it works. This has been extremely well documented on NASIOC. As a former owner - sorry I know what the fuck I'm talking about.
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Naive in regards to a modded car.. the proof really falls on the owner

Sure in this instance it may never be an issue considering the number of failures and its frequent occurance. But in general don't for a second think if you bring in a modified car with a drivetrain related failure that the burden if proof falls in the manufacturer
 
Seeing that it ran for about 1/2 hour after the noise would eliminate the timing belt but could be a water pump issue (like the impeller vains breaking off). FWIW, I had 88,000 trouble free miles with my 06 Legacy. Good luck to you.
 
Early-built 2009 WRX's had an issue with blown motors. IIRC that was confined to cars built before September 2008 though.
 
I dont have any mods on my car, everything is stock. The dealer still needs more time to look at it, it'll probably be till next week to get more details.
 
tontod said:
I dont have any mods on my car, everything is stock. The dealer still needs more time to look at it, it'll probably be till next week to get more details.
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Good luck man!


I have found the service managers in these situations do have some flexibility so hopefully they step up.
 
manimal said:
Good luck man!


I have found the service managers in these situations do have some flexibility so hopefully they step up.
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Thanks, the ideal situation will be if I get a 2011 or 2012 model :biggrin:

But, I doubt that will happen, lol.
 
If they don't cover the thing (which would blow me away), I'd ghost ride it right through the front doors of the damn dealership.
 
tontod said:
Thanks, the ideal situation will be if I get a 2011 or 2012 model :biggrin:

But, I doubt that will happen, lol.
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Honestly, there's no way the will give you a new car. A new engine isn't out of the question though. The bad news is that people who got new engines back when they were having issues in 08 all said the car never felt the same afterwards...
 
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