Timo

Can anyone help me??

MY98 STi Type R. Driving home last week down major A road (90 - 100 mph). came to a stop for about 2 mins(engine ticking over OK) set off again and noticed tapping sound. short shifted up to 3rd and again heard tapping. checked gauges and noticed oil pressure had dropped!!
STOPPED car. checked oil, plenty there.

next morning after car had been returned home checked oil again(cold engine) it was up to 2nd 'twist' on dip stick!! Started engine to hear major bottem end Knocking!!!

Car had just had a service (500 miles ago). Looked at bill and found they had put 5.3 litres of oil in(4.3 - 4.5 in tech data). Can this extra Litre of oil cause this major problem. I had no prior warning of the faliure. i.e lights etc.

garage seems to be trying to blame general wear and tear!! car only done 25,000 miles run on sul + booster.

Advice please so i challenge the garage!

Thanks

Tim

bennetm

Hmm,

Sound like the tappets initially but wouldn't explain the pressure drop. Has the head gasket blown? This would lead to big probs and explain the low pressure... Either way, wear and tear is a ****ing joke at that mileage.

Any experts?

MB

R19KET

Tim,

Sorry to hear about your problems.

I think it's highly unlikely that over filling the oil would cause a big end/s to fail. I'd be more interested in what oil was used, and if in doubt, get it analyzed. Take a sample before the oil gets dumped.

Take a look at the "Big end baring failure" thread (archive) there's lots of info.

Hope you get it sorted,

Mark.

rnr

Tim,sorry to hear about that,i know too much oil is as bad as too little oil,and excessive oil pressure will blow something or somewhere useualy gskets or pipes.Hope it helps RICH

Timo

Hi Rich..

cheers for those words...

It looks like the bill is down to me! estimated cost about £2500 !!

gutted!!!! Think she will up for flogs when it is done.

only had it 5 months.....

bit upset with the whole subaru thing afraid to say but at least i made some new friends out of it!! I may have to keep it a bit longer though cos dont want to lose too much money on the sale. it would be better to see a year out with it and then pass it on! get an evo instead!!!!

hope the family are wll mate...see u soon...maybe at york if it is done by then!

Tim

p.s thanks to the other replys for your advice and concern. cheers lads!

TimBuk 2

Tim,
has any fact emerged that now means the bill is down to you (as you say)?

I have no experience with Subaru engines but, as an automotive engineer (that worked for Land Rover for 9 years) a major engine failure of a production car engine after 25,000 miles is NOT normal.

To me, it is extremely suspicious that you were billed for this larger amount of oil. On other engines, over filling the sump can cause the crank to aerate the oil which thus fails to provide adequate level of lubrication, pressure/ flow for the crank/ big end bearings and cooling.

My advice would be to get a independent, qualified engineer to make a report on the engine and, based on his findings, use this in your case against the dealer or manufacturer.

I hope this helps?

Good luck,

TimBuk 2
~~~~~~~~~~
"why didn't I get any soup?"

R19KET

Timbuk 2,

I agree that it would be worth getting an engineers report, but the crank in the Subaru engine, doesn't go anywhere near the oil in the sump, even if it was overfilled by a Lt.

It's almost certainly contaminated the solenoid, and boost pipes, but this would only effect the boost, which hasn't been mentioned. Overfilling may also cause an oil seal to leak, which over time could cause problems due to a "lack" of oil.

I can't think how it could cause a big end to go, but maybe Steve Lawson, or someone similar could come up with a cause.

Mark.

Bob Rawle

If the oil is changed and the new filter filled up as it goes on then you end up using pretty close to 5 litres in any case so 5.3 is not over the top, as Mark says, get the oil analysed, the type used is critical. Contamination of the boost pipework and overboost could have caused problems but you should have been hitting the boost cut if that was the case and you din't mention it so assume it was not an issue.

It very neatly fits into the pattern that emerged from the "Big End No 3" thread ie oil just changed, few miles, fast (ish) blat, slow down and ends go.

If the analysis shows that the oil is "carburised" then it was a lower quality grade and was breaking down, that would probably cause the ends to go.

See if you can find out what was used.

carlos_hiraoka

Sounds familiar ..... big end bearing failure after oil change ?????
Some oils are just too thin ....

Carlos H.

Timo

Hi people....

Thanks for your advice...

I only drove the car about 25 miles afer the service(my wife doing the rest to and from work in traffic) The only thing i did notice thinking back was that as i was cruising at a constant speed(say 40)then the car would be surging slightly, seeming to pick up and drop of speed although not changing the position of the accelerator pedal.This was only slight and i thought it was maybe me being paranoid!!. I had not noticed any problem with the boosting but I also have a slight crack in my stainless manifold so wasnt intending on driving it hardish until that was sorted(car sounds like a right shed dont it!!). I believe the oil used was Millers but dont know any more about it than that!
The biggest problem i have is that the garage is one of my biggest customers so feel it hard to push the problem too far! They have lowered their hourly rate by £6(mmm nice!!!) but that is all. They have sent the short motor away to have it checked but i dont know the out come of that yet!

It seems i'm in a catch 22 situation!!!

does anybody know about Millers oils??

could this be the problem??

I think the car has been run on this same oil for the past 18 months as the garage ran the car for a year prior to me buying it .

cheers

Tim

R19KET

Timo,

Millers have a good reputation for their oils. It's the grade of oil that's also important.

Something to consider, is whilst I don't know your business, just like a business needs good customers, "customers", need good suppliers.

Maybe there is some room for a compromise ?

Mark.

Timo

The bill from the engine builders has come in at £3600 inc vat so the garage has agreed to not charge me for the removal and refit of the engine! The turbo is also getting stripped and new bearings fitted on the advice of the engine chappie as there could have been some metal filings dragged through it. A good idea i thought. Seems it has picked up on No 3 as people had suspected.

Well thanks for your advice people!

will have to go cos I'm off up town to sell some body parts to pay for rebuild!!!

Cheers

Tim

R19KET

Tim,

Now is the time to uprate the pistons, and con rods. The prices should be very similar.

You can't "just" change the barings on the VF turbo, they are part of the "core", and this costs about £550 to change. Send it to Turbo Dynamics, for them to inspect first. If it's ok, they will strip, clean, and re-balance it. May also be worth getting them to hybrid it while it's there.

I'd also love to know why the cost of a standard rebuild is costing £3600, even including VAT. You could certainly rebuild it with uprated pistons, and rods for that money.

Mark.

TTZZ

Hi all,
With an oil service, I allways fill the new oil filter with oil, put it then on the car and fill the engine with the rest of the oil.

Now you have direct the full oil pressure.
Otherwise it takes some more seconds before the the oil filter is filled, maybe in this time the bearing damage will happen?
Just a thought.
Regards Jan-egbert

Timo

Mark...

its costing me about £500 for the turbo to be done.

I dont know what he is doing with the engine exactly!! that pi$$ed off with it all i just want it rebuilt and back on my drive!

The chappie only got the block with its guts in it at first...but now has the complete engine so he can build it up complete! He is a race engine builder and probably thinks its out of a rally car or sumat!!!

Oh well its only money!! Boo Hoo!

Tim