Hi all,
Just wondering.... how many miles before the dreaded rebuild. There seems to be 2 distinct opinions here. 60k of abuse and the motors finished - or Scoobys last for ever blah blah.... Whats the facts?

I'm not talking about Granny cars here - talking about cars that have been driven like Subaru intended, yet looked after with the full service history etc. Many are modded to 30-50hp over stock too... Has that been the difference between 100k and 50k lifespan?

Cheers
Antony

 

I think you should be asking for 3 catagories (sp?)

Granny drivers

Driven as Subaru intended ( also includes option 1)

Modded cars (which Subaru probably didnt intend)


Phil

 

my my93(import) wrx shows over 150000 on the clock, which is part km and part miles. it works out to just about 105000 miles, and still going strong. service her myself(oil+filter and air fiter) every 2000k, and fuel every 5000. about to do the plugs after 15k.

 

Antony

It's worth doing a search on here as there was a long thread about MAF sensors and other failure reasons just before Christmas.

My car was really well looked after with FSSH on the dot, 5W-50 Motorsport oil etc etc, but still needed £2500 of engine at 60k, under warranty.

To be honest there isn't one answer. Just make sure you have Subaru warranty cover if you can get it and service exactly to their requirements.

 

Hi,

Sure there are no hard and fast rules - but trying to get an idea. Did search the "archives" but it kept timing out and the info' I got did not really help...

It's just I get the feeling the Scooby engines regularly fail around the 60k mark. If this is in fact true - then they are not very good engines at all!?!? You can't tell me that VW/Audi 225hp motors (TT/S3/Cupra R) suffer the same fate around this mileage?

I admit people usually more likely to post bad news (eg. My motor went pop at 60k) as opposed to hurray 100k today!.... Wow what a poet ;-) so that's why I thought I'd ask.... Gives chance for people to set the record straight.

Cheers
Antony

 

Antony about 3 years ago I bougnt a 2 year old uk99 with 118000 miles on it thrashed it till 129000 miles sold it to mate now 145000 and still going strong also I notice your names antony would you be interested in plate S555 ANT??

 

There's not even one answer, let alone two distinct ones.

These engines can last an exceptionally long time if taken care of. If they're not taken care of, or if the car is modified in a way that isn't conducive to engine health, their working life will obviously be shortened.

To generalise and say that they need rebuilding at 60K is wrong. To generalise and say they'll last for ever is also wrong.

To a large extent this is a pointless question as the answer literally is as long as a piece of string. At end of day you can blow a brand new engine within a couple of hundred miles if you modify it badly enough...

 

... I agree with your comments almost entirely.

The difference is my Subaru dealer cetainly knew that engines do go bang fairly frequently when looked after and serviced on the dot. It really was no surprise to them when mine failed at sensible mileage.

Another HUGE generalisation I will stumble into is that the 1.8T VAG engine does seem stronger or of a design that allows it to stay in shape if people go down the modding route with it.

My view is that the design tolerances are a lot wider with the VAG engine, whereas the Impreza delivers but has less margin for dodgy fuel etc etc - hence the reason why you see additional knocklink devices on Imprezas but rarely on VW/Audi/Seat/Skodas with similar modded or standard power

 

The unfortunate thing there is that many dealer-maintained cars are likely to have gone bang because elementary servicing procedures like filter pre-filling and proper oil system priming weren't carried out after fluid changes.

There's quite a body of evidence in this forum to suggest that procedures like this (or the lack thereof) do have an effect, and there's an equally large body of evidence to suggest that many main dealers simply don't(didn't) carry them out on a universal basis.

As far as the VAG 1.8 turbo engine is concerned, it's difficult to draw any conclusions about this unit's long-term robustness, or indeed any parallels between that and the Subaru engine. Not only has it been around less than half as long as the turbo EJ20, I'd imagine that a larger proportion of EJ20's comes in for modification at some point or other during its life.

[Edited by greasemonkey - 2/1/2004 1:14:48 PM]

 

The dealers aren't the people who know the cars.
Many of the MY99/00 which have blown is because people have taken it to the dealer with "it's not running well - the idle's bad and there's a flat spot but the top end seems pretty good". So the dealer plugs it into the Select Monitor which says "all's well", so the unhappy customer drives off the the engine pops. All because the Select Monitor can't pick up the MAF problem, and the delears don't know the cars.

That isn't an unreliable engine per se, it's an unreliable dealer. Don't get the two mixed up!

Ever wondered why many of the (correctly) modded cars seem to last longer than the 'dealer serviced' cars?

 

Yep - I can go along with that. Please people don't get defensive - as I'm not saying they are bad cars, I am just alarmed at the many many mentions of rebuilds I see littering the net. If you told me the car was running 300bhp & the motor went pop - I wouldn't blame the car - I would blame the mods.... or modder as the case may be! I am concerned about the numerous standard ones - well loved and cared for - that don't seem to make it past the 60k mark.

I have spoken to one Subaru independant specialist - who would not say they were good motors - and admitted that they have an odd "quirk" - i.e. Big end knock problem - and this was backed up by a Subaru dealer that I had a long conversation with on the phone. He admitted it was a problem with no apparent explanation. Like you say - dealers don't know everything so I threw it to you guys...

Cheers
Antony

p.s. Don't need the plate thanks (No S reg car!)

 

Scoobydood

Some sensible points made here, but my personal conclusion:-
Impreza engines do fail when unmodded and serviced and treated correctly. As I said, it happens, so make sure you have the warranty cover.

I don't quite go along with the dealer comment in my case, as my dealer was a family firm Subaru dealer with exactly the same mechanics that serviced my first Subaru (a Legacy Turbo) 10 years ago. So, the only conclusion I can reach is that I was unlucky, but lucky to have extended the warranty.

I've taken a break from Subaru partly because of the running costs, and Subaru number 7 can wait a bit longer. All I can say is that after 12 months with a remapped 1.8T engine, I feel more confident as it actually feels less stressed in the way it delivers the power. Time will tell !

 

I strongly suspect the basis of that is oil starvation post a fluid change as mentioned above.

 

I am a little surprised by the lack of replies to this thread... I know there are quite a few on scoobynet who have had rebuilds but haven't mentioned it here........ ?

 

Gearbox = 76k then bang
Engine = 84k then bang

Relativelty unmodified with FSSH and interim oil changes and it still went bang