Here is the latest update.
First I have to say, that I received excellent service so far from Subaru. They gave me a car right away. And took care of things as much as they can. They where very help full at the dealership. So full marks for that.
Subaru called on Friday and said car is done. I asked for the cause, the person said that the engine was changed and that full analysis from Subaru Canada is not back. I asked him if I needed to do anything when I drove the car. No was the answer. I asked again, do I drive it any special way? No again was the answer. But He did ask me to bring it back at 1000 KM to check to make sure there are no leaks.
I went to the dealership, picked up the keys, chatted with a sales guy. Yea that is weird that this happened, I agreed, asked him if I should drive it any special way, Nope. Then I started chatting with the receptionist dude. Do i need to drive the car any special way? Oh Yes Yes, you have to break in the engine. OH…. How do I do that? well drive it at variable speed. for the first 1000 KM. That is it, yup that is it. Ok thanks. Back to the sales guy. Hey, the receptionist dude says I need to break in the car is that true? Oh yes you have to break in the engine. How do I do that? Well drive it at variable speed for 1000 KM.
It was like pulling teeth. Anyway, at least everyone seems to think the engine needs a break in for the first 1000 KM, which is not what is the manual. Manual says 1600 KM. But what does the manual know, I am going to do what they told me and go from there. Back in 1000 KM, gonna do a long trip this weekend, so that should get the 1000 KM in quick.
BTW, here is what was done on the car.
2009 WRX engine replacement work
Glad to hear your car is back!
I was reading a post over at NASIOC and some guy complained about how poorly his car drove after the replaced his engine. I just wanted to see if you could tell a difference in how the car drives after the new engine?
Comment by ICT — January 6, 2009 @ 12:01 pm
Hi
Well I dont know. So far i have driven it slowwww. So i cant tell if performance is up or down. But I will let you know when I hit the 1000 KM mark
Comment by Samer Forzley — January 6, 2009 @ 12:20 pm
I’d stick with the 1000 miles/1600 km the manual says. I know it’s hard but I wouldn’t want to change another engine due to some measuring units. Better safe than sorry.
Comment by cata — January 6, 2009 @ 1:03 pm
I think that is the right thing to do, Yes i agree, but Subaru is making come back for my check at 1000 KM, not 1000 Miles.
Comment by Samer Forzley — January 6, 2009 @ 2:59 pm
Glad things worked out for you. I now have about 3,400 km on mine. At around 1,000 I took it on a 300km trip in -30 weather and the pcv valve froze. This resulted in quickly burning through 2 l of oil and left me wondering if any damage was done. I topped it up to get home and had it checked out and oil changed under warranty. Since then the check engine light came on during another trip over xmas but nothing was found at the dealership. Otherwise the engine works fine and is feeling strong. I won’t know if there are any longer term problems until… obviously the longer term. Will keep you posted.
Comment by Don — January 6, 2009 @ 3:42 pm
Wow Don, that is not too good. Please keep us posted.
Comment by Samer Forzley — January 6, 2009 @ 9:25 pm
Break the engine in for the first 1600KM. In the US we don’t use the metric system (too bad) and our manuals tell us to do an engine break-in for the first 1000 miles = 1,608KM. Don’t take the risk and wait 600KM more.
Comment by Dorian Hernandez — January 8, 2009 @ 8:14 pm
Hey would you be able to post on nasioc the first four digits of your VIN number and build date? Us 09 owners are trying to figure out if there is a pattern and you are one of the few sedans on there. It should start with 500xxxxx. Dont worry you dont have to post it completely or anything, we just want some feedback on these failures to see how serious of a problem this is.
Already 13 confirmed failures on there, and most have broken their engine in properly, so dont attribute it to that.
Here are instructions for finding your vin:
open the driver’s door. Facing the driver’s seat from outside the car, look down at the space in-between the front door opening and the rear door opening. There’s a black sticker there. In the upper right hand corner of the sticker, it will read “MFD IN”, which is your build date. At the bottom of the sticker is your VIN.
The thread link is this: http://forums.nasioc.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1648372&page=18
THANKS
Comment by Steven — January 9, 2009 @ 1:08 pm
So its been only one week since the car was in the shop with a “check engine” light. I drove a total of 30 km and the light came on again! However, the car seems to be operating fine.
I don’t know if there is actually something wrong, or just a ‘glitch’ in the diagnostics system. Either way something needs attention. Will keep you posted.
Comment by Don — January 12, 2009 @ 10:41 am
Turns out that the catalytic converter was ruined from the original problem of the stuck pcv valve. A couple of litres of oil were burned as a result of that issue (the valve was frozen due to extreme cold thus forcing innordinate amount of oil through the engine’s intake). The cat was ruined by this oil, which is now in the process of being replaced under warranty. It really wasn’t an inherent fault of the engine, so if this truly does fix the ‘check engine’ light issue, I will be happy. I do enjoy driving the car and could forgive this minor issue.
Comment by Don — January 15, 2009 @ 6:11 pm
Thanks for letting us know Don. Good to hear is nothing. Enjoy the car
Comment by Samer Forzley — January 21, 2009 @ 5:16 pm
Hey Don, I don’t know if this could be a potential problem, but if the catalytic converter was damaged by the oil, I wonder if there’s a chance any of the catalytic converter broke off and went through the engine/turbo.
I would be interested in finding out if you have any boost leaks now as well or any compression issues. Just a thought.
It was a potential problem on the earlier models with uppipes that had catalytic converter inside the uppipe. If you gutted the uppipe and didn’t clean it well enough, some of the catalytic converter would break off and get sucked into the turbo which could cause major damage to the turbo.
Comment by Landsharkk (on nasioc) — February 6, 2009 @ 6:43 pm
I just bought a 09 wrx hatch april 28. as of today it is 2 weeks old. as of this past sunday the engine blew up.
have you had any problems since the engine swap? this is rediculous that not even 2 weeks, less than 1500 miles and babying the car this has happened.. they said its probably just an engine swap but are there other problems i should be looking for. There were small signs i guess.. small like.. i test drove 2 wrx. one hatch one regular. the hatch had a slight tremble. after a couple days my car had the same tremble. i brushed it off as my car breaking in, or bc i had so much more horsepower this is just this car..
I just want to know what i may be up against with my engine swap…
-Karrie
Comment by karrie — May 12, 2009 @ 6:36 pm
Well they promised that my new engine will not fail, and it has not so far, its been about 9K since i got it. So far no issues. But I have to say that every time i hear any noise i freak out, and think, oh shoot, here goes the engine
Comment by Samer Forzley — May 12, 2009 @ 8:42 pm