Subaru Powertrain Warranty Review

[DierwulfBL]

Hi All,

Was doing a pre-tune checklist on my 2011 Subaru WRX STi today to ensure she's ready to be tuned. Well I got some bad news...

Compression Results:
cyl 1 - 147psi
cyl 2 - 147psi
cyl 3 - 130psi
cyl 4 - 147psi

History on the car: Car is unmodified and was never modified, there is a K&N drop-in panel filter in the stock airbox since ~9k miles. Current mileage is 20600. Car has only seen Shell 93 V-Power and has run nothing but amsoil since the first oil change at 2500 miles.

I am contacting my dealer tomorrow and I will update the thread with anything they tell me (bullshit or not). Dealership I am taking it to is where it was bought and had every service done since I bought it at 7 miles, so hopefully all the loot ive dropped in their service dept helps my cause.

Wish me luck!

 

[HolyCrapItsFast]

Make sure your oil is topped off and don't let them deny you unless they can prove their case. If they do then ask to speak to a Subaru rep.

Not sure if you have an AP. If you do don't have it anywhere in the car that they can see. If you reset the ECU do not bring it to them until you have driven it for about 100 miles to allow the "Pass Code Readiness Checks" to complete.

This is how the dealer catches a lot of people.

 

[IGOTASTi]

Oh man! That sucks.

 

[DierwulfBL]

I am lucky in my case since I actually didn't touch anything. Also, I got an amsoil change done with the compression test today so I'll be good there, as well as new plugs (way early). I dont plan on resetting the ECU or doing anything other than what any normal human being would do when their OEM vehicle breaks under warranty . Had this happened and I modified something, i'd build my spare shortblock and eat the cost, unfortunately this wasnt any fault of my own so I refuse to claim responsibility. I really wish I had gone stage 1 when i picked the car up though as I feel the factory tune is what likely destroyed this engine

 

[HolyCrapItsFast]

I am lucky in my case since I actually didn't touch anything. Also, I got an amsoil change done with the compression test today so I'll be good there, as well as new plugs (way early). I dont plan on resetting the ECU or doing anything other than what any normal human being would do when their OEM vehicle breaks under warranty . Had this happened and I modified something, i'd build my spare shortblock and eat the cost, unfortunately this wasnt any fault of my own so I refuse to claim responsibility. I really wish I had gone stage 1 when i picked the car up though as I feel the factory tune is what likely destroyed this engine

Yeah the stock tune... if you can call it that... really sucks giant donkey dick.

 

[DierwulfBL]

Talked with the service advisor today. He basically told me what I expected. He said any and all diagnostics but be done in-house and that it would all be covered if an issue is detected, but if they deemed that it was "ok" I would be on the hook for all costs. I told him I would get nowhere if Subaru says 17psi is within the allowed limits and I have to pay for all the diagnostics even though the engine is "ok" with a 17psi difference. I told him to ask his manager what the allowed tolerance is for a "fail" on compression and he is going to get back to me. I told him if 17psi of difference isnt enough for a warranty, then I would just drive it until it pops completely and get the diagnostics done then with a nice flat 0psi.

 

[HolyCrapItsFast]

Let the game playing begin. :tard:

 

[DierwulfBL]

Game playing indeed! Haha, atleast the service manager pretty much has my best interest in mind. He's devised a way to get my issue "on the books" that will cost me nothing (which was my biggest thing, seeing how i already dropped loot for a compression test). I'm bringing the car in with "subtle surge" issues in the acceleration and without any charge they are going to document the surging issues. If the tech feels the car has an issue he will follow the "diagnostic flowchart" as described by subaru. So if the tech thinks everything is gravy it's on the books as an issue. The service manager said this will help me later on if it is indeed an engine issue. Funniest thing I had to just stop him on:

Manager: Well you know, with the winter blend of gas they put in 10% ethanol in the gas and that could be the cause of your surging/lost power issues!
Me: Please excuse me, but all gas sold in the US has had 10% ethanol since the 70s unless otherwise specified as being ethanol free, so that isn't it.

Ball is atleast rolling.......just like my eyes

edit: bringing the car in tuesday morning and getting a loaner for the day, will respond back with more review of the process

 

[DierwulfBL]

Got a call this morning, guy said they couldnt feel the issue so some tech is gonna drive it further or something to see if they can reproduce it. Hopefully they beat on it and it pops . I left the compression test numbers on the passenger seat. I woulda thought this would be enough for the tech to "feel" the issue. I'm sure once I get the car back with them saying everything is A-OK it'll be another 3-5k before it gets significantly worse

 

[HolyCrapItsFast]

Then just drive around in first gear and hit the rev limiter often :lol:

Of course I kid.

 

[Batmobile_Engage]

If I were you, I'd ask the service manager to quote the factory spec.


I am pretty sure that Subaru's compression spec suggests 130-160 psi
but requires that no cylinder to be more than 7 psi below the average
psi of the other cylinders.

Edit: I was web searching for the Subaru compression spec. Haven't
found anything solid yet, but one person says that it's not an issue
of 7 psi difference, it's if one is more than 7% away from the other
readings. Damnit! Why is it so difficult to find a factory spec. They
should be easily searchable online in PDF format. Shit, I've seen it
a few years ago, where'd it go...?!

 

[Batmobile_Engage]

Either way... 7 psi or 7% deviation.

147 psi - 130 psi = 17 psi

147 psi / 17 psi = 8.64%

130 psi = 8.64% negative deviation from 147 psi.

 

[DierwulfBL]

Yea i saw that same post on a forum about the 7psi difference but they were referring to a 2007 STi. I agree it should be much easier to find the actual numbers Subaru uses. Not only that, but the service manager himself did not answer my question on how much psi difference there has to be before its a "problem", so they suggested just bringing it in and getting my "issue" "documented" as I told him I wasn't going to pay a dime and he said they couldnt do the compression test for free unless they felt the "issue" while driving. Otherwise i'd have to pay another $160 for another compression test which I already know the answer to -.- and didnt even get the answer to whether those numbers would yield me anything or not. So I told him I'd rather just keep driving it until it popped completely and bring it in with 0psi in cyl 3.

 

[Grinder34]

In the past I've seen people pay for the Compression Test up front, then if the test comes up bad, the dealer eats the cost and takes appropriate action.

It honestly doesnt seem like that's too unreasonable, but it doesnt mean it'll work like that.

 

[Batmobile_Engage]

....the service manager himself did not answer my question on how much psi difference there has to be before its a "problem"....

I don't like that one bit. If it was me, I'd force the issue until they show it to me in writing.

 

[Batmobile_Engage]

It can't hurt to call/stop in to another Subaru dealership in the area and talk to their service manager.

 

[Batmobile_Engage]

http://fastwrx.com/susema.html

I have a couple of these manuals. For suspension and transmission components.
It's a helpful guide. I'm sure if you got the engine volume, it'd have the specs in it.
The suspension guide has alllllllll the torque specs, etc. etc.

Edit: Shit, I see that they offer the manuals for MY's 02-07.

 

[DierwulfBL]

i think I have the PDF of the shop manual for my car somewhere but I just gotta track it down/find the download again. Im going to suggest today that we take a gamble on who pays for the compression like above. I had been wanting to just do THAT from the beginning but the service manager was fairly insistent on doing it this way. If his way fails I'll offer up my solution.....i pay if cyl 3 is within 7psi of the average of the other 3, he pays if its 8 or more.

 

[Grinder34]

Let us know how that works out! I hope he's reasonable about it.

 

[DierwulfBL]

The service manager I've been dealing with seems reasonable, he just wants to cover his bases which I understand. Still no call, maybe the tech got a heavy foot and it left them stranded :lol: