So its not a personal experience, but my mother's. She's got an L.L. Bean edition Forester bought new just last summer. Takes it to Freedom Subaru in Temple, TX. For everything and is almost religious about it. Well she'd taken it in to get it serviced (oil change, etc), and after getting home noticed a bit of oil underneath and on the driveway. I talked to her husband and it sounded like they just got messy and didnt clean up that plastic bit underneath. They were going to wipe that up really well and look at it again. Oil dripping went away. Sweet. The next day she's making a trip to Iowa, yes Iowa, from central Texas and on her way through the Norman, OK area BANG, BOOM, POW. Not quite. But the cruise kicked off, smoke started pouring out the back, all the lights came on and she coasted to the side of the road.:wtc: The local dealership, Automax in Norman, Oklahoma gave her a brand new 2008 Outback while they worked on her car, and she went to IA.:bowdown: She arrived back in Norman to pick her car up and her car was there waiting on her. Ready as it would ever be. :wavey: The following is her account of the events. [While at Automax] "I don’t have the paper work with me (dammit…I meant to bring it today), but they tested it for cam lock, which they explained happens when the car runs out of oil. [Oil plug had fallen out and was laying on that plastic tray underneath] They filled it with oil & tested it and said I was “very lucky”, that I must have shut down the engine before any damage was done. And while they did not volunteer anything, they agreed when I brought it up that there’s no telling what might happen with the engine in a week, month or year. hnoes: I phoned the dealer in Temple (Freedom Subaru) & asked to speak to the service manager (“Bobby”). After a lengthy “hold”, I was informed by “Todd” that the service manager was “out”. So I asked to speak to the dealership manager. After another lengthy hold & several rings, I got “Simone”’s voicemail (it didn’t say if she was the manager or not). I left a calm message, explaining briefly why I was calling (as I did with “Todd”) and asked her to call me back, leaving my cell phone number. Before I got home (had a hair appointment), Freedom Subaru called my home (saying they got the house number from the sales paperwork) to get “some information” from me about what happened, etc. My husband told them I wasn’t home yet. He can’t remember if they asked me to call them or they said that they’d call back. But no one called & I was busy yesterday, so I didn’t phone them. I’m going to wait till a couple students piss me off, then call them back. :squint: I paid Automax/Norman nearly $250 for the repairs, although they didn’t charge me for the use of the 2008 Outback loaner, which performed great. Automax in Norman is beyond reproach and went above & beyond to help me get to Iowa to be with my mother for her CT scan. They had my car fixed by the 9th, even though they knew I wouldn’t be back till the14th. I wish I could buy my next car from them. Other than the knowledgeable, professional salesman who sold me my Forester, I’ve not been impressed with Freedom Subaru. Even though they know I live down 6 miles of gravel road, they never checked my air filter until I made a special trip down there (80 miles) and asked them to. When I asked them to find a fault in my tire that caused my husband to fill it with air nearly every day, they said they couldn’t find one. So I told them to look again. Then they found a nail, which they said was hard to find because there were so many rocks in the tire…like it was my fault or something.:fawk: I’m composing a letter for Subaru of America, too. Have written a letter commending Marty Peterson (manager) and Larry Palin (service manager) at Automax/Norman & will mail that soon. And the last little bits: The car was travelliing at freeway speeds when the plug fell out, cruise shut off, and lights came on the dash.hnoes: The original dealer has stated that they will not put in a new engine, but will look at it for damage. Yea, they're gonna pull the oil pan and rod and main berings? I guess they could check the oil pressure to see if it falls within a certain spec?ssh: They also have offered to cover her 30k service which is coming up in about 10k miles, and pay for any charges she incurred at the other dealer.:hs: So far she's not satisfied. They gave her the old "you have a 100k warrenty" routine, but then she asked about 200k. Saying that what if before this incident her engine would have lasted 250k miles, but now it only lasts 150. They said there was no way for them to measure that. She's gonna write a letter to the two dealers and SOA, and is currently thinking she may not keep her Fozzy if she cant trust the engine b/c she lives in the sticks (6 miles of dirt road just to get to pavement), and regularly takes very long road trips. So your scoobie was running when all the oil ran out on ya, what would you do? :dunno
That motor is toast. I'm willing to bet that the bearings are heat scarred and scratched. That engine was under load and at speed. Nuff said.
sounds like someone did not put the oil plug back on to spec torque... the dealer did the oil change,the dealer is at fault. she needs to ass-rape them with an oil-sump tube.
She's just sent a lengthy letter to SOA via their web site and mailing the same to them, both dealers, and L.L. Bean! She's had a bit of trouble with that dealer in Temple. We'll see what happens next.:eek3:
+1. I hydrolocked a Honda Motor a few years back and thought I would save some money by rebuilding instead of replacing. I spent a few grand in repairs and it ran fine for another 20k miles or so and then the oil pump died on a roadtrip. Moral of the story: you have no idea what happened to a motor during a catastrophic failure like that. It may run fine now, but you have NO IDEA when it will decide to die again. So i will reiterate what WJM said. New Motor or New Car.
I would think that rebuilding is fine in most cases, but if you ever have a motor apart to rebuild it like that, definately replace ALL bearings along with the oil pump. Skipping the oil pump on a hydrolocked was your mistake IMO. I would have imagined that it would have been fine otherwise.
You are right. I was only 19 at the time and I didn't know better, but more importantly my mechanic did not know to do that either. :hsnono: Ha, I would have gladly paid for the new oil pump I just did not know to replace it. But back OT, I think no oil is worse than bending out a connecting rod so I still vote new motor.
I agree. Plus my Mom paid cash, yes cash for a brand new 07 Forester. mainly cuz she'd been by to visit me and really liked mine. In that bran new car was a brand new engine, not a rebuilt one. :hsnono: Especially at 17,500 miles. :eek3:
Cap lock is not = to cruse control for cool. OT: I would have the engine replaced or get a new forester. I just couldn't trust it after that.
Perhaps what you should do is she how she likes the new model forester, if she does then try and get the dealer to give her a damn good deal and put her in that.
With all the trouble she is having with that Subaru Dealership to begin with, unless there is another Subaru dealership in the area, I would get away from the Suby.
^^^ :werd: Its really too bad too. She loves that car, and I feel bad cuz Im the one that put that idea in her head. Theres always Mitsubishi... ssh: :rofl:
oil question: my oil cap and owners manual clearly indicate 5w30 oil, and thats all ive used (dino during break in and now full synthetic since) so why are there many threads on nasioc that suggest that I'm using the wrong oil? I have never used Mobil 1 thanks to nasioc, and now Im reading that 5w30 is too thin...what gives?
For normal use on the street with the car in STOCK form...5w30 all day long. 5w40/10w40/15w40 seems to be best on MODIFIED cars that are driven HARD. If you are lightly mod'd and drive the car sportingly...5w30 is fine.
hmmm... would you classify HARD as like on a mountain run/autox where you mostly use the upper rmp ranges?
so at 55k I had my oil changed at Subaru of Gwinnett....first time since buying the car new in Feb 06 that I havent done the job myself. Im just too damn busy. $68 for Motul full syn 5w30 plus a car wash and a couple plastic snaps to replace a couple that disappeared to hold the plastic undertray. Big thumbsup to Neil at SOG...he was super friendly, knowledgeable and helpful. I know $70 is a lot for an oil change but it was worth every penny all things considered.