[halfx]

Hi All I have a 2009 Forester XT and my Turbo just blew up at only 24000miles. I did all of the maintenance and oil changes on time and treated the car like a baby so i am very upset. I bought the car in USA but live in Canada. So I have to get the dealer in Canada to fix it and pay for it out of my pocket ($2200.00 repair!) and then submit the receipt to Subaru of America to get my money back.

My worries is that the Turbo is gonna blow up every couple of years and I will continuosly have to pay for this repair out of pocket after the warranty is up!

So my questions for everyone are the following:

1) Is this common that the Turbo blows up on this Subaru Engine? If not how many miles should I be able to go before a turbo blows up?

2) Has anyone else with a 2009 FXT had their turbo blow up on them yet?

3) Since I did all the maintenance and oil changes on time I have a bad taste in my mouth and very worried I got a lemon....do you guys thinks I should get rid of it and get something else like a RAV4 or CRV? Is this Model year 2009 of Foresters an unreliable bunch?

I really love the FXT till this happened and feel let down. Please let me know your thoughts guys. thanks

 

[ChaseMe]

Wow that really sucks. I think there was a recall or at least stop sales on 09 FXTs for a Turbo related problem. Maybe you ended up with one of these engines and were not notified of the recall due to buying it in the US? In any case there doesn't seem to be many people on here with similar issues, so I doubt it'll become a common problem for you.

As for trading DOWN for a RAV or CRV, do you really want to give up so many benefits on your first problem with the Forester?

 

[halfx]

Wow that really sucks. I think there was a recall or at least stop sales on 09 FXTs for a Turbo related problem. Maybe you ended up with one of these engines and were not notified of the recall due to buying it in the US? In any case there doesn't seem to be many people on here with similar issues, so I doubt it'll become a common problem for you.

As for trading DOWN for a RAV or CRV, do you really want to give up so many benefits on your first problem with the Forester?

It really does suck....They are saying its not the engine....just that the turbo has blown....is that possible? I believe it is but would like your opinions. I called Subaru of America and they said my VIN has no recalls or any warnings that there is any issues with my engine or that it was was effected by the stop sales issue. I would really like to keep the FXT and not trade it in for a RAV4 or CRV but like I said is this going to be something that happens every 24K and I need to keep changing the turbo?...I thought these days they dont blow up or if they do its at least after 100K....what you guys think?

 

[stevemac829]

As for trading DOWN for a RAV or CRV, do you really want to give up so many benefits on your first problem with the Forester?

Point taken, but for a first problem it is a doozy, no? Halfx, sounds like this should be covered under warranty. Pursue that aggressively. Take no prisoners. Hire a lawyer if you have to. I think you're going to come out okay...
Good luck,
Steve
09 2.5X AT

 

[TSi+WRX]

There was - and still is - no recall.

It was a preemptive "Stop-Sale" order - details:

http://www.subaruforester.org/vbull...s-turbo-stop-sale-certain-08-09-models-31757/

It did not have to do with the turbo, rather, it affected, specifically, the turbocharged variants - the suspect item is contamination of the crank bearing.

In that master list of linked threads, currently, the 4th one down from the bottom is one I authored, to detail our personal experience with this issue.

halfx, do you have any details on how they determined that the turbo blew?

 

[flstffxe]

Hi All I have a 2009 Forester XT and my Turbo just blew up at only 24000miles. I did all of the maintenance and oil changes on time and treated the car like a baby so i am very upset. I bought the car in USA but live in Canada. So I have to get the dealer in Canada to fix it and pay for it out of my pocket ($2200.00 repair!) and then submit the receipt to Subaru of America to get my money back.

I guess we now know the price you pay for buying in the States and importing into Canada, hassle in getting warranty work paid/done.

My worries is that the Turbo is gonna blow up every couple of years and I will continuously have to pay for this repair out of pocket after the warranty is up!

1) Is this common that the Turbo blows up on this Subaru Engine? If not how many miles should I be able to go before a turbo blows up?

Turbo failures are not common many run long past 100K miles. Honestly it is not some thing I would worry about, pay the bill(it sucks) and work on getting reimbursed.

2) Has anyone else with a 2009 FXT had their turbo blow up on them yet?

I don't recall any threads by other members where the turbo has failed. The other threads for engine related failures as TSI+WRX mentioned are for the crank bearings in the engines, which prompted a stop sale order to contain the majority of those suspect vehicles. Vehicles that suffered a failure had the engine replaced with a new unit.
http://www.subaruforester.org/vbull...s-turbo-stop-sale-certain-08-09-models-31757/ Subaru has done a outstanding job in taking care of vehicles that did make it out to customers, with the majority of those customers having their vehicle back in a mater of days.

3) Since I did all the maintenance and oil changes on time I have a bad taste in my mouth and very worried I got a lemon....do you guys thinks I should get rid of it and get something else like a RAV4 or CRV? Is this Model year 2009 of Foresters an unreliable bunch?

I really love the FXT till this happened and feel let down. Please let me know your thoughts guys. thanks

I don't understand the as you said "bad taste in my mouth". Mechanical things do break. Some times there is just an early bloomer in the bunch, That is what the warranty is for and it sounds as if you already know the steps you need to go through to get it covered/repaired. I would venture a guess it wouldn't taste so bad if you didn't have to go through the extra steps of paying out of pocket and getting reimbursed as your warranty is with Subaru of America and not Subaru of Canada.

As has been mentioned it would help to know the cause of the turbo failure. Was it an oiling issue? Bearing issue? Cracked housing? Did the turbine come apart?..... As "blown turbo" is rather vague. Knowing how/why it failed would be a must for me, but that is me...

If it were mine I would let the dealer replace it, get reimbursed and not worry about it, and enjoy.

 

[halfx]

There was - and still is - no recall.

It was a preemptive "Stop-Sale" order - details:

http://www.subaruforester.org/vbull...s-turbo-stop-sale-certain-08-09-models-31757/

It did not have to do with the turbo, rather, it affected, specifically, the turbocharged variants - the suspect item is contamination of the crank bearing.

In that master list of linked threads, currently, the 4th one down from the bottom is one I authored, to detail our personal experience with this issue.

halfx, do you have any details on how they determined that the turbo blew?

thanks for your feedback...i have no details on why the turbo went...nor does the dealer and they said they would never know as they said the diagnostic they did read that it was the turbo and the loud noise made that clear...so they are just gonna take it out and then replace it with the new one. I am out of having my car for a week or more and have to pay out of pocket but Subaru USA told me I would be reiembursed so I am trusting them so at least thats a good thing

 

[halfx]

I guess we now know the price you pay for buying in the States and importing into Canada, hassle in getting warranty work paid/done.


Turbo failures are not common many run long past 100K miles. Honestly it is not some thing I would worry about, pay the bill(it sucks) and work on getting reimbursed.


I don't recall any threads by other members where the turbo has failed. The other threads for engine related failures as TSI+WRX mentioned are for the crank bearings in the engines, which prompted a stop sale order to contain the majority of those suspect vehicles. Vehicles that suffered a failure had the engine replaced with a new unit.
http://www.subaruforester.org/vbull...s-turbo-stop-sale-certain-08-09-models-31757/ Subaru has done a outstanding job in taking care of vehicles that did make it out to customers, with the majority of those customers having their vehicle back in a mater of days.



I don't understand the as you said "bad taste in my mouth". Mechanical things do break. Some times there is just an early bloomer in the bunch, That is what the warranty is for and it sounds as if you already know the steps you need to go through to get it covered/repaired. I would venture a guess it wouldn't taste so bad if you didn't have to go through the extra steps of paying out of pocket and getting reimbursed as your warranty is with Subaru of America and not Subaru of Canada.

As has been mentioned it would help to know the cause of the turbo failure. Was it an oiling issue? Bearing issue? Cracked housing? Did the turbine come apart?..... As "blown turbo" is rather vague. Knowing how/why it failed would be a must for me, but that is me...

If it were mine I would let the dealer replace it, get reimbursed and not worry about it, and enjoy.

thanks so much for the feedback...i knew the risks of buying it in the USA so i am cool with having to pay upfront then waiting for Subaru USA to reimburse me...i am cool with that and thank god I atleast got that and will get my money back as I heard Honda and Toyota do not honor their warrantys at all in Canada!

I am Glad to hear you say that blown Turbos are not a common thing as that is something I am scared of now. The bad taste in my mouth is just that, I didnt think it would go especially since I always change the oil and did all the required maintenance on it.

I am leaning towards what you suggested of just getting it fixed, getting reimbursed and keeping the car as I really love it up till now and I just hope once its fixed that the Turbo will not blow out again or atleast wait till i have 300K miles on it!!!

 

[TSi+WRX]

^ I hope that SoA will come through for you, too. :smile: Please do keep us updated.

As to the "diagnosis?"

That's sketchy. Really, really sketchy.

Although there's a "typical" set of CEL/DTCs that could point towards a turbo-failure diagnosis, it's far from definitive (look at the "blown stock turbo" threads on LegacyGT.com) - but as soon as the turbo is removed, the service techs should be able to determine if it is blown (although exactly why will be more challenging, and it's possible that it truly may never be known).

And if the turbo blew, I hope they're checking your engine, too.

 

[halfx]

^ I hope that SoA will come through for you, too. :smile: Please do keep us updated.

As to the "diagnosis?"

That's sketchy. Really, really sketchy.

Although there's a "typical" set of CEL/DTCs that could point towards a turbo-failure diagnosis, it's far from definitive (look at the "blown stock turbo" threads on LegacyGT.com) - but as soon as the turbo is removed, the service techs should be able to determine if it is blown (although exactly why will be more challenging, and it's possible that it truly may never be known).

And if the turbo blew, I hope they're checking your engine, too.

TSI/WRX I agree sounds sketchy but when the CEL went on I got this horrible sound but I could tell it wasnt the engine and the car still drove and did not shake, you could just hear the nasty noise of the blown turbo. I dont think I will ever know what happened and thats fine so long as the new turbo works and they do a good job replacing it and dont mess up other stuff while doing this major repair.

Do you think I should get them to check the engine? Can I make them do that? They are saying its not the engine so not sure what I should tell them....let me know. thanks

 

[TSi+WRX]

^ I honestly don't know how you could force them to, but given what some on the LegacyGT.com Forum have found either in their drained oil or in their oil-pans after suffering a blown turbo (definitive, from "postmortem," if you will), I think that if I were in your shoes, with, literally, those pictures on my monitor, it would always be something that's nagging at the back of my mind. :frown:

But at the same time, again, what can you do? :frown:

If they're saying that the engine is not affected, I think that the best - and maybe even only - thing that you can do would be to have them document that they're maintaining that line of reasoning, so that if something does go wrong with the engine after-the-fact, you've got documentation.

If they haven't drained the oil already, if I were again in your shoes, I would be very, inclined to do it yourself. Not only to search for clearly visible metal particles (as was the case on that horrifying LegacyGT.com thread) - but to also send away for analysis.

A turbo, to me, a long-time forced-induction guy :smile:, is a small thing, and is something that I'd almost consider a consumable item (if an expensive one!).

It's really the health of the engine that I'm worried about.

 

[vintage42]

... I think there was a recall or at least stop sales on 09 FXTs for a Turbo related problem...

The problem was on XT motors, but was disintegrating con rod bearings in the engine, not related to the exterior turbocharger itself.

 

[vintage42]

... I don't recall any threads by other members where the turbo has failed...

Here are some:
http://www.subaruforester.org/vbulletin/f88/smell-smoke-coming-turbo-area-18711/#post419723
http://www.subaruforester.org/vbulletin/f87/smoking-turbo-5945/
http://www.subaruforester.org/vbulletin/f87/whats-going-my-turbo-1522/

 

[vintage42]

... I have a 2009 Forester XT and my Turbo just blew up at only 24,000 miles. I did all of the... oil changes on time...

Which is every 3,750 miles:

Under normal driving conditions, the recommended oil and oil filter change interval for turbo vehicles is every 3,750 miles or four months, whichever comes first. However, for vehicles driven in conditions beyond normal... the oil and oil filter may require more frequent changes. Any driving where the engine speed is kept high...

Caring for Subaru Turbocharged Engines

 

[funkymonkey1002]

I'd bring it somewhere else for a 2nd opinion. Pretty sketchy to decide its the turbo without removing it and just because of a noise. Could be a ton of things.

 

[TSi+WRX]

Here are some:
http://www.subaruforester.org/vbulletin/f88/smell-smoke-coming-turbo-area-18711/#post419723
http://www.subaruforester.org/vbulletin/f87/smoking-turbo-5945/
http://www.subaruforester.org/vbulletin/f87/whats-going-my-turbo-1522/

^ The first two, via the OPs', were SG-chassis, which utilized, IIRC, the Mitsubishi TD04. The '09 (SH) is a IHI VF52.

I honestly have not paid specific attention to the upgrade paths of various FI Subarus involving the VF52 - which is considered a true bolt-on upgrade for many with previous-iteration or generation WRXs and BL/BP-Legacy/Outback vehicles - as its power capabilities do not interest me (I'm the kind of guy who likes, say, a FP Red or a GT30 or GT35 :icon_redface, but as with flstffxe, I have not read much about the VF52 failing, at least not at this currently very early juncture.

EDIT - The above highlighted in RED is incorrect! :redface: I don't know why I thought that the SH's were equipped with a VF52, but that is definitely not the case. The SH's factory turbo is still the Mitsu TD04!

The last (a 1997 s/tb SF-chassis, of which I'm not familiar with - but with a few Google searches, I believe that it uses a Mitsubishi TF035 ) seemed to have been diagnosed and fixed, and was isolated to a coolant hose connection problem, not a true turbo failure.

To me, thus, none of those particular posts/threads can serve as validation.

Furthermore, I think that's un-necessarily alarmist: it would be akin to me telling halfx to worry about the VF52 under the hood of his '09, based on current BL/BP community experiences with the VF40. It just doesn't apply.

Edit: same goes for the above - with the exception that the last referenced thread still cannot serve as proper validation.

Apologies to all! :redface:

However, given the corrections, that brings about a totally different picture. The TD04 is a venerable old workhorse, serving in multiple "tuner" vehicles, including many Subaru platforms, in multiple roles. With that in mind, how many cases of early failure of the TD04 can we point a finger to? If anything, this makes the case even more unlikely that a TD04 failure, at as early of a junction as that of halfx's, is anything but a lone statistical blip.



---

The problem was on XT motors, but was disintegrating con rod bearings in the engine, not related to the exterior turbocharger itself.

^ Yep, posts #5 and 6 both clarified that one. :smile:


---

Which is every 3,750 miles:

^ halfx said that he'd done everything (or had everything done) on time - was this just for clarification? :shrug: He listed 24K miles as his current ODO reading, as a reference point for the mileage, total, at which he experienced his current problem(s).

The service requirements of force-induced Subarus of the last two generations are a well-known fact, now: so much so that many who render pre-purchase opinions are keen to point out such needs of addition time and/or monetary commitment to the vehicle, to a potential buyer debating between a turbocharged vehicle or its naturally aspirated variant.

 

[vintage42]

... ^ halfx said that he'd done everything (or had everything done) on time - was this just for clarification? ...

It was not clear what "on time" meant. Some turbo owners are not aware that the oil change interval is half that of the plain engine.

 

[TSi+WRX]

^ True, but at the same time, I did not think it would be appropriate - nor necessary - to cast doubt on halfx's words.

If another member here says that they've performed the necessary maintenance, I'm simply willing to accept that, at face value. :smile:

 

[vintage42]

^ True, but at the same time, I did not think it would be appropriate - nor necessary - to cast doubt on halfx's words.
If another member here says that they've performed the necessary maintenance, I'm simply willing to accept that, at face value. :smile:

Is such clarification not relevant to the subject?
What if by "on time", halfx meant 7,500 miles?
What if the resulting 3 oil changes in 24,000 miles could be a factor in turbo life?

TSi+WRX, I did mean to be personal with halfx, but you are personal with me.

 

[TSi+WRX]

TSi+WRX, I did mean to be personal with halfx, but you are personal with me.

^ I am being personal with you because you're starting off attacking the OP - there's no need for that.

You could've simply asked him to clarify what he'd meant by being "on-time" with his oil-changes. That would not only lead to being less confrontational, but also would elicit, perhaps, a more off-the-cuff response (i.e. now that you've pointed out, so strictly, the 3750 mile/4-month requirement, do you think that anyone who is posting about potential powertrain issues would come and say: "oh, no, I forgot?!").

There's no need to be adversarial - we're all brothers and sisters in our love for these vehicles, why target anyone "to be personal with," particularly of their initial posting? Why not just ask for clarification? Why not just be kind, particularly as it is a member in trouble, who has come to us for help at his moment of need? :smile:

And if you're being personal with another member - which is what you said, above, that you "mean[t] to be personal with halfx" - why shouldn't I, in-turn, be personal with you? :frown: