[zzaakkkk]

http://club.autohome.com.cn/bbs/thread-c-285-25449695-1.html

Above is the link, it's an Chinese forester forum. the owner bought the FXT 2014, it's 2013 in China, 140 days ago, got 7746 km mileage, and during the national holidays in Oct, he was in the beginning of a week-long road trip, the engine just blew, time belt broken, had a hole of 2 cm diameter in the engine, everything inside the engine spread all over.

You can check those pictures, if you have difficulty reading Chinese.

After about 2 weeks, the dealer promised they will replace the engine for free.

The thing is I am on the edge to buy FXT 2014, but this news absolutely knocked me back. Any thoughts on how much percentage this kind of incident would happen? would subaru factory have different manufacture standards for cars selling to different areas?

 

[Irongrave]

First I've seen, guess is something stopped turning =burnt belt blown up motor. there are a a lot of FA and FB blocks out there with out issues like that.

 

[TM875]

It's hard to tell without reading Chinese, but my guess is that either the belt was faulty or that the turbo was faulty. Not much would cause oil to spray out like that.

In any engine, in any car, there will always be a fail rate, even right out of the factory. Especially without knowing the specifics of this individual case (how he was running it, what maintenance he had done, oil level, etc), I wouldn't worry. There's factory warranties for a reason if you're the lucky soul that has this happen to them.

One failure out of thousands of FB engines wouldn't concern me.

 

[sokalled]

Honestly, if you are on the fence, the FXT may not be the car for you. Most of us have been chomping at the bit for years waiting for this car and couldn't be happier. It truly is stellar, there's nothing else like it. Perhaps a Toureg/GLK/Tiguan but add 10k. So 1 engine blew, who cares, he's getting a new one.

 

[GeoJosh]

In any engine, in any car, there will always be a fail rate, even right out of the factory. Especially without knowing the specifics of this individual case (how he was running it, what maintenance he had done, oil level, etc), I wouldn't worry. There's factory warranties for a reason if you're the lucky soul that has this happen to them.

All of this, x 1000.

 

[The Sage]

Honestly, if you are on the fence, the FXT may not be the car for you. Most of us have been chomping at the bit for years waiting for this car and couldn't be happier. It truly is stellar, there's nothing else like it. Perhaps a Toureg/GLK/Tiguan but add 10k. So 1 engine blew, who cares, he's getting a new one.

I've driven the GLK a number of times as a rental car and can honestly say my FXT is every bit as good an SUV, maybe better and costs about $12k less.

 

[tonyford]

Maybe I am wrong, but I thought I read somewhere that Subaru does not use a timing "belt", but a timing "chain", like in a metal chain.

This could be only for FB25 engine. If it was a chain, something really catastrophic had to happen inside that engine.

 

[JonaJS98]

Yikes, then again, as previously stated: it is one in thousands.

 

[bozly]

I realize it's a new model but I'd have to see quite a few more before I'd be worried. Image how many Honda motors have blown and no one bats an eye.

Sent from my Galaxy Nexus

 

[pleiad7]

http://club.autohome.com.cn/bbs/thread-c-285-25449695-1.html

Above is the link, it's an Chinese forester forum. the owner bought the FXT 2014, it's 2013 in China, 140 days ago, got 7746 km mileage, and during the national holidays in Oct, he was in the beginning of a week-long road trip, the engine just blew, time belt broken, had a hole of 2 cm diameter in the engine, everything inside the engine spread all over.

That's not a timing belt (timing belts are toothed, and MY14 Foresters have a chain anyway). Accessory belt, but what a strange type of failure, no? Looks like it was cut straight through, not like it burned itself up from a seized pulley or something.

 

[Foxzy]

That's not a timing belt (timing belts are toothed, and MY14 Foresters have a chain anyway). Accessory belt, but what a strange type of failure, no? Looks like it was cut straight through, not like it burned itself up from a seized pulley or something.

That looks like the drive belt. And I thought the linear cut/tear appeared strange, too.

 

[valvestem]

If you scroll far enough down in the photos, you'll see one pointing out a broken/failed bracket of some type on the side of the motor.

 

[Duderotomy]

Definitely not a broken timing belt, the belt is the wrong type and these cars use a timing chain as people have stated already.
It looks like the belt was either pinched or touched by something hot when stationary. A pulley wouldn't burn through it perfectly straight like that.

 

[The Sage]

That's not a timing belt (timing belts are toothed, and MY14 Foresters have a chain anyway). Accessory belt, but what a strange type of failure, no? Looks like it was cut straight through, not like it burned itself up from a seized pulley or something.

Yes, it's the serpentine belt that drives all the accessory components not the timing belt.

The belt break appears suspicious as it looks like a "clean cut." If you look at the cut closely it would appear that someone or something started the cut and the tension and increased stress on the portion not cut snapped. The rest of the damage is due to the belt breaking. My guess is someone with a beef against this guy may have sabotage his engine. Or maybe is disgruntled Chinese Subaru mechanic.

I've replaced old/worn serpentine belts on cars before because the mechanics always worn me about the disastrous results of one breaking. A belt breaking due to wear would show signs of fraying and rubber cracking. This ones a clean cut.

 

[Duderotomy]

It's also possible that a piece of sharp debris from the road managed to work itself into the engine bay. Less likely, but still not impossible.

 

[chnip82]

The guys said there was a 2cm hole inside the engine, which was possibly made by the connecting rod from the piston part. For the belt, it was cut when the engine was locked by itself. And the guy also said that this accident may reflect the quality of the new engine, coz it is used by the lighter materials, which makes the crankcase thinner than before.

 

[neall_v]

One anecdote over hundreds of thousands of sales allows you to infer exactly zero about the reliability of the FA20-DIT.

The internet offers so much reach that it makes people skittish. Most of the problems we've heard about on this form relate to the electronics, not grenading engines, but even then, it's impossible to estimate reliability across the entire run of cars with the information we have.

It's a relatively new engine, so us early buyers are beta testers to some degree. That's what warranties are for. Subaru will refine the design as customers put on the miles over the years.

It's a great package though.

 

[Loscaldazar]

The guys said there was a 2cm hole inside the engine, which was possibly made by the connecting rod from the piston part. For the belt, it was cut when the engine was locked by itself. And the guy also said that this accident may reflect the quality of the new engine, coz it is used by the lighter materials, which makes the crankcase thinner than before.

The FA20 is stronger than the EJ without a doubt. Crawford performance said the open deck design of the FA is stronger than any semi-closed/closed deck EJ.

If you tried to run the same amount of boost that the FA20 can take (open deck) in an open deck EJ engine, you would be splitting the cylinder walls. I haven't seen a single open deck EJ engine run over 300 HP with out a fair amount of work. An open deck FA has been pushed to over 600 hp/TQ by several companies now. It's a good engine

 

[Sweaty]

I can't see the chinese website from work. Chinese warranty might be a little different but they should still replace it on warranty.

it would have sucked if it was my car, but then i get a brand new engine for free. so in the end you're better off with the new engine. at least it blew on warranty.

FA20DIT is timing chain, and chains are strong and extremely reliable. a faulty chain wouldn't cause the engine to explode, it would just mess up your valves, heads, injectors, plugs, and piston. it would require a complete rebuild for a faulty chain, but not a hole in the block. it could be a failed con rod pin or the alike.

But like i said, if there is a faulty in a new car you buy, it would most likely break during the warranty. thats what the warranty is for... any factory defects. after teh warranty period, its assumed the engine and cars components are all fine and should last a while.

and chains never need replacing! woot

 

[Dan]

One anecdote over hundreds of thousands of sales allows you to infer exactly zero about the reliability of the FA20-DIT.

That's it, really. 20 or more and it makes you think there might be something to it. One? Bad luck for that guy, and he's getting a new motor.