EPIC FAILS: Anyone been let down by their Subie?

Tweaksta

Tweaksta

Senior Member
Joined
Jul 22, 2008
Messages
615
Location
McMahons Point, Sydney
Car Year
2000
Transmission
5MT
Who has suffered a let-down by their Subie in a remote area or far from home?

Of course, we all know about Dulagarl's little (big) mishap but I just want to hear any other tales of Subies failing in inconvenient circumstances.

Don't forget to include some background info on mods, vehicle's age and mileage as this is important to bear in mind.
 
How about ones that didn't?

Roo1 was a completely stock 1993 Impreza. 1.8L donk, 5MT, hatch.

Mostly driven like I stole it from new (with the exception of running it in properly for the first couple of thousand kms).

At trade-in, it had done 234,000 kms over 18 years, and never left me anywhere.

Drove it to Brissy last Nov-Dec just before trading it in on Roo2. It used no oil or water in around 4,500 kms. Most of the trip up was done in 38-43°C temperatures.

Repairs (apart from maintenance, such as occasional services, brake pads, etc):

  • New exhaust from the cat back.
  • Air-con compressor bearings.
  • Water pump.
  • Re-gas air-con; repair and replace seals to be compatible with R134A refrigerant.
  • Re-spray of bonnet, roof due to repair of rust caused by dodgy windscreen replacement about 10 years ago.
  • One wheel was slightly out of alignment when checked at 3x replacement of tyres at around 235,000 kms.
  • Replaced battery x2.
  • Replaced faulty instrument nacelle at around 160,000 kms - under warranty!
  • Couple of re-co front drive shafts due to broken CV boots.
Not exactly problematic ... :rotfl:

Second cheapest car I have ever owned per km from cradle to grave. The cheapest one was bought s/h, so the depreciation was way less than on Roo1.

Hopefully, Roo2 will be every bit as trouble free.
 
i have very much been let down by my subies.

1) my 89' brumby with 269,000 on the clock. the fuel pump decided to die, luckly it was at home in the garage and i had a spare. so not a huge problem

2) this is the biggest, my 99' forester with 165,000 on the clock decided to blow up!:surprised: only mods are lifted springs and i always serviced it.

the location was about 4 hours from home and on the other side of melbourne!:madred:
had to leave it on the side of the road for the night, and get mum to come pick me up with a car trailer the next day. towed it home and was car less for about 3 months :(

this has now been resolved with a good low k engine
 
I've been quite lucky really :)

However, it did let me down BIG time on one occasion :o
That was when I blew my gearbox, when the thruster bearing decided to let go :furious:Luckily it was only about 1km from home :madred:

Apart from that my Forry has taken anything & everything I've been able to throw at it especially offroad :woohoo:

Regards
Mr Turbo
 
I had my radiator spring a leak up near Scone NSW. It was only 268kms to get home which was relatively easy to nurse back to Sydney. I just kept lots of water and coolant in the car and checked it every 50kms on the way home.

This is the only issue I have had in the 90,000kms / 6 years I've owned it.

Not bad considering the places I've taken it and the terrain I have tackled.
 
1974 Subaru Wagon, first cold weather trip...

First 4WD model sold in US I believe. 1600 roaring cubic centimeters, whatever those are. This was a great snow car!

We were on I-80 in Western Iowa in temps of about -20 (near -30C) with a chilling North wind, on a Christmas trip in 1974. Windshield kept frosting over to the point of stopping periodically to give the defrosters a chance to catch up. The little thing began to lose oil pressure. Pulled over, took a look. Sure enough, no oil on the stick, definite signs of leakage from midships on back Threw in my spare quart and limped to next truck stop where I filled the crankcase again. The clutch began to chatter after every stop, and to really chatter in reverse. Hmmm..??

Turned out the engine breather hoses had frosted completely closed, effectively sealing the crankcase. The pressure built up and was relieved by the engine rear seal, which leaked all the oil into the clutch.

Although the leakage stopped when the weather warmed the next day, I kept extra quarts of oil in the car, finished the trip and got her back home to my dealer in Clarksville, TN. They put in a new rear seal as a precaution, installed a dry clutch plate and wrapped the breather hoses with aluminum foil and insulation, all at no charge. They even washed off the oily mess underneath. She never did it again.

El Pedorro
 
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I have had 7 subies, from an 82 MY wagon I had for 4 years, lifted, sports system. I remember swapping the starter motor in the dark on the side of the road only had 2 spanners took me about 20 mins after a taxi ride into the nearest town and back, got me home and only 2 hours late.
2 L's a touring wagon thing developed a leaking head gasket drove it for 2 years like that and an RX turbo kept blowing airbag shocks ($750 back then no cheap import parts and never thought to swap to springs)after the 3rd in as many years had to get rid of it
one liberty 96, had crank angle sensor issues and leaking power steering pumps( straight onto the exhaust, had my own smoke screen when i stopped at lights) hit a roo in it once up mt Lamington about 9pm had to gaffer tape the bonnet down and the headlight back in, got home.
a legacy GT wagon blew the auto up on it twice ( my fault i kept putting the boost up and flogging it on race tracks)got home both times slowly.
and two foresters a 07 X 85000 k's nothing and my current 09 xt 113000ks only thing is i have just been told i need new bushes in the rear, could have something to do with doing over 5000k's fully loaded and towing a ton of camper over outback roads.

the old MY was the only one that has ever come close to leaving me stranded, all have got me home under their own steam.

love subies :)
 
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Were to being.... Let me down in every mechanical way possible many times. I'm just over the money taking POS. I really don't have any love at all for my Forester..

EDIT:
I have never been strandard due to my subie braking down but it certainly is costly. The whole driveline, except for tail shaft(And some CV's) has been replaced, motor done once(2nd time in a few weeks with a rebuilt 2.5l), Suspension has been replaced except for front shocks. Then add a heap of mods and time. It is/was a good car, I'd certainly buy another Subaru but not offroad it. For the offroading I want to do, the car 'can' do it, but what you have to put it through it just isn't designed for... no matter the modifications made.
The only 3 places where they beat the hell out of a real/big 4WD offroad is on gravel roads for rallying, snow and sand as they are so light.. Other than that they just aren't cut out for it. I do like however 'showing up' big 4WD's and the look on their faces is almost priceless, but with the total money spent on my 11 year old car I could of bought a near(possibly brand new) SH Foz XT yet look what I have.
The car has always gotten me home though, even with a blown gearbox, blown rear diff, stuffed motor, snapped CV's, busted bearings and the likes..
 
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Some good stories here.

I can't really say that my vehicle let me down on that trip: if anything it saved my life. Would have been a lot worse in a larger vehicle. I suppose the only thing that let me down was the design of the trailing arm lift blocks, but that won't happen again.

Will get around to a trip report on that one day...
 
Swifty - 84 1800 Wagon - 11 years ... let me down once only. On a trip from Brisbane to Queanbeyan (1260kms), Swifty swallowed some dirty fuel.

For the return trip (Queanbeyan to Brisbane), I treated Swifty to a Subaru Service and had them change all her fuel filters & make sure she would be ok for the return trip. I left after work, and realised (in the rain and dark) that she was still choking... apparently from dirty fuel. Every hill I came to I nursed her over... feeling her dying but pushing her with her little old 4 speed stick and driving through the gears for all she was worth.

A trip that usually takes around 13-14 hours, through driving rain ... took me around 18 hours. When I got to Ipswich, the CD player stopped working. A little further along the road, the fan that was keeping the windscreen de-misted stopped working. A little further along,.... OMG! In the driving rain... the windscreen wipers stopped working. On dusk... 2kms from my destination... the LIGHTS went out.... 5M more... .pffffft.... the poor girl died from exhaustion.......

It was peak hour on Gympie road.. I could not even open the door to get out and look under the bonnet, so I checked the fuses (to achieve this in a seated position with the door closed... I shone the torch on my phone down with my head on the steering wheel so I could see if anything was awry).

Minutes later... the police! Some tripper had called and reported a Subaru driver passed out at the wheel stuck on Gympie Road. Minutes later again arrived the NRMA tow truck, and Swifty was loaded the final 2kms home.

The next day I called an auto electrician who diagnosed a faulty alternator. He came and replaced that... but to me when I started her, she still sounded sick. Any1 who has a Subaru knows how they should sound. I said to him, she sounds like she is starving for fuel..., but I don't understand why - and THEN I knew. When I bought Swifty, she had 2 fuel filters quite close together under the bonnet. Whoever had her before me CLEARLY had trouble with the fuel filter under the driver's side wheel arch and had relocated it under the bonnet.

When Subaru fixed her, they had re-located the fuel filter back under the wheel arch where it should be. I looked at the the Auto electrician and said mmm... I wonder... Reached under the wheel arch and found the crimped fuel line. Straightened it out and she was BAAAAAAAAAAAAACK! He was astounded. Sooo... that's what happens when you starve your car for fuel ... eventually the electrics pack it in!
 
Nope. Been let down by Chevy, Ford, D*dge(worth its weight in scrap), Jeep and Harley-Davidson and Polaris ATVs. So far so good with my wagon.
 
Dulagarl said:
Some good stories here.

I can't really say that my vehicle let me down on that trip: if anything it saved my life. Would have been a lot worse in a larger vehicle. I suppose the only thing that let me down was the design of the trailing arm lift blocks, but that won't happen again.

Will get around to a trip report on that one day...
Click to expand...


What was the trailing arm lift block design that let you down?
Why did it fail?
 
Scooby2 said:
Swifty - 84 1800 Wagon - 11 years ... let me down once only. On a trip from Brisbane to Queanbeyan (1260kms), Swifty swallowed some dirty fuel.

For the return trip (Queanbeyan to Brisbane), I treated Swifty to a Subaru Service and had them change all her fuel filters & make sure she would be ok for the return trip. I left after work, and realised (in the rain and dark) that she was still choking... apparently from dirty fuel. Every hill I came to I nursed her over... feeling her dying but pushing her with her little old 4 speed stick and driving through the gears for all she was worth.

A trip that usually takes around 13-14 hours, through driving rain ... took me around 18 hours. When I got to Ipswich, the CD player stopped working. A little further along the road, the fan that was keeping the windscreen de-misted stopped working. A little further along,.... OMG! In the driving rain... the windscreen wipers stopped working. On dusk... 2kms from my destination... the LIGHTS went out.... 5M more... .pffffft.... the poor girl died from exhaustion.......

It was peak hour on Gympie road.. I could not even open the door to get out and look under the bonnet, so I checked the fuses (to achieve this in a seated position with the door closed... I shone the torch on my phone down with my head on the steering wheel so I could see if anything was awry).

Minutes later... the police! Some tripper had called and reported a Subaru driver passed out at the wheel stuck on Gympie Road. Minutes later again arrived the NRMA tow truck, and Swifty was loaded the final 2kms home.

The next day I called an auto electrician who diagnosed a faulty alternator. He came and replaced that... but to me when I started her, she still sounded sick. Any1 who has a Subaru knows how they should sound. I said to him, she sounds like she is starving for fuel..., but I don't understand why - and THEN I knew. When I bought Swifty, she had 2 fuel filters quite close together under the bonnet. Whoever had her before me CLEARLY had trouble with the fuel filter under the driver's side wheel arch and had relocated it under the bonnet.

When Subaru fixed her, they had re-located the fuel filter back under the wheel arch where it should be. I looked at the the Auto electrician and said mmm... I wonder... Reached under the wheel arch and found the crimped fuel line. Straightened it out and she was BAAAAAAAAAAAAACK! He was astounded. Sooo... that's what happens when you starve your car for fuel ... eventually the electrics pack it in!
Click to expand...

OMG you had a CD player in '84!!! :cool:
 
taza said:
The car has always gotten me home though, even with a blown gearbox, blown rear diff, stuffed motor, snapped CV's, busted bearings and the likes..
Click to expand...

Esp with the probs you've had, this statement really says something!

jasonargonauts said:
What was the trailing arm lift block design that let you down?
Why did it fail?
Click to expand...

Read Dulagarl's build thread:
The H6 Forester that SKT Built...

Its a great read :monkeydance:

Scooby2, what a classic! Passed out behind the wheel :rotfl::rotfl::rotfl:
 
jasonargonauts said:
OMG you had a CD player in '84!!! :cool:
Click to expand...

jasonargonauts ... if you are subaruing, you definitely need tunes. Swifty had an after market cd player - installed in 2000 - a necessary addition to her original radio! The reason it stopped working, along with everything else electrical that gradually stopped during the last 20kms was because the alternator wasn't generating enough charge to run everything.:iconwink:
 
Nachaluva said:
Read Dulagarl's build thread:
The H6 Forester that SKT Built...

Its a great read :monkeydance:

Scooby2, what a classic! Passed out behind the wheel :rotfl::rotfl::rotfl:
Click to expand...

Nachaluva - Dulagarl's journal was my introduction to this forum - I agree - it is a fantastic read.

.... and passing out behind the wheel of a subaru.... pfft... like that's EVER going to happen! :rotfl:
 
Scooby2 said:
Nachaluva - Dulagarl's journal was my introduction to this forum - I agree - it is a fantastic read.
Click to expand...

Sure is. Another Epic read is Blue Fox's build, esp his accident involving high speed end over end body rolls. Amazing how tough our lil Subies are. If that had been a "real" 4WD, there's a good chance no-one would have survived!

.... and passing out behind the wheel of a subaru.... pfft... like that's EVER going to happen! :rotfl:
Click to expand...

Hahaha, not with our AWD adrenalin pumping action :lildevil:
 
EJ22 converted Brumby. Was driving it through a lot of 4WD stuff up at Loveday 4x4 Park and drove through a bit too much mud. 5 minutes down the road on the way home it sounded like it was running on 2 cylinders. Had to leave it behind and went back up 3 weeks later. Turned out the mud had got in the timing belt covers and managed to nock the right head off 6 teeth and 2 teeth on the left head's timing...

That is only 1 of about 5 or so major issues I had with my EJ22 Brumby. Once I sold it I decided I prefer old Subies with push rod engines, even if they only have 9hp...
 
I shouldnt have added my unsolicited opinion in this thread. My OBW gave me a very special christmas gift: a burned up tranny as I was driving down the road in a blizzard. Thats the first and I guarantee last time that'll happen. Love the car but.......cant have that happening with ANY vehicle.
 
Gidday AD

Firstly, commiserations ... :(. That's a real bugger of a Christmas present :( :(!

Secondly, do be aware that this can and does happen with any make or model of car.

My nearly indestructible 1968 LC destroyed its transfer case; and broke a piston into 3 pieces on another occasion ...
 
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