Hi everyone! Wanted to share my recent experience with Subaru and the local dealer after developing rod knock in my BRZ at 4,730 miles on the clock.
Before I get into it - I just want to say that Subaru handled this wonderfully and I've never had such a smooth experience from start to finish. The local dealer was also great. I never interacted directly with Subaru and all communications were through the dealership.
All in all - the whole process started on Monday (car towed to dealer) and was resolved with the car back in my driveway 12 days later on a Friday. Amazing turnaround time!
Quick hit takeaways as lessons learned for me and guidance provided by the dealership:
Now - let me get into some of the details below. If you want to jump straight to the failure event and resolution - skip down to the "Failure Event" section.
Data Subaru was aware of from the car (without talking to me at all):
I want to address directly some points that I've seen around the forum - but at a high level - always be honest! It is amazing the amount of data these cars track and that Subaru has the ability to access! Gone are the days that you may have been able to say that "I never track the car" or "this happened on the highway" (not that I've done this…but I've seen folks suggesting that/saying to do this - DON'T!).
Subaru was able to tell all sorts of information from my car - the below is what I was informed they were able to check and there may be even more data available to them:
- Has a tune ever been on the car
- Has the tune/computer ever been modified
- GPS location of the failure event (i.e. Sebring International Raceway)
- Pedal positions
- Gear
- RPM
- Speed
- Steering angle
- G-forces
- Dash odometer vs. Computer odometer (think OEM wheels vs. Track wheels - different sizes had my two odometers showing a 20 mile variance)
- RPM history (think mileage to RPM data - i.e. break in RPMs)
How I followed the break-in procedures:
The "Quick Start Guide" that comes with the BRZ states to keep the car under 4,000 RPM for the first 1,000 miles except in cases of emergency.
Did I follow this? No.
Could Subaru tell I didn't follow the manual guidance? Yes.
I truly made the effort to keep the car under 4,000 RPM for the first 500 miles (ish). After that I would venture beyond 4,000 RPM under light acceleration. At one point I took the car to red line under soft acceleration just so I could see the shift light/indicator and hear the new sounds. Pretty neat.
Otherwise, I remained light on the car up until 876 miles. It was at 876 miles that I partook in my first HPDE event at Sebring International Raceway (my 'local' track). At the end of the event, the car was at 1,106 miles.
How I use the car:
I purchased the car to be a track toy. I do not 'daily drive' it as I work from home but do occasionally take my son to and from school - maybe 20 easy miles a week.
I've had a variety of cars over the years and have been trying to get more and more HPDE experience. I started with approximately 15 years of autoX events on a regular basis (primarily in a Mustang and later a Corvette with brief ownerships of an S2000 (wish I had kept this one) and Infinity G37 (PIG)). I then grew into HPDE events and currently have approximately 40 days of track experience under my belt - solo intermediate driving groups currently.
Most of my events are at Sebring but I've also experienced 2-3 days at each of the following tracks: Homestead Miami, Daytona, and a small track called the FIRM.
After coming off a highly modified Mustang and then a highly prepped Corvette (trailered to and from events) - I was looking to improve my driving and to lower my cost of track events with a low maintenance and under warranty solution. My first attempt at this was a Mazda MX-5 which was fun but SLOW. Unfortunately, SLOW inspired me to get too aggressive with venturing into trail braking experimentation with a very tail happy car that ended up totaling the car. That's when the BRZ came into the picture.
Between events, the car drives maybe 20 miles a week taking my son to and from school (very easy driving).
My BRZ and set-up:
# of track days:
I've completed 7.1 track days in the BRZ. The .1 representing the warm-up session and 5 laps I got in before the motor failure.
My personal best at Sebring in the car is a 2:38.83. Car definitely has more in it - just needs more driver mod.
Mods:
- AP Racing RADICAL front BBK (calipers, rotors, SS lines)
- Cobalt Friction XR2 front and XR3 rear
- Motul 600 RBF brake fluid
- Raceseng CC plates
- Konig Ampliform 18x8.5 +44
- Raceseng tow hooks front and rear
- Tires for first 7 track days: Falken Azenis 615 235/40R18
- Tires for .1 track days and current: Continental Extreme Contact Force 245/40ZR18
- Alignment: Front - -2.7* Camber, 6.5 Caster, 0 toe; Rear - -1.5* Camber, 0 toe
Failure Event:
Track day # 8 at Sebring international on Sunday. OEM oil with 4,736 miles and 7 track days already on it. Oil level read fine - on the dip stick between the dots.
Temps observed - OEM gauge isn't precise…but never saw it hit the 270 tick mark in any previous track days. Estimating was seeing 250ish temps on a regular basis.
First day on new tires - wow - the Continentals' grip and feel WAY better than the Falken's! Matched my PB on lap #2 of the hot session!
On the day of failure - I am not sure where the gauge was - but the car was 5 laps into a hot 9:30am session - so I'm assuming it was around the previously observed temperatures.
Failure:
Lap 6 turn 7 (of 17 turns). Decelerating from the back straight into a hairpin (113 MPH to 37 MPH and cornering at 1.18G). Exiting the hairpin on acceleration in 2nd gear the car goes into reduced power mode with gauges flashing. Car still moves so I exit track at an emergency exit location shortly after turn 7. Shut car down. Wait a few minutes. Start car up. Horrible clacking sound from the engine bay. Shut car down. Track crew towed the car to the paddock.
Dealer and Subaru Experience:
Starting the process:
I had the car towed home from Sebring International Raceway on Sunday via AAA. I washed the car, put the OEM wheels back on, removed the track tech inspection stickers, removed the rubber castoff. I scheduled Subaru Roadside to pick the car up on Monday morning to deliver to the dealership.
Monday: First thing in the morning I called the dealership to give them a heads up the car was coming, that the engine was making a bad noise and was not drivable - please check it out and let me know. Tow truck arrived and delivered the car to the dealership. Before noon the dealership called me once they had a chance to look at the car and confirmed it had rod knock and that they were contacting Subaru directly.
Service department wasn't sure how Subaru would handle the issue but was certain it would be covered in some form since the car had no modifications that impacted the engine (no tune, no oil cooler, no cold air intake, etc.).
A loaner Outback XT was provided for the duration of the repair.
Tuesday and Wednesday: Subaru flew an engineer out to look at the car and perform analysis. I was not involved with this process but the information was shared with me via the service department. As mentioned above, the engineer was able to tell A LOT of information from the car. So without speaking to me, they knew the car was being tracked and that I was using different wheels and tires.
A key detail that Subaru was able to identify: The car hit 8,000 RPMs before the 1,000 mile break-in period. According to the dealer, this 'officially' voided the engines warranty. However, they stated the engine was sufficiently broken in by the time it saw 8,000 RPMs - so rather than filing the fix as a warranty issue, Subaru had to classify it as Goodwill.
Thursday: Dealership informed me that the car would be repaired at no cost and that Subaru was authorizing a full long block replacement. Subaru would also be keeping the original motor for further inspection. There were currently only 2 long blocks in the United States - I would be getting one of them.
Friday - Wednesday: No updates and I was letting the dealership do their thing. Hell - when my Corvette went through it's motors - each one took months. So I had low expectations on when I would see the car again.
Thursday: Dealer called and said the car would be ready for pickup on Friday. Long block installed. Car being tested. See you tomorrow!
Friday: Picked up the car and brought her home! WOW! Super fast fix and amazing end result in my mind!
Both Subaru and the dealership handled this superbly!
Confirmed questions with the dealership on pick-up:
1. Car still has 100% warranty
2. Re-perform break-in period (1,000 miles under 4,000 RPM per the Subaru provided guide)
3. Resume using the car as it was meant to be used!
Dealer suggestions:
1. Oil: Use a better oil and increase change frequency - I will be moving to Motul and performing changes more frequently. Shame on me for even expecting to get 8 days out of a change. Dealer recommended every 1,500 - 2,500 miles if I'm tracking the car regularly. Not 4,730 miles or the manual recommended 7,500 miles
2. Oil cooler: Although in theory a great addition - at your own risk. Dealer believes this would void the engine warranty as it impacts the lubrication system. Gives Subaru a means to question the warranty due to different oil capacity, additional points of failure, potential impact to the oil pressure, additional areas of non OE debris introduction, etc.. Make your own call but the engine would no longer be OEM. I'm on the fence still if I want to potentially risk not having the motor under warranty.
3. Oil fill: Fill to the max fill line.
End result:
What a great experience. The dealership was amazing. Subaru was amazing. There was no stress, no concern, and the turnaround and overall experience was just top notch.
You hear a variety of good and bad stories out there - this is one of the good ones.
Thanks for the read. Again - I'm sharing my experience - take from it what you will.
Before I get into it - I just want to say that Subaru handled this wonderfully and I've never had such a smooth experience from start to finish. The local dealer was also great. I never interacted directly with Subaru and all communications were through the dealership.
All in all - the whole process started on Monday (car towed to dealer) and was resolved with the car back in my driveway 12 days later on a Friday. Amazing turnaround time!
Quick hit takeaways as lessons learned for me and guidance provided by the dealership:
- Oil: Use a better oil - I will be moving to Motul and performing changes more frequently. Shame on me for even expecting to get 8 days out of a change. Dealer recommended every 1,500 - 2,500 miles if I'm tracking the car regularly. Not 4,730 miles or the manual recommended 7,500 miles
- Oil cooler: Potentially a great addition. However, warranty coverage of the motor could be in jeopardy - make your own call. I'm on the fence still if I want to potentially risk having the motor not under warranty.
- Oil fill: Fill to the max fill line.
Now - let me get into some of the details below. If you want to jump straight to the failure event and resolution - skip down to the "Failure Event" section.
Data Subaru was aware of from the car (without talking to me at all):
I want to address directly some points that I've seen around the forum - but at a high level - always be honest! It is amazing the amount of data these cars track and that Subaru has the ability to access! Gone are the days that you may have been able to say that "I never track the car" or "this happened on the highway" (not that I've done this…but I've seen folks suggesting that/saying to do this - DON'T!).
Subaru was able to tell all sorts of information from my car - the below is what I was informed they were able to check and there may be even more data available to them:
- Has a tune ever been on the car
- Has the tune/computer ever been modified
- GPS location of the failure event (i.e. Sebring International Raceway)
- Pedal positions
- Gear
- RPM
- Speed
- Steering angle
- G-forces
- Dash odometer vs. Computer odometer (think OEM wheels vs. Track wheels - different sizes had my two odometers showing a 20 mile variance)
- RPM history (think mileage to RPM data - i.e. break in RPMs)
How I followed the break-in procedures:
The "Quick Start Guide" that comes with the BRZ states to keep the car under 4,000 RPM for the first 1,000 miles except in cases of emergency.
Did I follow this? No.
Could Subaru tell I didn't follow the manual guidance? Yes.
I truly made the effort to keep the car under 4,000 RPM for the first 500 miles (ish). After that I would venture beyond 4,000 RPM under light acceleration. At one point I took the car to red line under soft acceleration just so I could see the shift light/indicator and hear the new sounds. Pretty neat.
Otherwise, I remained light on the car up until 876 miles. It was at 876 miles that I partook in my first HPDE event at Sebring International Raceway (my 'local' track). At the end of the event, the car was at 1,106 miles.
How I use the car:
I purchased the car to be a track toy. I do not 'daily drive' it as I work from home but do occasionally take my son to and from school - maybe 20 easy miles a week.
I've had a variety of cars over the years and have been trying to get more and more HPDE experience. I started with approximately 15 years of autoX events on a regular basis (primarily in a Mustang and later a Corvette with brief ownerships of an S2000 (wish I had kept this one) and Infinity G37 (PIG)). I then grew into HPDE events and currently have approximately 40 days of track experience under my belt - solo intermediate driving groups currently.
Most of my events are at Sebring but I've also experienced 2-3 days at each of the following tracks: Homestead Miami, Daytona, and a small track called the FIRM.
After coming off a highly modified Mustang and then a highly prepped Corvette (trailered to and from events) - I was looking to improve my driving and to lower my cost of track events with a low maintenance and under warranty solution. My first attempt at this was a Mazda MX-5 which was fun but SLOW. Unfortunately, SLOW inspired me to get too aggressive with venturing into trail braking experimentation with a very tail happy car that ended up totaling the car. That's when the BRZ came into the picture.
Between events, the car drives maybe 20 miles a week taking my son to and from school (very easy driving).
My BRZ and set-up:
# of track days:
I've completed 7.1 track days in the BRZ. The .1 representing the warm-up session and 5 laps I got in before the motor failure.
My personal best at Sebring in the car is a 2:38.83. Car definitely has more in it - just needs more driver mod.
Mods:
- AP Racing RADICAL front BBK (calipers, rotors, SS lines)
- Cobalt Friction XR2 front and XR3 rear
- Motul 600 RBF brake fluid
- Raceseng CC plates
- Konig Ampliform 18x8.5 +44
- Raceseng tow hooks front and rear
- Tires for first 7 track days: Falken Azenis 615 235/40R18
- Tires for .1 track days and current: Continental Extreme Contact Force 245/40ZR18
- Alignment: Front - -2.7* Camber, 6.5 Caster, 0 toe; Rear - -1.5* Camber, 0 toe
Failure Event:
Track day # 8 at Sebring international on Sunday. OEM oil with 4,736 miles and 7 track days already on it. Oil level read fine - on the dip stick between the dots.
Temps observed - OEM gauge isn't precise…but never saw it hit the 270 tick mark in any previous track days. Estimating was seeing 250ish temps on a regular basis.
First day on new tires - wow - the Continentals' grip and feel WAY better than the Falken's! Matched my PB on lap #2 of the hot session!
On the day of failure - I am not sure where the gauge was - but the car was 5 laps into a hot 9:30am session - so I'm assuming it was around the previously observed temperatures.
Failure:
Lap 6 turn 7 (of 17 turns). Decelerating from the back straight into a hairpin (113 MPH to 37 MPH and cornering at 1.18G). Exiting the hairpin on acceleration in 2nd gear the car goes into reduced power mode with gauges flashing. Car still moves so I exit track at an emergency exit location shortly after turn 7. Shut car down. Wait a few minutes. Start car up. Horrible clacking sound from the engine bay. Shut car down. Track crew towed the car to the paddock.
Dealer and Subaru Experience:
Starting the process:
I had the car towed home from Sebring International Raceway on Sunday via AAA. I washed the car, put the OEM wheels back on, removed the track tech inspection stickers, removed the rubber castoff. I scheduled Subaru Roadside to pick the car up on Monday morning to deliver to the dealership.
Monday: First thing in the morning I called the dealership to give them a heads up the car was coming, that the engine was making a bad noise and was not drivable - please check it out and let me know. Tow truck arrived and delivered the car to the dealership. Before noon the dealership called me once they had a chance to look at the car and confirmed it had rod knock and that they were contacting Subaru directly.
Service department wasn't sure how Subaru would handle the issue but was certain it would be covered in some form since the car had no modifications that impacted the engine (no tune, no oil cooler, no cold air intake, etc.).
A loaner Outback XT was provided for the duration of the repair.
Tuesday and Wednesday: Subaru flew an engineer out to look at the car and perform analysis. I was not involved with this process but the information was shared with me via the service department. As mentioned above, the engineer was able to tell A LOT of information from the car. So without speaking to me, they knew the car was being tracked and that I was using different wheels and tires.
A key detail that Subaru was able to identify: The car hit 8,000 RPMs before the 1,000 mile break-in period. According to the dealer, this 'officially' voided the engines warranty. However, they stated the engine was sufficiently broken in by the time it saw 8,000 RPMs - so rather than filing the fix as a warranty issue, Subaru had to classify it as Goodwill.
Thursday: Dealership informed me that the car would be repaired at no cost and that Subaru was authorizing a full long block replacement. Subaru would also be keeping the original motor for further inspection. There were currently only 2 long blocks in the United States - I would be getting one of them.
Friday - Wednesday: No updates and I was letting the dealership do their thing. Hell - when my Corvette went through it's motors - each one took months. So I had low expectations on when I would see the car again.
Thursday: Dealer called and said the car would be ready for pickup on Friday. Long block installed. Car being tested. See you tomorrow!
Friday: Picked up the car and brought her home! WOW! Super fast fix and amazing end result in my mind!
Both Subaru and the dealership handled this superbly!
Confirmed questions with the dealership on pick-up:
1. Car still has 100% warranty
2. Re-perform break-in period (1,000 miles under 4,000 RPM per the Subaru provided guide)
3. Resume using the car as it was meant to be used!
Dealer suggestions:
1. Oil: Use a better oil and increase change frequency - I will be moving to Motul and performing changes more frequently. Shame on me for even expecting to get 8 days out of a change. Dealer recommended every 1,500 - 2,500 miles if I'm tracking the car regularly. Not 4,730 miles or the manual recommended 7,500 miles
2. Oil cooler: Although in theory a great addition - at your own risk. Dealer believes this would void the engine warranty as it impacts the lubrication system. Gives Subaru a means to question the warranty due to different oil capacity, additional points of failure, potential impact to the oil pressure, additional areas of non OE debris introduction, etc.. Make your own call but the engine would no longer be OEM. I'm on the fence still if I want to potentially risk not having the motor under warranty.
3. Oil fill: Fill to the max fill line.
End result:
What a great experience. The dealership was amazing. Subaru was amazing. There was no stress, no concern, and the turnaround and overall experience was just top notch.
You hear a variety of good and bad stories out there - this is one of the good ones.
Thanks for the read. Again - I'm sharing my experience - take from it what you will.
