2006 Subaru Outback 3 turbos in 68k. And they say also engi

WBMILES

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2006 SUBARU OUTBACK
4 CYL
AWD
AUTOMATIC
68,000 MILES

I had the turbo in my '06 replaced in Feb. It just blew out again. I had it towed to a dealer, and they say it needs new turbo, engine and catalytic converter. They say oil is black and choked off the turbo. (About 10 k since turbo replacement) I have replaced the oil every 3000 miles since the replacement (all synthetic). I also learned that the turbo was also replaced under warranty for the previous user. So 3 blown turbos in 68k miles. It's been almost 2 weeks and they are trying to figure out who pays. Last replacement shop, warranty (less than 12 months since replacement), or me. Nothing has been fixed. What should I expect or do?

5 Replies

MHPAUTOS

MECHANIC
31,937 POSTS

Hi there,

Thank you for for the donation,

This is a hard one to answer, personally I would be getting an oil analysis done to determine what is in the oil that has caused the sludging, keep this report to your self for the time being, allow the wheels to keep rolling with the assessors, no use preempting anything at this point, lets find out what they have to say first, let me know what expires.

Mark (mhpautos)

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Thursday, October 21st, 2010 AT 10:12 PM

WBMILES

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4 POSTS

I'd try an oil analysis, but I'm not sure how to go about it. The failure happened on a trip. I live in Wisconsin and the car is in Indiana.
I don't have an "independent agent" to gather a sample, get it to a lab and receive the results.

Should I be contacting SOA customer service?

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Friday, October 22nd, 2010 AT 7:15 AM

MHPAUTOS

MECHANIC
31,937 POSTS

Ask around the truck work shops, they do a lot of oil analysis, there is no reason why the company holding the car can not do this on your behalf, it can still be done in confidence, but they may decide to do a test as well so that may negate any results, not sure what you mean by SOA as I am in Australia and I am unsure as to what that means.

Mark (mhpautos)

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Monday, October 25th, 2010 AT 4:19 PM

WBMILES

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4 POSTS

I'm going to find another independent mechanic in the area (the car is a few hundred miles from home).

Here's how I'd paraphrase the dealer mechanic's current theory.
Catalytic converter is plugged up with carbon, causing the engine to fail and ultimately starving off oil to the turbo.

Basically they are pinning everything on lack of maintenance by the original owner.

That owner had the turbo replaced under warranty and then sold it. We blew one turbo (admittedly after about 5k miles on synthetic oil) but since the replacement (which also included Subaru 60k mile maintenance) we have changed the oil every 3000 miles.

We didn't have time to change oil before our trip, but we are right at 3000 miles but they are giving us the "oil is black, dirty and filled with metal shavings."

Can a catalytic converter really take out all those other components, and if so, under what circumstances?

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Monday, October 25th, 2010 AT 8:34 PM

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