2006 Baja Turbo issue: Replace turbo or replace engine

Technical Discussions - Got a mechanical problem?

Moderator: bajabob

Post Reply
User avatar
Banach95
Scoobytruck Lurker
Posts: 11
Joined: Thu Apr 05, 2018 10:51 pm
Contact:

2006 Baja Turbo issue: Replace turbo or replace engine

Post by Banach95 »

well something happened to my 2006 Baja Turbo. I use 100% synthetic oil. Was driving to GA. My o2 sensor was going and I had an appt to address that.

Was driving and the engine was stuttering and throwing P0131 and P011 and P0171 codes. was driving up a hill and RPM went over 7000 and I had no power going barely 55mph.

So I pull over and get towed to Subaru dealer. They diagnosed that the turbo broke apart and parts may have fell into the engine.

forget money for a minute... it is worth to replace the turbo or replace the whole engine?
User avatar
Guacamole
Scoobytruck God
Posts: 516
Joined: Wed Jun 10, 2015 4:11 am
Location: Eastern Shore, MD
Contact:

Re: 2006 Baja Turbo issue: Replace turbo or replace engine

Post by Guacamole »

Depends on how badly the engine is damaged. If the engine oil is contaminated with particles from the fragged turbo then at worst the whole engine will need replacing and at best a massive clean out and multiple system flushes. It might be better just to go with a whole new/JDM imported engine, but that's around $2000 without labor. A factory-new turbo by itself will run around $1100 without labor.
Image
User avatar
kamesama980
Scoobytruck Master
Posts: 369
Joined: Mon Feb 29, 2016 6:54 am

Re: 2006 Baja Turbo issue: Replace turbo or replace engine

Post by kamesama980 »

some of those codes are exclusive (131 and 171 are from separate times, if 131's set 171 won't because one is bad circuit and one is reading a certain way... no reading if there's a circuit problem). p0011 is for the cam signal which could be related to the turbo in that both are fed from the same oil line with the dreaded banjo bolt filter. if something else happens that causes gunk in the oil system, that filter catches it but enough gunk in the filter can block flow to both the cam phaser and turbo hence cam code and blown turbo.

as to your question, I'll respond with my own: do you feel lucky?

Actually, more pertinent is who's doing the work and what did they quote for it? given that you drove for at least a little while with your foot to the floor (or close enough) to get uphill at 7k, it's not like you pulled over at the first sign of trouble so there's a good chance there's bits of turbo throughout your engine. I'd go with new engine. An engine rebuild is probably not cost-effective to have someone else do. Don't try to just slap a turbo on unless it's practically free and you're just trying to limp it along for another week till the replacement engine arrives.
-Russell
"You don't get to judge me for how I fix what you break"
03 sport 5mt
05 turbo 5mt vf39 and other STI bits, 3" turbo-back
Post Reply