Blown OEM Turbo?

[Otis Gudlyfe]

My '05 Baja has blown its turbo for the 2nd time in less than a year and less than 10K miles. Anyone else have a similar problem? This is happening with a lot of Subaru Turbos.
Some documents suggest as many as 5% have their turbos go under warranty (mine was not under warranty).

http://legacygt.com/forums/showthread.p ... 83047.html

[bulwnkl]

This may be obvious to you already, but 2 turbos in a year = you have a problem other than the turbo. Do you know what it is?

[Otis Gudlyfe]

This may be obvious to you already, but 2 turbos in a year = you have a problem other than the turbo. Do you know what it is?

That would be the first thought, but if you go to the link I provided in the original message, you'll see that I am not unique in this situation. Many of the people on that site have had multiple turbo failures. There seems to be a basic problem in the Turbo oil system design.

[Otis Gudlyfe]

While looking into my own turbo issues, I've discovered that this is a frighteningly common problem in '05 Subarus.
There are threads on other Subaru owners' websites that discuss this
http://www.subaruforester.org/vbulletin ... elp-86604/
http://legacygt.com/forums/showthread.p ... bbd07b90bf&
http://forums.nasioc.com/forums/showthr ... p=33419294

As you can see on these forums, there are underlying issues with the oil supply system to the turbochargers that Subaru knew about and failed to notify owners of.
I am working with the Auto Safety Center and an attorney in Washington DC on the possibility of a class action suit against SOA. The first step in this is to establish a database of Subaru owners that have had their turbos fail.
If your turbo has failed, please go to www.autosafety.org and file a complaint with them. It could help all of us.

[optikul81]

I was actually going to post a question so I could figure out what was wrong with my baja. I don't know what the symptoms are for a blown turbo so I will list what I am seeing and hopefully you can tell me if it is in fact a blown turbo or something else.

I have a 2005 turbo baja ( the suspect year )
When it sits idle sometimes I get this strong odor. It almost smells like burnt antifreeze. I keep checking the radiator levels and they all seem fine. Sometimes I do have to fill them but not enough to lead me to believe it is leaking. It does this sometimes when I have been driving aggressively. Although sometimes it seems almost random because I noticed it a couple of times just driving home. Also, when I smell the odor it's usually followed with a light white smoke coming out of the hood scoop.

If this is a blown turbo...what is a good replacement?

Thanks for your input.

Chris

[Otis Gudlyfe]

That doesn't sound like what happened either time with my turbo. The most obvious thing with a blown turbo is that you have no power (since the turbo quits making boost). There is usually a significant screech or squeel (the sound of tortured metal on the turbo) and copious amounts of smoke from the tailpipe (oil being run through the combustion chambers). Yours sounds (to my marginally knowledgeable 'mind') like coolant getting into the combustion chamber. This could be due to a leak head gasket or a warped head.

[Ahzlon]

Hrm... My turbo blew on my 05. I still have that turbo sitting in my shed.

[xtsix]

on the engine block there is a small screen inside of the banjo bolt on the turbo oil feed line, this is what causes 75% of turbo failures due to oil starvation. subaru issued a tsb on this to remove and discard the filters in the turbo line and on both avcs valves.

[Otis Gudlyfe]

on the engine block there is a small screen inside of the banjo bolt on the turbo oil feed line, this is what causes 75% of turbo failures due to oil starvation. subaru issued a tsb on this to remove and discard the filters in the turbo line and on both avcs valves.

Search "Subaru TSB 02-103-07" and "Subaru TSB 02-016-08" or PM me. I have them and can send them to you.

[bulwnkl]

Ever try to track down the root cause? Clogged screens (were they clogged on your car, either time the turbo was replaced?) are not the _root_ cause, they're a symptom.