It's my birthday and all I'm going to get is a $1200 repair bill

"Stupidru" (Schm1an) 11/18/2014 at 09:29 • Filed to: None

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Last week my Impreza started making an odd noise; turns out it was the oil pump bearing that failed and the pulley was rattling around inside the timing cover. The car jumped timing and wouldn't start, so I had it towed to my local dealership and I was told yesterday that it would be ready today for a mere $1180. Happy birthday to me.

On the positive side, we are selling our Forester and buying a car that we can pay for in cash, so we're not making monthly payments anymore. I've got my eye on a Crown Vic LX Sport which should be fun for me considering it will be my first V8 and my first RWD car

thebigbossyboss > Stupidru 11/18/2014 at 09:32

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Is this the one that had 6 head gaskets?

JGrabowMSt > Stupidru 11/18/2014 at 09:33

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I'll trade repair bills with you!

Stupidru > thebigbossyboss 11/18/2014 at 09:34

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More or less, yes. It's on its 4th set of HGs

Stupidru > JGrabowMSt 11/18/2014 at 09:34

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So I'm not the only one lucky enough? I feel like a prisoner swapping stories, but what's your bill and how did you do it?

Party-vi > Stupidru 11/18/2014 at 09:41

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Happy Birthday.

~ Life

spanfucker retire bitch > Stupidru 11/18/2014 at 09:42

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I dub thee, Charlie Brown.

Vimto > Stupidru 11/18/2014 at 09:42

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As a Grand Marquis owner, 2003-2011 civilian Crown Vics and GMQs don't really feel particularly V8 or RWD. You get the nice muted rumble of the Modular V8, but they aren't quick and don't really handle like they're RWD until it starts raining and they start to just want to spin the rear tires and slide around all day.

Hopefully this doesn't detract you, I love my GMQ. I'm just saying that it isn't going to blow your mind dynamically.

titsinmymitts > Stupidru 11/18/2014 at 09:43

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Haha, I remember your post from a while back about your Subarus.

Hope your birthday gets better man.

Just curious as I've been looking at WRXs lately—how much does it cost to replace those head gaskets?

Stupidru > Vimto 11/18/2014 at 09:45

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No, I'm not expecting a Vette or anything, but my wife and I are going to have kids soon and I am having trouble finding cars that are big enough to fit car seats in the back and reliable enough that we can run it for a few years and not spend a fortune maintaining it, that I can AutoX, and take on road trips. If anything, it'll be an experience and if I decide I don't like it- I can sell it and not lose my butt on it

Vimto > Stupidru 11/18/2014 at 09:50

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Oh yeah, Panthers are great at all of those things. The Vic will probably get better mileage on the highway than the Forester as well. My Panther is my first RWD/V8/American/basically anything except a Japanese or Korean econobox as well. It's an experience all right, no regrets here.

Stupidru > titsinmymitts 11/18/2014 at 09:50

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About 2 years ago we took the car in to get the water pump fixed and the dealership discovered a leak from the HG, so I figured while they were in there, fix the HGs, water pump, thermostat, timing belt, idler pulleys, plugs, and re-adjust the valve lash. It cost us just a few bucks short of $3k. Of course the dealership will charge you more than an indie shop will, but I always choose the dealership just for the peace of mind that if it breaks within a year, I can take it back. If you're looking at WRXs, 06/07 were debatably the most reliable, so keep an eye on those if you can find any clean examples remaining

JGrabowMSt > Stupidru 11/18/2014 at 09:51

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The bill isn't even made up yet because the damage was so bad. I'm currently in for about $400 labor, and the job is on hold to figure out where to go next because fixing the motor is out of the question. Tomorrow I'll make a new post about it once I determine with the shop what can be done, and how we can get my car back on the road.

$1180 and you get your car back. Mine is sitting next to a Lancia Delta HF but can't move.

Stupidru > JGrabowMSt 11/18/2014 at 09:54

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Yeesh. I was in about $400 before making the call to keep going on the repair rather than junk it. Since the timing was off, we had to evaluate where valves were in relation to the piston and if anything had interfered. I lucked out, but it sounds like you and I are in the same boat. Best of luck to you bud! Keep us posted (it'll help ease the frustration, I promise)

Leon711 > Stupidru 11/18/2014 at 09:54

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All I got for my birthday 11 days ago was a transatlantic flight in a middle seat next to some kid whose parents were nowhere to be seen.

JGrabowMSt > Stupidru 11/18/2014 at 09:57

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Tonight we're going to sit down and look at both the damage more in depth, and the options going forward. The labor rate on a rebuild on the current block is just too much. More than it would cost me to get a replacement motor.

Aaron M - MasoFiST > titsinmymitts 11/18/2014 at 10:00

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As mentioned, the turbos don't eat head gaskets. Even the NAs that are smaller than 2.5 rarely have issues.

If you do have an NA Subaru, the easiest preventative maintenance is to flush your coolant every 20,000 miles (with OEM Subaru coolant), and if the car is very old, install a grounding kit. The reasons Subarus eat head gaskets are a) the coolant doesn't drain completely out of the heads of a boxer engine, and b) the coolant starts ionizing as the electrical system grounds to the chassis...as the resistance of the electrical system increases, the chassis and all metal components attached to it (like the radiator) begin taking on a weak electrical charge. Not enough to affect the battery or other electrical components, but enough to start splitting the coolant water into H- and OH+ ions. This makes the coolant effectively an acid, and it starts to eat away at the head gasket. Because this doesn't happen under pressure (it only really happens when coolant isn't flowing), the gaskets don't "blow" so much as "leak".

titsinmymitts > Aaron M - MasoFiST 11/18/2014 at 10:03

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Do you own a WRX currently?

How has it treated you? Reliable?

$kaycog > Stupidru 11/18/2014 at 10:03

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Happy Birthday! Have some cake! :D

FJ80WaitinForaLSV8 > Stupidru 11/18/2014 at 10:07

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Once you go panther you never go back.

Stupidru > Leon711 11/18/2014 at 10:10

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I wish that upon nobody, which is why I always opt for economy plus. Nobody spends that kind of money on a noisy kid

Aaron M - MasoFiST > Stupidru 11/18/2014 at 10:11

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My 07 has been quite reliable, with only one serious issue (blowing the turbo at 100,000 miles). All of the GD WRXs are fairly reliable (and tend to have a better track record than the 08-14s), though the 02-03s have a track record of transmission problems from hard use (all WRXs get used hard, never forget this).

The turbos all tend to go around 100,000 miles, at least in modified cars. The earlier cars aren't as hard on the turbo (smaller engine), but running with higher-than-stock boost eliminates the difference.

Stupidru > JGrabowMSt 11/18/2014 at 10:11

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Well I wish you the best and hope everything works out for you

Leon711 > Stupidru 11/18/2014 at 10:12

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I should have slept on that flight, couldn't sleep at all arrived jet lagged and over tired at London Gatwick the next day.

titsinmymitts > Aaron M - MasoFiST 11/18/2014 at 10:15

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Gotcha.

I always worry about buying a used WRX as it seems like they always have been ragged on by the previous owner. The difference between buying new and buying used is pretty negligible as well as WRX asking prices are sky high.

Aaron M - MasoFiST > titsinmymitts 11/18/2014 at 10:15

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I just wrote another comment on this in this thread :-p I own a 2007 WRX Wagon, and it's been reliable, only one problem in the 3.5 years I've had it (I blew the turbo at 100,000 miles). Even with that, I blame pretty much all issues I've had with the car on my modifications. The car is running over 300whp on a TD05H-16G, has been dropped on Swift springs, and has had all sorts of other goodies installed in it, including a short shifter, new stereo, and Stage 2 clutch (the car hit boost so hard it slipped the clutch under full throttle).

My problems unrelated to mods: the power steering pump gets a nasty whine in winter (fixed with one $0.15 o-ring), and I had a pretty serious oil leak (caused by the oil cooler gasket, fixed with $8 in parts and two hours of my time).

Group B Enthusiast - Captain of the supercharged barge > Stupidru 11/18/2014 at 10:16

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Happy Birthday!!! Now, even though I love the Panther platform, I must make the suggestion of a '95-'96 Impala SS... More power, heavy-duty running gear, and extremely easy/cheap to fix. If you can afford one that's been well cared for, I'd highly recommend cross-shopping.

Aaron M - MasoFiST > titsinmymitts 11/18/2014 at 10:17

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I won't lie, they have been ragged on, a lot of them quite hard. One of the reasons I don't want to trade mine in (besides the huge hit in price) is that it'll go to auction and some poor schmuck will buy it and blow it up because they don't know what's been done to it.

JGrabowMSt > Stupidru 11/18/2014 at 10:20

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titsinmymitts > Aaron M - MasoFiST 11/18/2014 at 10:27

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I'm looking mainly at 2011-2013 WRXs and even if they haven't been heavily modded the asking prices are just hilarious and on eBay they seem to be selling right around the asking price.

I might look into a 2015 instead once more of them are on lots. Bit more expensive, but I'll know it hasn't been modded and then brought back to stock.

Aaron M - MasoFiST > titsinmymitts 11/18/2014 at 10:37

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The car has always been in high demand. If you're willing to live without a warranty, the best deals are probably the narrow-body 09-10 WRXs that have the updated mechanicals but no fender flares. From what I've seen the 2015s are a significant improvement over the GRs...I've looked at them myself but can't justify trading in a car that has been trouble free and has another good 2-3 years before a major expense is needed (i.e. third timing belt).

Stupidru > Group B Enthusiast - Captain of the supercharged barge 11/18/2014 at 10:42

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Are they really that much better than the Panther?

Funktheduck > Stupidru 11/18/2014 at 10:47

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If it makes you feel any better on my birthday this year instead of going out to dinner and whatnot I came home from work to my dog having bloody diarrhea all over the house. One vet trip later stayed in to observe her health.

Stupidru > Funktheduck 11/18/2014 at 10:55

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The past 2 work days (last Friday and yesterday) my dog has shit all over his crate and subsequently, himself. Then finding out that our outdoor water spigot has frozen shut, plus finding that the washer return lines had been moved out of the wash sink in the basement (causing all of that return water to be on my floor) really set the tone for the week. Vet bills are equally as un-awesome as mechanic bills- I hope your pup and your house end up ok!

titsinmymitts > Aaron M - MasoFiST 11/18/2014 at 11:11

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I honestly can't stand the 08-2010 narrowbody style. It just did nothing for me. :p

Not too concerned about a lack of warranty. My Ford warranty has done nothing for me.

Aaron M - MasoFiST > titsinmymitts 11/18/2014 at 11:20

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Pretty much the entire Subaru enthusiast community agrees with you...but that is why they're cheap.

The one issue in the 11-14s (though this was a much bigger deal in the STIs than the normal WRXs) was that they were tuned for emissions compliance rather than performance, and the lean tune hurts reliability (if you hear someone talking about ringlands, this is why). The STIs in particular stuck in closed loop fuelling for as long as possible to reduce emissions and improve fuel economy, but the AFR was way too high and could cause detonation under heavy load. As such, getting a Stage 1 tune is likely to improve, not decrease, the reliability of the car. Also worth noting the VF52 in the 11+ WRXs is a much more reliable turbo than the TD04 in the 02-08 cars.

There were a few other weird things like firewall flex (though I'm under the impression this was only the early cars and was fixed by 11) but nothing too worrisome. A whole other spate of inconsistent but severe engine issues was fixed when Subaru changed their maintenance recommendations for all 08+ turbo cars (though my car is not 08+ I still follow the new recommendations). Namely, they changed the oil change interval from 7500 to 3750, and they mandated synthetic in all turbo cars.

Group B Enthusiast - Captain of the supercharged barge > Stupidru 11/18/2014 at 11:21

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As far as performance, YES! They're both great cars, but the only panther that gets close to an SS is the Marauder. And even that isn't quite as fast. My SS was a '96 with 55K on the clock, and although the fuel gauge is only mildly-accurate, and some of the accessories would act up (90's GM quality), it was very reliable. I even drove it in light snow on the summer tires with no problems (limited-slip FTW!).

Auto Week's Marauder review for reference:

I will say that the panthers have approximately 50% more trunk space, due to the low trunk-floor. So they do have their trade-offs.

Note: My rantings apply only to the Impala SS and Caprice 9C1. I would never suggest a Caprice Classic over a Crown Vic.

titsinmymitts > Aaron M - MasoFiST 11/18/2014 at 11:23

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I have heard that about the stock tune in the WRX. Mazda had a similar issue with the MS3 IIRC and many were jumping to the Cobb Stage 1 map.

Thanks for the info, man.

Aaron M - MasoFiST > titsinmymitts 11/18/2014 at 11:33

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Mazda also had issues with their high-pressure fuel pumps, so they had cars leaning out from fuel starvation if the pumps started to go (if you were lucky, the pump would die first and you'd only be out the fuel pump). If someone tells you an MS3 is more reliable than a WRX...well, they're wrong. Admittedly this means the jury may still be out on the direct-injection engine in the new WRX, but most of the HPFP issues were ironed out by the early adopters of DIT engines (i.e. Mazda and BMW).

Funktheduck > Stupidru 11/18/2014 at 13:11

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She's good now. Thanks. Only one spot stained the floor.

Is your pup ok? If acting normally but having consistent loose stool or diarrhea it's likely it just has unbalanced microbes in its gut. Usually skipping a meal or two then feeding rice and boiled chicken and weaning back on to regular dog food works out. If it continues then normally a vet trip is in order to get that expensive food and some probiotics.

With that said if there are any abnormal behaviors like lethargy or inability to stand or walk normally or just seems off and/or vomiting then a vet trip is in order. Definitely if there's blood.

Could be as simple as a bad bag of dog food. Couple summers ago after starting a fresh bag of food 3 of my dogs had diarrhea and some vomiting. Vet trip. Threw out food and got new bag. No more issues.

Stupidru > Funktheduck 11/18/2014 at 15:22

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Glad to hear your pup is better now.

Our little guy is fine- he gets this way every once in a while if he eats too much of the cats' food, so I cook up a few days worth of rice and chicken and stick it in the fridge and he's all set after that. This morning he had some solid stools again so I think he's back on the right track.

When we got him from the humane society, he had blood in his stool but that was quickly remedied by the h/s and the vet as they found other dogs in the same litter had the same issue.

Funktheduck > Stupidru 11/18/2014 at 16:30

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It's odd how cats can generally eat dog food but not the other way around.

I'm pretty sure if I adopted a dog with bloody stool I'd automatically assume parvo.

Stupidru > Funktheduck 11/19/2014 at 07:03

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This was just about 2 years ago but if my memory serves me correctly it was coccidia and/or giardia