I have an '06 Legacy GT with approx. 116,000 miles. I was on my way to work Saturday and had strange noises when going into boost. All of the sudden the noise stopped and it felt like I had 100hp at best. I had been having strange hesitation issues leading up to this. It is at the shop now, but they want a ton of cash just to diagnose. My question is should I drive the car home to look at myself (approx. 8 miles) or have them tear it down? I do not have the money to have a shop charge me an arm and a leg and I am capable of repairing myself, although it will take a little longer. I always change oil with full synthetic Rotella T6 every 3,500-4,000 miles and the banjo filters have been removed. Any direction is greatly appreciated. Thanks, Dan
What do you mean by strange noises? If I were you, I would have the car towed home rather than drive it.
If you removed te banjo filter your turbo may be fine. It could be just a boost leak. Do you have a boost gauge in your car at all? What kind of noise was it? If the turbo is shot I would not drive it because it can cause more damage to the engine
I appreciate the replies. I just got home with it and babied it the entire way. I know I shouldn't have, but I had no other options as I am going through some hard times financially. Now it's time to pull her apart. The noise sounded like screaming, for the lack of a better description. I got about a mile from work and it stopped. Then followed with no boost or noise at all. Felt like me 98 Forester. I'm going to start with a turbo inspection and go from there. I won't give up as I love my car (and every subie I have ever had). Wish me luck!
Sounds more like a boost leak than a turbo failure. If your turBRO blew you would likely here a lot of metallic noises of the grinding and clunking variety. Did your CEL come on?
Have you noticed excessive black smoke coming from the tailpipe when you tried to accelerate? (that would indicate a boost leak) Can you hear the turbo spooling up when you go WOT, or is it silent like an NA? (some people can't perceive the turbo spooling w/o a big downpipe) Anything aftermarket ahead of the turbo that could have broken loose inside the intake pipe and been eaten by the compressor wheel? Edit: Were it me, I'd get a tow to home if you're mechanically inclined and willing to do some decent teardown and diagnostics done. If you're not, then a shop or qualified friend/board member would be a good starting point.
Thanks for your response. No smoke. No sound at all. I Tried not to go into boost from work to home. The car is 100% stock. I have been having stumbling/hesitation/bogging ever since it got cold outside. I bought it less than a year and a half ago. It ran fantastic until it got cold out last year. I changed the plugs, cleaned the MAF and tried sticking with BP 93 octane and it seemed better. Spring, summer and early fall it ran great. This winter the same thing, it got cold and it started to run funny. I cleaned the crank position sensor and reset the ecu and it ran great for a week. Now this. I don't know if there is a connection, but I'm going to figure it out. I apologize for the long post, but this stuff makes me crazy until I can get her running right.
Did boost leak check and it would not hold any pressure. I did not hear the leak so I pulled the inter cooler. Light film of oil in inter cooler, but milky on turbo. I'm trying to figure out how to link a pic from my phone.
When you are doing the boost test, get a spray bottle with a soap and water mixture and spray it anywhere you might hear Noise like airflow coming through something, that will help you find the leak.
The car starts and runs great, just no boost. I'm going to pull down pipe and check turbo next. I did notice a boost leak. Would a bad turbo allow the boost pressure to leak out? I feel like it is a stupid question, but I don't have the answer. When I pulled the throttle body tube there was kind of a lot of oil.
If it's big enough, a leak can prevent positive manifold pressure from developing. You generally hear those ones, though. If a turbo has failed, it's likely that it won't be capable of creating boost in the first place, whether the shaft seized or broke, the front nut came loose, or the bearings failed. (there's a lot more failures, too) Oil in an intake system isn't unusual, it's how much there is and where it's coming from that determines normal vs abnormal.
You need to start putting up pictures or being more specific with your descriptions. "Kind of a lot of oil" to you might be "looks just like a new Subaru" to someone else. First: check your intercooler and all piping between the turbo and the throttle body, just to be safe. As indicated, the intercoolers on Legacies like to pop open sometimes. A seized turbo is certainly a possibility, but rule out the easy stuff before going to the hard items.
Well if those strange noices sound like marbles in your engine... http://mnsubaru.com/threads/is-my-turbo-still-functional.39898/
I had this same exact problem in my 98 Eclipse Turbo. Was a cracked external wastegate. Not saying that's the problem, but give it a check just in case
Check your intercooler hoses. When I went stage 2 I had boost leak cause of the up-pipe gasket and intercooler to throttle body coupler.
Turbo is toast. Lots of play, front to back and side to side. Fins slightly bent. I'm going to change the up pipe while I'm in there. I would love to go crazy, but it's gotta be cheap and reliable for now.
I have a stock, spare TD04 I got with my 03 wrx. It has minimal shaft play from what I can tell, but if you need a spare....
Disregard, looks like your stock unit is a VF40....which doesn't sound like a TD04, with my limited analytical skills. Otherwise, lots of spare parts on ebay for your model year if you cannot source one locally.
I've been looking on eBay, $300-$350 for a new turbo seems cheap. What do you guys think? Have you ever had luck or experience with these?
Sketchy turbo is sketchy. I know they're not always representative, but the pictured turbo has no balancing grind work evident, which would make me steer clear right away. I'd recommend sourcing a used one in good condition over that (or 90% or turbos on ebay). Alternatively, you could buy a high quality brand new one from a reputable manufacturer, but expect to spend over a grand.
Please do your research... When your turbo goes to the point you explained;;; there is more to it then slapping a replacement turbo in
One thing i have learned over the years. Never, ever, ever buy a cheap ebay turbo. Most will last 1-3k and then be toast. Loads of shaft play, blown seals. Just avoid that man, find a used one local.
You can definitely feel when your turbo eats itself and just an FYI i was still hitting like 10 psi with an eaten impeller. My advice for you @emc2003 is to find a used stock turbo for your car on here and don't bother with an up pipe if your funds are limited, unless you have a catalytic converter in there that you suspect did it (no idea if legacys have the pre turbo cat). Also, I strongly recommend you not buy any ebay turbos, even if its "used" and "stock". I did that and ended up replacing 4 studs (pics only showed the good studs) on my turbo which cost more than the turbo.
It does have a cat in the up pipe, although that is not what caused the issue. I just figured while I am in there to go ahead and change it out. I am very short on funds and need to get back on the road as cost effectively and efficiently as possible.
Buy a beater... Most cost effective and most reliable because if you're not planning on addressing all the metal that your blown turbo has deposited in your motor you will be starting a new... Please help me thread!!!
I do not plan on just slapping a new turbo on. I'm trying to do my homework on what I need to do to get back on the road. I may be on a short budget, but by no means do I plan to do a half ass job. I very much enjoy this vehicle and have only driven Subarus for the past ten treats. There seems to be quite a few posts/opinions regarding this process and I want to get it right. I do appreciate the concern though, sounds like you may be speaking from experience. That's why I like these groups. Dan
Just drained and filtered the oil. Noticed gold color flakes and small bits. Next step is to pull the oil pan and clean. Change oil cooler and pick up. Looking for a turbo now. I'm scared, I've waited for years to go from an NA Suby and finally got my LGT. Of course I lost my job shortly after and decided to change careers. Bad luck. I don't want to get rid of this car, but I can't afford to fix this issue and go through it again shortly after. I work at a dealership now and my boss is trying to get me to trade it in for something on the lot. Not sure where this will end.....
I may be able to help with your turbo. I have an 06 OBXT and will be upgrading my turbo soon (in the next few weeks) to a VF52. The VF40 I have on currently was fitted new about 15K ago at a dealer when I bought the car. I took out the banjo and a infamous filter fitted so there should be little or no wear on it. If you can wait we can do a deal otherwise I was just going to keep it as a spare.
She is back on the road! Now I need to either spend some more money or find someone locally that can assist in some data logging. Thanks for all the help! Dan
I hope you went with an IHI turbo. All the cheaper ones usually end up blowing up because the shafts are weak. I went for the cheaper $800 vs the IHI's $1350 and had mine blow under 20k on it and then had to drop the 1350 for a good one.
