2007 Subaru Outback 2.5L Turbo Failure, Engine Rebuild
Asked by Adam1911OP Feb 26, 2019 at 03:23 PM about the 2007 Subaru Outback 2.5 XT Wagon AWD
Question type: Maintenance & Repair
Hello,
My '07 Outback recently had the CEL and Cruise Control light come on while
driving. After a short distance, I began to hear a large rattling sound. Parked
the car and pulled the code with a handheld OBDII reader and it showed:
P0011 - Camshaft Position 'A' Timing Over Advance or Performance Bank 1.
I had my car towed to a Subaru dealer I use often for oil changes and
maintenance. It's been a week and they told me today the turbo is damaged
and they're not sure if the engine block has any damage. They gave two
options. 1) Replace the turbo and cylinder head for $3,000, or 2) Replace the
turbo and cylinder head, and rebuild the block (if repairable after
disassembly) for $17,000....but since my family takes their other 2 Subaru's
there for maintenance, they'll do a rebuild for $13,000.
I'd love your thoughts on any course of action. It used to be my father's car
before he passed away, and I'd really like to get it running again.
If there are other options to replacing/rebuilding, I'd like to hear about it. Also
the possibility of aftermarket parts that may improve the integrity of the
engine and oil starvation (apparent reason for the damage) going forward.
If it matters any, I live in California. Don't know if that'd affect pricing much,
besides labor.
Thank you!
9 Answers
Adam1911OP answered 5 years ago
The dealership sent me an email after my phone conversation and here's their description of the current status: "...we can hear abnormal noise coming from the engine , and the turbo as well as noise coming from both the front and rear catalytic convertors . We recommend to perform a tear down on the engine to see whats causing the noise and to check the cylinder head to make sure they aren't cracked or warped.Cost of tear down $2100 (that is for removing the engine and opening it up to see whats causing the noise , there is a chance once its taken apart it wont be able to be put back together unless repairs are done we wont know until it is out and opened )."
Skip it....I have a suspicion that they will charge you a lot of money to open it up and then tell you that option 2 is all they can do to get the car running again. Proceed with caution.
California cars are better .. usually have no rust, but it's all about condition.
Adam1911OP answered 5 years ago
Thanks, Mark! I appreciate you chiming in. I will go to the dealership today and have them give me their overview in person, then get the car towed home tomorrow and take a look myself again and do some research. Someone on another forum suggested cleaning the Oil Control Solenoid and opening up the exhaust at the turbo to check the turbo condition. Along that line, I'm curious if it's possible that if the turbo was damaged due to oil starvation, is there a likelihood the rattling I heard at idle and during any level of throttling is bits and pieces thrown into the exhaust pipe. I got my 2-year degree in auto repair, but got out of that line of work after a few years, so I have tools and some experience. If there's suggestions for at-home diagnostic steps I'd love to know. I have not worked with Subaru engines or turbo engines in the past, though.
If you are dedicated to keeping this car you should find a good Subaru specialist. 17 grand for a rebuilt engine is insane. You should RUN AWAY from this dealer!
13 grand is also preposterous.
Adam1911OP answered 5 years ago
Thanks for the support on that. I feel the same way. I'm actually towing it home from the dealership tomorrow and sitting on it until I can find a reputable shop. Some advice on other forums was to look into a better built aftermarket turbo and engine internals. At a good private shop I'd imagine it wouldn't cost near $13k to get some mid-level forged internals and a turbo included in a rebuild?
Adam this was the very same thing that happened on my 2010 xt Forester. I took it to subaru and they told my i need a new turbo for $2500. So i did alot of research on if the code and what i found is that code is a code not to believe. It cannot pin point where the failure is coming from. I found some guy on YouTube and he says to install a Engine Variable Valve Timing Control Solenoid VVT AVCS OSV. I got 1 on Amazon $46 installed it myself which was a tight space but did it and bingo the car ran like new. Cleared the code and has not come back. That was 25000 miles ago. Subaru are scum for doing this to us.
My subaru did have the cruise control system light blink over and over ...and yes it did crap ....good looking cars but if there is a way to keep another engine from doing the same I would most definitely get another engine ....but I dont want to waste more money than i have too to keep the car ....second thoughts about Subaru
