Subaru officially announced today that it has suspended the production and sale of the 2.5 liter turbocharged engine. The 2.5 liter normally aspirated engine production however is not affected. The 2.5 liter turbocharged engine production stop is not caused by a safety issue. The problem seems to be a knocking noise that surfaced in some isolated reports.
Subaru has identified the problem as abnormal wear on con rod big end bearings and are now working to identify the cause and produce a fix.
Subaru Press Release:
Fuji Heavy Industries (FHI), the manufacturer of Subaru vehicles, has temporarily suspended the
production and sale of all 2.5 liter four cylinder turbocharged engine vehicles manufactured between Tuesday 8 January and Saturday 5 April 2008.
This is not a safety-related recall, as incorrectly reported in some media.
Vehicles fitted with all other displacement engines and the 2.5 liter normally aspirated engine are not affected.
This Quality Assurance action follows isolated reports of “engine knocking noise” and is aimed at avoiding possible damage to the engines of potentially affected vehicles.
FHI have identified the problem as abnormal wear on con rod big end bearings and are now working to identify the cause and produce a fix.
Therefore, in the interests of preventing any possibility of engine damage, we are isolating any potentially affected vehicles from sale until the cause and correction are identified.
In Australia 1233 cars fitted with the 2.5 liter four cylinder turbocharged engines, manufactured between Tuesday 8 January and Saturday 5 April 2008, are potentially affected, covering:
- Forester XT – chassis 002070 onwards
- Impreza WRX and WRX STI – chassis 015006 onwards
- Liberty GT sedan – chassis 038385 onwards
- Liberty GT wagon – chassis 068148 onwards
Subaru Australia will update its retail network and relevant customers as soon as possible, on receipt of further advice from FHI.
This will also include advice regarding 171 potentially affected vehicles already with customers.
Any affected customers will be offered a loan car until their vehicles can be checked and, where necessary, fixed.
If customers experience any incidents of engine knocking noise, they are advised to contact Subaru Customer Relations immediately on 1800 22 66 43.
