Car dies on the highway.. engine possibly trashed??

[poodlesrule]

Three extra notes;

I *may* not have been very religious about checking my oil level, I since read that Japanese engines, generally, are built very tight, and are sensitive to oil levels. This may have been why my bottom end decided to go?
I am sure history of headgasket problems did not help here. I think I was losing a bit of coolant.

You can have your engine oil tested for contaminants like gasoline, coolant. I did not know there were 'consumer" labs offering that. Very useful to investigate coolant loss,loose valves, etc. Useful to buttress claim for warranty work.

CL people are funny: iI posted the car for sale "Subaru with dead engine" and "not running!" in body text. Someone replies "Anything wrong with it?". There is no way to tell if the responder means "anything else", or just didn't read the ad... or is on a physing(sp?) expedition!

[Eric***]

CL people are funny: iI posted the car for sale "Subaru with dead engine" and "not running!" in body text. Someone replies "Anything wrong with it?". There is no way to tell if the responder means "anything else", or just didn't read the ad... or is on a physing(sp?) expedition!

Yup. I have posted various non-functional items on CL for free, and in one example, it was an xbox that didn't work. I mentioned this numerous times in the ad, and received multiple emails asking for it, saying that their kids would love to have an xbox to play, as they had been asking for one for a long time. Really? They're been asking for a video game system that doesn't work? Strange children...

[deeaa*]

I always change my oil twice a year, no matter how little I drive, or every 10.000 km anyway. This despite the car manual only says oil needs be changed every 40.000. Also, whenever I start a trip longer than 200km, I check the oil and add a little if it's dropped any.

[Eric***]

I always change my oil twice a year, no matter how little I drive, or every 10.000 km anyway. This despite the car manual only says oil needs be changed every 40.000. Also, whenever I start a trip longer than 200km, I check the oil and add a little if it's dropped any.

I've started doing this less than 10000 km / 3000 mi, since the manual does indeed give more room.

[Duffy]

Sounds like the end snapped on the crankshaft, therefore no piston movement up and down. Unlikely head gasket because even with a bad one some cylinders should retain a decent seal, especially on the other side of the engine if it is a oppositional boxer type 4 cyl. Those are great engines by the way. Did it clack or make knocking noise? A used junk yard motor could be an excellent idea. Since they made that motor for many years getting a used one should be cost effective, and with some luck you will have an engine that will be good for a long while, especially if low mileage wreck. Then you should be prepared to regularly perform repair and maintenance on any car. I did a lot of repairs on my great Subaru '96 Legacy wagon before I sadly totalled it at a new traffic light. It was totally ready for the long road.

[sumitomo]

I love hearing all these ideas of "What could it be?" sounds like you have made your mind what you want to do.But here are some things ever car has to have to run (and you should start here instead of guessing) compression (it's a big air pump)gotta have that timimg stuff with spark and fuel.Oh and on the subys,hondas,ect. When the headgasket is going or gone it allows combustion gasses into the cooling system,this pressure forces the coolant out and creates a air pocket which gets super heated forcing more coolant out and bang HOT! anyway if you guys ever have any car questions you can e-mail me and I will do what I can to help.I pop in here once in a while I need a new computer mine is really slow.Sumi

[NWBasser]

Sumi,

Glad to see you here!

What do you think of the long-term reliability/quality of the recent (2009 and up) Subi models?

I know they haven't been out long, but some potential issues might be identifiable at this point.

[bcdon***]

Glad to see you back, Sumi.

[sumitomo]

Man I gotta get a new computer,took 3 mins to boot this page.The newer cars (Asian)suby,honda,toy,ect are awesome say from 2005 up,I'm not seeing many probs at all,a lot of these cars now have timing chains(bummer for me)and they are holding good.Now of course a engine will go bad here or there,when there are moving parts,sometimes something will fail,but the probs of the past are not there and the performance and mileage are up!Sumi

[deeaa*]

I'm seeing a weird trend here w/subarus.

Every year they publish a sorted list of yearly car inspection results, indicating by make and model which cars have had the least and most faults.

Strangely, in 6-7 year old cars bracket Subaru is doing magnificently and is actually the 3rd least faulty car.
But worryingly, in 4-5 year olds bracket it drops to ninth place (which is still very good), but then in new (3 years or so) cars it plummets to 69th place. Seems like not so good a trend...

BUT one always has to take these indicators with a grain of salt. I for one think they speak more of the owners - which brand owners take good care of their cars and which not, than actual car quality maybe.

[Duffy]

Dee, I don't think that it is probable to associate such a gigantic drop in the place number, for such a short period of time difference, to owner care and maintenance. That change would possibly be expected to be fairly constant or drop gradually or even fluxuate across the time line. I think this phenomenal drop is associated with other factors like quality control or quality of design.

[deeaa*]

Hm, I don't know Subarus really at all. Might be they just introduced a new model at that point, which had some 'baby issues' like many 1st production run cars do before they're ironed out?

At any rate, those lists fluctuate like crazy. Pretty much the only constants are that Porsche, BMW and Lexus always occupy the highest ratings, and Toyota always keeps a lot of good positions on it. Japanese makes in general are pretty steadily at good positions. All the others seem to switch places quite a lot year by year.