July 7, 20205 yr And this from a guy who avoids turbos. So forgetting EA cars , which later models have you experienced high mileage with minimal repairs on ? This is simple curiosity and I am currently not in the market. Guys like me are generally too cheap or are paying too much elsewhere to put out for a real muscular Subaru. Takes decades sometimes for technology to trickle down to this poor boy. But if there’s an era where they gave us a more reliable turbo engine please post your evidence ! Cheers!
July 7, 20205 yr Hands down the 91 to 94 Legacy Turbo. These are REALLY hard to kill. With even reasonable maintenance they just go forever. No banjo filters, no up-pipe cats, hydraulic lifters so no valve clearance exhaust valve damage..... and not enough power to hurt themselves. The 02 to 05 WRX EJ205 is a close second. With the up-pipe converter being the only real design flaw. It's easily removed. That is in 100% stock unmodified condition of course. With excellent maintenance. I have seen 250k+ from both (with original turbochargers). After those you get into turbo oil starvation, ring land failures, and oil pickup tube failures. These can be addressed before or (more often) after they fail, but if not addressed one of these will generally claim the engine at some point. GD
July 7, 20205 yr Author Thanks ! Kind of figured the EJ22 version would be pretty much as you described. But I really know zip about these later models, which to me would be anything after ‘05.
July 7, 20205 yr 4 hours ago, moosens said: I really know zip about these later models, which to me would be anything after ‘05. LOL - I get what you’re saying, but he didn’t mention anything after 2005!
July 7, 20205 yr 1 hour ago, idosubaru said: LOL - I get what you’re saying, but he didn’t mention anything after 2005! Because they are junk in stock form. We can fix them and make a LOT of power, but in stock form they have problems. If you find one that's in good shape you can address the issues before they turn into major failures but it's not particularly cheap. It's about $4,000 to bullet-proof an EJ255/EJ257. That's fast approaching more than the car is worth. GD
July 14, 20205 yr Glad to see both of my turbo Scoobs being called out in this thread. I have owned two Legacy Turbos and two EJ205 powered WRXs. Engine wise they have all been reliable save for my 04 WRX which spun a bearing during a very spirited canyon run. I currently have 165,xxx miles on my 02 WRX and it is still on the original engine, transmission, and turbocharger.
July 14, 20205 yr ... save for my 04 WRX which spun a bearing during a very spirited canyon run ... hmmmm.....some folks have found cracked oil pick-up tubes. =reduced oil flow. you can see/read horror stories at the KillerB site.
July 15, 20205 yr 1 hour ago, 1 Lucky Texan said: hmmmm.....some folks have found cracked oil pick-up tubes. =reduced oil flow. you can see/read horror stories at the KillerB site. That would be on the 255/257 with the narrow oil pans and the short dip-sticks..... not applicable to the 205 with it's flat bottom pan and low oil level. GD
July 20, 20205 yr On 7/14/2020 at 5:02 PM, GeneralDisorder said: That would be on the 255/257 with the narrow oil pans and the short dip-sticks..... not applicable to the 205 with it's flat bottom pan and low oil level. GD Are you thinking the pan/oil level impacts the life of the oil pickup tube?
July 20, 20205 yr 1 hour ago, carfreak85 said: Are you thinking the pan/oil level impacts the life of the oil pickup tube? I absolutely believe it does. The portion of the tube above the level of the oil is shorter than on the flat bottom pans - all things vibrate, but shorter things vibrate at higher frequencies. Just like when you shorten a guitar string. The portion of the pickup above the level of the oil vibrates at a higher frequency (more vibration per second) and fatigue failure occurs. We don't see these failures on the pans that have the oil level lower (longer dipstick). The STI's actually have smaller oil pans, but they just run the oil up closer to the crankshaft and shorten the dipstick to get the same capacity out of them. Unfortunately I guess no one did the math on sympathetic vibrations and what that was going to do to the pickup tube. GD
July 21, 20205 yr First, I don't have a turbo at least not yet. Second, it would have made more sense to me to make a sturdier pick up tube, rather than a $700 pan and tube as in the Killer B. O.
July 21, 20205 yr 10 hours ago, moosens said: All I wanted was a Pepsi , mom !!! Lol Institutionalized, nice! Edited July 21, 20205 yr by NV Zeno Spelling, punctuation
July 21, 20205 yr 16 hours ago, ocei77 said: First, I don't have a turbo at least not yet. Second, it would have made more sense to me to make a sturdier pick up tube, rather than a $700 pan and tube as in the Killer B. O. You can buy just the Killer-B pickup tube. They are $180 and they fit the stock pan. GD
July 21, 20205 yr 4 hours ago, GeneralDisorder said: You can buy just the Killer-B pickup tube. They are $180 and they fit the stock pan. GD Good to know. Thanks
Please sign in to comment
You will be able to leave a comment after signing in
Sign In Now