Non-interference
 

I would like to ask a favor of all the great people on this network. You all have helped me greatly with my car and any problems i've had in the past. Some of you may know that my engine was taken in to a Subaru dealership in clearwater, fl. to have the seals done, and a new timing belt, along with a new waterpump. Upon picking the car up the next night the engine sounded liek it blew. Not even 24 hours later this happend. Immediately after this happend I proceeded to check the oil and the dipstick was completely dry. I found this odd since earlier that afternoon i made a trip back to the dealership to ask them why my car was still leaking oil. Upon arrival at the dealership the "tech" opened my hood and said yea its probably just your rack, its leaking pretty bad... SO i leave and that same night the engine blows. Upon arrival back at the dealership they tell me that the timing belt tensioner had gone and they think something came into contact with the piston. I ask them "how is this possible since the 3.3 is a non-interference engine??" Simple its not a non-interference engine...We had to call to check and see if it was or not..(Why dont you know this???)So after about 2 weeks of them having the car and never calling me i had the car towed to a mechanic friend and he said that upon listening to it he thinks its definitely a rod. Now don't rods' normally malfunction because of lack of oil???Is there any way the rod could of been damaged by the timing belt tensioner going???(if it did go, the mechanic said the belt and tensioner looked fine)Also the favor , if any of you have in print somewhere where it says the 3.3 is a non-interference engine, if you could copy and email it to me that would be great.. Also if any of you are mechaincs for subaru especially but just in general please inform me of anything you think could of happend to my engine or any info that i can bring back to fight the dealership with, im writing a nice long letter tonight and then my lawyer is going to prepare a nice letter with info from the mechanic we had the car towed to..I would love any and all info i can possibly read or print and bring with me to the lawyer of how this isnt related to what they say it is...Sorry for the length i just really need all the help i can get for this..Thanks again for any and all help in advance, also i would like to say you guys are really like a second family on here, kinda crazy.well just wanted to say thanks for awesome sight and people on it...

bttt

If the piston coming into contact with a valve caused the rod to break there should be evidence of impact on the piston or the valve (probably both)

I'll look in my FSM set tonight when I get home. I can't believe that a Subaru dealer would tell you that the EG33 isn't a non-interference engine. They're all non-interference engines! It's a selling point we hear all the time!

It sounds to me like your engine was oil-starved. Don't take my word for it - I'm no engine expert. What seals did you have replaced?

The only way the rod could have gotten damaged is by oil deprivation?? Correct?? So in turn this would mean that the engine could not have been damaged by a timing belt tensioner malfunctioning. The seals that were replaced were cam seal, crank seal, valve cover gaskets, timing belt, water pump. Thanks for any help...

Whoah, hang on. I probably got ahead of myself. I'm certainly not qualified to say that the only way a rod can get damaged is if the engine runs out of oil - nor would I say that, anyway. You just mentioned that it was leaking oil badly and was empty when you checked it. We don't even know for sure that a rod is damaged until somebody does an autopsy.

Does your engine still run right now? You say that it 'sounded like it blew,' but we have no idea what that means.

Anyway, I just suspect that the engine was damaged by the oil leaking out or the dealer forgetting to fill the pan when they were done replacing the seals.

I can say this for sure: The EG33 is a non-interference engine, so the valves cannot contact the pistons.

Fitzgeralds?

Ans what were you charged (if I may ask) for this damage?


Randy ii

The total for all the work was 985.00 and that was after the $125 discount they gave me for being delayed...See i was supposed to pick up the car on a monday morning...when I hadn't heard anything from them by noon i called and they said they had to tear the engine back apart cause one of the seals malfunctioned, but they assured me it would be done that day...It wasn't...Had to wait until the next day and then i finally picked it up...


The sound of the engine blowing up to me are as follows (ill try to describe this wretched sound as best as possibe)

Its definitely rythmic with the stroke of atleast one piston, its as if you can literally hear the piston going up and down, knocking, and clunking, the car runs or i should say did run just made that horrible sound

Also i was wondering i there is anyway to check and see if the rod is actually bad without having to tear the heads and al that fun stuff off???My brother said that i might possibly be able to tell what piston it is by a compression test, and posibly sticking some type of scope down through the spark plug hole???IF anyone knows a way to diagnose this any and all help is greatly appreciated....thanks in advance

rebuild
 

If a rod is thrown then the engine must be completely overhauled correct???Now if the piston did damage to the wall, won't i have to get slightly larger pistons, in turn which would raise my cui. a little correct???Would this offer any gain???just curious was thinking about as im writing a letter to the dealership...thanks for any help

actually i think that they'll probably swap out the short block and just put in a new one and put everythign else back the way it was

Sorry to tell you this Nick, but most Subaru engines are interference. At the time ours was introduced, only it and the 2.2L it was based on were not. I believe all current Subaru engines are an interference design. I know the 2.5l motors are.

but your positive ours is a non-interference???Also when someone was replacing cam,crank,valve cover, waterpump, and timing belt, would the oil of been changed???

Also, they gave me a theory about the reason for no oil being on the dipstick right after i turned the car off. It was because of the design of the engine and the small oil pan thats why the dipstick was bone dry..(why then have i been able to check it right after turning it off, adn still pull up oil on the stick, granted its low but never bone dry)

just watned to double check and make sure there is no real validity to his claim about the dry dipstick...thanks for the help thus far....

also is there any other way for a rod to get damaged???SOrry for all the questions just dont want to sound like an idiot in my letter...thanks again i really appreciate all the ehlp

need help
 

just e-mail subaru of america, and ask if the eg33 is a non interferance engine. with that e-mail that they send you stating it isnt, use that for your lawer folder.

You don't have to apologize for correcting me - thanks for it, actually. :)

Why are current engines interference designs? Is it just not worth the expense to design an engine to not destroy itself instantly if a $50 part breaks?