Recent Feedback
This is a doozy... while driving my 2010 Impreza STi I had a major engine blow out... brakes locked, steering locked, engine stopped...made it side of road...when I eventually opened the hood, the top of the coolant reservoir was off and coolant was sprayed inside the hood. Long story short... I'm being told that that engine reached 285 plus degrees, and requires a new engine...and that is was caused by the radiator cap being off or loose? and therefore not covered by warranty. I had driven 240 miles the day before and was over 100 miles into the return trip when this occurred. I might be wrong...but under normal conditions, I think the STi system would have precluded me from just driving and driving, even if I ingnored the "check engine" or the temp gauge... and yet Subaru is telling me that I did just that? Totally not the case...car is too precious to me. I'm capable of paying $10K for the repair, but I feel like I'm being held up by a bureaucracy that I'm unable to communicate with! Subaru is backing into a scenario to support the outcome that they want.Any feedback would be greatly appreciated... and thanks for taking the time, J
Country: United StatesMake: SubaruModel: Impreza WRX STI LimitedYear: 2010 Already Tried: Details are in the question... a bit complicated, however, any insight would be greatly appreciated, Jim
Hello and Welcome to Just Answer. My name is XXXXX XXXXX X will try my best to assist you and your 100% satisfaction is my goal. I have been working on these vehicles for over 10 years so I am very familiar with this system and how they work. However, keep in mind, that I need some solid concrete facts/evidence/clues from you in order to give you a good answer about your vehicle. Please realize that all my answers are based solely on the info that you provide me with.Are you asking if there is a engine cut off installed on your vehicle if the engine gets too hot to prevent damage to the engine?
What I'm asking is:...1- what possibly could have caused what I described to occur...engine totally blown, melted parts 2- If the radiator cap was off or loose, wouldn't the car have overheated much sooner? and 3- Yes, doesn't the car system prevent the driver from just continouing to drive if it's overheating? thanks much, Jim
Jim,Thanks for clearing that up!Let me gather some info for you and I will reply shortly.
Ok... sorry for the delay!Anything that can cause a coolant leak fast enough to leak out like you are describing can in fact causing this condition. Water pump, radiator, radiator hose, cylinder head gasket, freeze plug or loose or missing radiator cap like you have indicated. YES.. if in fact the radiator cap was off or left loose, then the engine would most likely have overheated much sooner. I would suspect within the first 15 or 20 minutes or sooner. Unfortunately, there is nothing in place to shut the engine off in the event of an overheating condition.I hope this helps!
Experience: ASE MASTER TECHNICIAN ADVANCED LEVEL SPECIALIST