anon4373736736 Posted March 30, 2015 Share Posted March 30, 2015 Thought i would post about an issue im having with subaru. Purchased a 2015 wrx sti from serithai subaru. After the stuff around of not getting the color i chose and being told i would have to wait and wait some more i decided i want my deposit back. I was blatently told no. Legally they have to give it back but i wanted the car so i took another color which was several months after ordering anyway. No problem. I picked up the car, looked great, drove fine. Basically the next day when started the car started in limp mode. Lights flashing, etc... In the manual it states to call subaru and have them toe the car to check. Turns out that the car has a secondary air pump that blows air in to the exhaust manifold to dillute air to pass a euro4 test. Problem is in a humid country that air turns to water and destroys the valves that let this air in allowing them to be stuck. Not to mention long term damage to O2 sensors, cat converters and so on... All this i have had to figure out myself. Subaru Thailand pretend this is a one off situation but a little googling shows the extent of the problem. Subaru Thailand can not fix this issue, they will not offer me my money back, they had said they will compensate so i dont feel completely ripped off yet are not doing so. I have threatened them with legal action which is a road i dont wish to go down but see no alternative. For would be buyers of subarus in thailand i have to urge against it. The service people lied to me about the problem and held my brand new car for there own enjoyment as my car had 150km gone on the speedo with more balded tires and max boost guage showing it were doing high speed runs. All the time i was being told they will fix it, blah blah... They ordered in a valve to replace the faulty valve that i made them admit to being the problem and demanded i watch the procedure. I can assure you that of all the cars coming in for service. I didnt see one get a dose of oil. Is this so? Anyway, valve was changed. Next day same problem. Its purely the humidity so just to drive my 3.45m car i have to disconnect batteries or reset error codes to get it out of limp mode. Doesnt seem fair that a car costing this much doesnt warrant any aftersales care. My advice is dont buy subarus in thailand. Serious waste of money, not tested in the enviroment, no honest staff of which will not answer phones and lie, lie, lie, overpriced parts and so on. Im interested to know if there is anyone else out there sharing the same sort of problems with the same model or other problems. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bkkjames Posted March 31, 2015 Share Posted March 31, 2015 Sorry to hear about your bad luck. I find it odd that a car with its rally pedigree would suffer from humidity problems. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
konying Posted March 31, 2015 Share Posted March 31, 2015 Contact ocpb , free and will get you better results Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
anon4373736736 Posted March 31, 2015 Author Share Posted March 31, 2015 Yes, who would have thought an sti would suffer from stupid issues but sure enough all turbo models are fitted with a secondary air pump to meet current enviro regulations. The pumps themselves are the issue. Its a known problem and a quick google shows such. Its so bad that i removed the mufflers and water came rushing out the exhaust. Not something you would expect from a new car. These units can be removed and the ecu reflashed with no ill effects on the car apart from it not passing a euro4 test which doesnt bother me but subaru wont do it. If i remove it this then voids the warranty which appears to be what subaru want. Apart from the price tag and this really annoying issue that i should state only happens from a cold start the car is great. Sad i cant trust a subaru to service it! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IMHO Posted March 31, 2015 Share Posted March 31, 2015 According to this video, the factory ECU can be programmed to ignore this fault code: 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pgrahmm Posted March 31, 2015 Share Posted March 31, 2015 (edited) People that have them love them for the most part....but buying a 'minor player' car can be a service headache....even in the states in some areas Subaru service is few and far between...... Edited March 31, 2015 by pgrahmm Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hansgruber Posted March 31, 2015 Share Posted March 31, 2015 Search my posts regarding my experience with Subaru and motor image. Anything replaced under warranty has to go through head office in Singapore and they only they can approve the replacement of parts which aren't even here in Thailand. The company is run like a concentration camp. I sold that one amd bought another grey market Japanese one and removed all the catalytic converters and ran a straight pipe with an ecu tune. Ran great and never a problem. If you want to get the car tuned and reprogrammed for Thailand fuel it makes a huge difference. Pm me and I'll steer you to a great tuning shop. These cars were originally designed to run 100 Ron Japanese fuel and the ecu just retards the timing to adjust to 95 Ron and it isn't ideal. Only a aftermarket tune can fix this. All the best. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
raffo77 Posted March 31, 2015 Share Posted March 31, 2015 Sorry to hear about this. Must check mine (XV) to see if it has this dreaded pump... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
anon4373736736 Posted March 31, 2015 Author Share Posted March 31, 2015 Sorry to hear about this. Must check mine (XV) to see if it has this dreaded pump...This particular problem is with the turbo models only so the xv is pretty right and from what i understand. I actually got the chance to use one of these xvs for a few days and did a bangkok to phuket run in it. I must say they arent a bad car at all. The added clearance and awd is a hands down winner when it comes to considering similarliy priced cars. My wife and i are concidering purchasing one as a runabout family car. Mechanically they dont seem to suffer any more issues than anyother brand/models. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
anon4373736736 Posted March 31, 2015 Author Share Posted March 31, 2015 According to this video, the factory ECU can be programmed to ignore this fault code: Thats exactly right. Disabling it by killing power to the pump only so it still makes use of a barometric pressure sensor it uses and reflashing thw ecu to ignore the faults is a simple fix. If only its something subaru could offer to do and still continue the warranties. Makes sense! The car doesnt need the device at all. I certainly didnt buy it in the hopes of emmiting clean air. It sort of defeats the purpose of buying such a car that is expected to be a little dirty. Maybe if the problem continues subaru thailand could take this type of solution onboard. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
anon4373736736 Posted March 31, 2015 Author Share Posted March 31, 2015 Search my posts regarding my experience with Subaru and motor image. Anything replaced under warranty has to go through head office in Singapore and they only they can approve the replacement of parts which aren't even here in Thailand. The company is run like a concentration camp. I sold that one amd bought another grey market Japanese one and removed all the catalytic converters and ran a straight pipe with an ecu tune. Ran great and never a problem. If you want to get the car tuned and reprogrammed for Thailand fuel it makes a huge difference. Pm me and I'll steer you to a great tuning shop. These cars were originally designed to run 100 Ron Japanese fuel and the ecu just retards the timing to adjust to 95 Ron and it isn't ideal. Only a aftermarket tune can fix this. All the best. Your right. A concentration camp is the impression im getting and will post about this shortly. I looked at grey imports but was hesitant given the cars dont end up much cheaper and with no ability to buy engines or even chassis seperatley to import nowadays i decided to swallow the pride and buy new new in the hopes of some more long term value to the car, service and parts, etc.... had i known the issues that would arise earlier i may have swung to a gtey import Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
anon4373736736 Posted March 31, 2015 Author Share Posted March 31, 2015 Well, i finally got to sit down wih the new boss of serithai subaru yesterday. I must say it was an enlightwning experience and i was happy to have a face put to the issue and not given a run around still. I expressed my dissatisfaction with the problem of the secondaey pump and other problems with the service section of subaru and so on and to my amazement my concerns were shared and are being tackled. By the sounds of it with the new boss in place that things are chamging and going to change for the better. I still can not get a valid fix for this particular issue but i will be looked after im assured and when an approved fix becomes available it will be given. I really hope for the few turbo models that use these secondary air pumps that subaru can just offer to remove them or even leave them be and reflash the ecus before selling them in thailand. No one buying these cars are buying them for the euro4 rating are they? People buying these models purely like to drive so who needs it? Im not sure on the ramifications of emmisions checks and so on down the track allthough have decided to if i can hold out until the warranties void i will reflash and get it checked. Good thing is serithai is listening and taking action im assured and i do believe them at thia point. Fingers crossed this is issue which is only limieted to the turbo models which nodoubt will be replaced with new models down the track making this problem a thing of the past but if there is anyone out there suffering the same issues it would be good to get the problem known to aubaru so this isnt looked at like an isolated case. With regards to the other issues faced. At this point we will put it down to a little bad luck. The new boss is kicking heads i guess you could say to bring up the subaru name here in thailand to be as it is elsewhere and already tackling issues in all facets of the biz. Certainly way over my head so i wiah them well with that. At the end of the day they are great cars and even with the stupid issue that it has being a brand new car it is the best car i have owned. There is very few cars i could say i have enjoyed to drive. The sti wrx is a fun car to drive. No problems there. So for a subaru enthusiest as myself and as would be most out there with these particular models its good to see i will be looked after and better to see the changes that are taking place. I must say the secondary pump problem on non grey import models would be small in numbers but an annoying problems nonetheless that im sure others are takling with. Thank god for an administration reshuffle so to speak at subaru so problems can be hears and dealt with. Will head back to subaru in a few weeks to further discuss the issue. Fingers crossed.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BSJ Posted March 31, 2015 Share Posted March 31, 2015 I am not interested in buying one but it makes me wonder what head office is doing when you hear of problems like this. I have has 3 in the past which gave no problems at all. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
anon4373736736 Posted April 1, 2015 Author Share Posted April 1, 2015 I am not interested in buying one but it makes me wonder what head office is doing when you hear of problems like this. I have has 3 in the past which gave no problems at all. Im not entirely sure what the head office is up to also. It appears to be very strict at the top for reasons im not 100% sure of. I had requested help, compensation and so on with the issue i faced and it was like it wasnt taken seriously from the head office abroad for which thai subaru need to go through first with regards to what to do about the issue. Its taken persistance but atleast im being heard. I simultaneously bought a subaru liberty (legacy in thai) for family abroad when purchasing my sti and its flawless thus far. I hope i can put it down to just a bit of bad luck with my car thats otherwise great and bad timing with a reshuffling of the powers that be i guess i can say. Time will tell... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stevenl Posted April 1, 2015 Share Posted April 1, 2015 i was happy to have a face put to the issue and not given a run around still.<snip> I still can not get a valid fix for this particular issue but i will be looked after im assured and when an approved fix becomes available it will be given. Looking at this it sounds like you are still given the run around. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
anon4373736736 Posted April 1, 2015 Author Share Posted April 1, 2015 i was happy to have a face put to the issue and not given a run around still.<snip> I still can not get a valid fix for this particular issue but i will be looked after im assured and when an approved fix becomes available it will be given. Looking at this it sounds like you are still given the run around. It maybe so. Im quite sure it wouldnt be wise to further delay proceedings on there behalf. It will only further snowball the issue which no descent individual/biz/co would desire. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pdaz Posted April 3, 2015 Share Posted April 3, 2015 Looking at their site the BRZ is "only" 2 mil now.. Better than the 2.6 it used to be and manual too.. shame about the lack of HP though ;( Why didn't they dump the Sti motor into the BRZ's great chassis ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IMHO Posted April 3, 2015 Share Posted April 3, 2015 Why didn't they dump the Sti motor into the BRZ's great chassis ? Have you been reading this thread? Jokes aside, rumor has it Toyota will give the 86 more HP in next year's minor change. No word from Subaru. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
casualbiker Posted April 4, 2015 Share Posted April 4, 2015 According to this video, the factory ECU can be programmed to ignore this fault code: Thats exactly right. Disabling it by killing power to the pump only so it still makes use of a barometric pressure sensor it uses and reflashing thw ecu to ignore the faults is a simple fix. If only its something subaru could offer to do and still continue the warranties. Makes sense! The car doesnt need the device at all. I certainly didnt buy it in the hopes of emmiting clean air. It sort of defeats the purpose of buying such a car that is expected to be a little dirty.Maybe if the problem continues subaru thailand could take this type of solution onboard. The car needs the device to pass emissions laws. Thailands emissions laws are for petrol engined light passenger vehicles is comparable to Euro4. What are Subaru doing in other countries with high humidity, like Malaysia? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
anon4373736736 Posted April 4, 2015 Author Share Posted April 4, 2015 Subaru Thailand should be offering to reflash the ecus to compensate this issue atleast but sadly will not as there is i guess a lot of grey area. It would void warranties and its probably a little tricky to admit to lowering the euro4 emissions of new cars to avoid this issue. Currently subaru offer a fix which they did for me which is just replacing components of the pump like pump valves and or the whole unit which can hold the issue at bay i believe all be it hasnt in my case but in all reality its a fix used to drag out the process over a warranty period being my concern. So as far as a solution is concerned there is no fool proof solution from subaru for this issue. Being a purchaser of an all new over priced car shouldnt invole having it pulled apart frequentley to mask the problem in my opinion. Whats tough is most people that buy these cars are enthusiests and understand the car itself is pretty good so sort of take on these stupid problems. Problem is taking them on willingly and not being aware should be a choice. Im certainly pushing subaru for a legitimate fix becuause i think its there duty given i cant sell the car in this state, they refuse to refund, cant offer a fix as yet, etc... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
anon4373736736 Posted April 4, 2015 Author Share Posted April 4, 2015 Looking at their site the BRZ is "only" 2 mil now.. Better than the 2.6 it used to be and manual too.. shame about the lack of HP though ;( Why didn't they dump the Sti motor into the BRZ's great chassis ? Dumping the 2.5l in the brz means putting the secondary pump in to meet euro4 stanfards. Probably not a good choice. I agree though. Great cars but underpowered. A couple more hundred ponies would make all these models more fun. There is bolt on turbo kits and chargers for the brz,frs,86 and its probably just what the doctored ordered. Forget the warranties though! Its completely off topic but for the rev heads i can say the brz has no hope against an sti. Have had a lot of fun against these cars and can blow them away all day long and i think the sti is lacking serious hp so given peoples common comments suggest the same it would be good to see a little more under the bonnet in the brz.... in the future. Price is certainly nicer and had my wife scratching her head as a possible second car. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
casualbiker Posted April 4, 2015 Share Posted April 4, 2015 Dunno if this will work for yours... http://secondaryairinjection.org/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
anon4373736736 Posted April 4, 2015 Author Share Posted April 4, 2015 I have actually read about these units and actually emailed a few times in the hopes of purchasing early on with the problem but got no reply. Seems from the link they have a little more info now and verify the problem being humidity helping the problem. They do mention the models after 3 years will have the fault. 24-48hrs of a new car and then the same after the first fix is a little short of 3yrs which sort of seems to coincide with warranties. Thanks for the post. Very informative. Even if Subaru could offer a device as such from the get go and an explination for its purpose would be better than nothing and the time of sale. With regards to the device i havent used one but i believe it just tricks the ecu not to activate the pump in the same manner. So its really a patch that will hide the faults from showing but the problem will still exist. I now use a obd2 bluetooth reader to delete the codes to drive out of limp mode. Frustrating and not good. Atleast these other devices could help out with this annoying aspect. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fish fingers Posted April 5, 2015 Share Posted April 5, 2015 Looking at their site the BRZ is "only" 2 mil now.. Better than the 2.6 it used to be and manual too.. shame about the lack of HP though ;( Why didn't they dump the Sti motor into the BRZ's great chassis ? Yes its gone from being quite expensive to almost a bargain (by thai standards). I sat in one at the motorshow and loved it, altho my legs are a little too long. IMO Its a purist sports car in the vein of Lotus or a Miata, I don't think the lack of horsepower is such a biggie Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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