David BASC Posted January 29, 2016 Report Share Posted January 29, 2016 Purchased as 08 plate diesel Outback at the end of November with 82k on the clock, with a decent service history. Great motor but it had squeaky breaks and quite a bit of black smoke if you accelerated it hard. So, dropped it into my local independent garage this morning...this is what they did: 84K service Inspected and cleaned the breaks Sorted the smoke on acceleration Checked and fixed a bit of body trim that has come loose The car now runs very smooth, its quieter, pulls like a train, no smoke, squeak all but gone...and the cost..£150, well chuffed! David Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fuji Shooter Posted January 29, 2016 Report Share Posted January 29, 2016 That is a bargain, I take it you did not have it done at the Subaru dealers, mine charges you that for coffee while you wait. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David BASC Posted January 29, 2016 Author Report Share Posted January 29, 2016 Its a local family run garage, they give you the choice, you can have branded (i.e Subaru or what ever your make is) filters ect, or non branded equivalent, hence the savings can be significant. labor charge for all the work they did was £65 ex VAT. David Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shaun4860 Posted January 29, 2016 Report Share Posted January 29, 2016 Did they say why it smoked? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Westley Posted January 29, 2016 Report Share Posted January 29, 2016 Did they say why it smoked? Probably addicted ! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David BASC Posted January 29, 2016 Author Report Share Posted January 29, 2016 They said I had been driving it a bit too gently, suggested I gave it a bit of a raz now and gain to give it a clean out. Smoke was black, suggesting a bit of soot / un-burnt fuel, they found nothing else wrong with the engine Typically when driving I tend to short shift and change gear at or just below 2000 rpm Took it for a bit of a run about, accelerated hard up to about 3500 rpm - 4000 in 1st, 2nd and 3rd and put the throttle flat to the floor doing 40mph in 4th and accelerated to 70, no smoke at all Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
panoma1 Posted January 29, 2016 Report Share Posted January 29, 2016 Has it got a particulate filter? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David BASC Posted January 29, 2016 Author Report Share Posted January 29, 2016 Yes, from the research I have done the 08 models were fitted with the open loop DPF ,while the 09 onward have closed loop DPF. From what I have read the closed loop tend to have more problems with blocking due to failed regeneration, i have heard of engines with lower millage than mine blowing up. The other thing that can go wrong is the Exhaust Gas Recycling valve, that can get clogged up with deposits and the gears jam it open or closed, but the Scooby has none of those symptoms...yet The final thing to look out for is over pressure at the injectors, apart from clogged injectors I am not sure what would casue that Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
panoma1 Posted January 29, 2016 Report Share Posted January 29, 2016 Apparantly VAG motors have problems with the EGR valve too! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David BASC Posted January 29, 2016 Author Report Share Posted January 29, 2016 No other EGR failure symptoms such as rough idling, poor acceleration / loss of power though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shaun4860 Posted January 29, 2016 Report Share Posted January 29, 2016 My VW engined seat had a problem with the EGR valve, Bought a blanking plate of the bay.....problem solved Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kent Posted January 29, 2016 Report Share Posted January 29, 2016 The diesel is notorious for breaking it's crankshaft btw Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hendrix's rifle Posted January 29, 2016 Report Share Posted January 29, 2016 (edited) Yes, from the research I have done the 08 models were fitted with the open loop DPF ,while the 09 onward have closed loop DPF. From what I have read the closed loop tend to have more problems with blocking due to failed regeneration, i have heard of engines with lower millage than mine blowing up. The other thing that can go wrong is the Exhaust Gas Recycling valve, that can get clogged up with deposits and the gears jam it open or closed, but the Scooby has none of those symptoms...yet The final thing to look out for is over pressure at the injectors, apart from clogged injectors I am not sure what would casue that These new dpf systems are ****. Make sure you only fill up when you need to (don't just stick a tenner in) and really put your foot down at least once a week. I had a 14 plate Audi a3 tdi with 20k on it have problems with the dpf. I managed to get it to about 950 degrees to regen it, the thing was glowing red :L I am a mechanic by the way and see it all to often Edited January 29, 2016 by Hendrix's rifle Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zipdog Posted January 29, 2016 Report Share Posted January 29, 2016 sadly it seem the emission regulations have ruined reliable and well built engines. I recently owned a 22 year told Subaru legacy AWD, it was great, and never missed a beat. Now it seems all modern cars manufactures struggle to meet the emission targets, and as a result produce engines with know defects or try to cheat the tests like VW. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David BASC Posted January 30, 2016 Author Report Share Posted January 30, 2016 The 14 plate will almost certain,y have the closed loop dpf where half the tiny tubes are blocked half way down, much more efficient at removing particles etc but well prone to blocking and subsequent nasty and expensive damage. Removing them is, of course possible, BUT its an automatic MOT failure if you do apparently - not sure if the same applied if you blank off the egr? Advice I have had is put the best quality fuel in you can, i use the Shell premium stuff with added cleaner, plus make sure the filter get well up to temperature - ie give it a good hard run for 30 min or so regularly, once a week or so, especially if in the we you do lots of short runs where the filter does not get up to temp or have the time for a regen. Never the less, apart from that i cant fault the Scooby! However, when I change it in 2-3 years time (funds permitting for another Scooby ) I will probably go for the petrol version - if i do it will be the first petrol motor i have had for 20 years! David Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David BASC Posted January 30, 2016 Author Report Share Posted January 30, 2016 By the way, the last Legacy I had was about 20 years ago nothing at all went wrong apart from 2 leaks - the air con would not hold its gas, and the rear nearside tire would not hold its air. The tire was fixed by filling with nitrogen, the aircon...well it never got fixed! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hendrix's rifle Posted January 30, 2016 Report Share Posted January 30, 2016 The 14 plate will almost certain,y have the closed loop dpf where half the tiny tubes are blocked half way down, much more efficient at removing particles etc but well prone to blocking and subsequent nasty and expensive damage. Removing them is, of course possible, BUT its an automatic MOT failure if you do apparently - not sure if the same applied if you blank off the egr? Advice I have had is put the best quality fuel in you can, i use the Shell premium stuff with added cleaner, plus make sure the filter get well up to temperature - ie give it a good hard run for 30 min or so regularly, once a week or so, especially if in the we you do lots of short runs where the filter does not get up to temp or have the time for a regen. Never the less, apart from that i cant fault the Scooby! However, when I change it in 2-3 years time (funds permitting for another Scooby ) I will probably go for the petrol version - if i do it will be the first petrol motor i have had for 20 years! David You are correct, removing the dpf system is an instant fail. The egr blank however is not, providing you can keep the gasses down if you ever get a problem just pm, might be able to point you in the right direction bloody modern cars :L Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David BASC Posted January 30, 2016 Author Report Share Posted January 30, 2016 Thank you ever so much, that's very kind David Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lord Geordie Posted January 30, 2016 Report Share Posted January 30, 2016 (edited) Not sure about modern diesels, but IF they carried out a service, surely they would have changed the air filter? I see LOADS of diesels chucking out smoke through lack of clean air fillters! Maybe this was the case with yours? Edited January 30, 2016 by Lord Geordie Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David BASC Posted January 30, 2016 Author Report Share Posted January 30, 2016 Yes, the 84K service includes the changing of the air and fuel filters. The Scooby has a Mass Air Flow sensor in the filter housing, this does what is says on the tin and measures the amount of air going through on the exit side of the filter and talks to the ECU, and tells it how much air is on the way and the ECU tells he fuel pump (I guess) how much fuel to add, this will compensate up to a point if the filter gets partly blocked as it gets older There are other sensors too all talking to the ECU and I think if any of these gut mucked up that too can cause issues. I will keep my eye on it and the garage has said to bring it back if I have any other questions David Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lord Geordie Posted January 30, 2016 Report Share Posted January 30, 2016 Think you will find they all work together. If the MAF says the air is weak, it will tell the rail to drop more diesel to compensate? That was my understanding? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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