gathermewool
Site Donor 2023
I was just out of warranty and hoping the dealer would trouble-shoot and fix a binding issue I've been experiencing for the past few thousand miles that has been slowly worsening. I should have taken it in sooner, but long shift hours has been taking up most of my time. Well, the long and the short of it is, the dealer spoke with the regional rep, who offered to pay for half of the cost to replace my rear viscous-coupling rear diff, which they were 100% sure was causing the issue.
Well, the STI doesn't have a viscous-coupling, it has a Torque Sensing rear LSD. They took another day to think about it. The next day, they called and said it was definitely the center differential. I thanked them for their time and agreed to pay them 1/4 of the time they say they spent trouble-shooting, because I was doing more of it on my end, over the phone, than they were.
When I pick the car up, they say they even went so far as to drain the rear diff to see if there were any indication of failure there (there were not; just amber-colored, 30k-old, EXPENSIVE Motul Gear 300.) I didn't ask for the drain and fill, and so did not pay for it.
FAST FORWARD ~ 1.5 months and ~1k miles later:
I've been on travel and in training for the past few weeks, and the STI sat either at the airport or at home, with not many miles since being at the dealer and leaving for travel. When I started driving again, the binding was MUCH worse than before.
I put the car up on a lift yesterday afternoon and noted that the top of the differential cover was coated in black, greasy goop, and a fresh, dark-colored drop of sulfur-smelling gear oil was forming at the bottom of the differential. I loosened the temp sensor in the fill port just enough to break the o-ring seal, and a plop of dark-gray oil plopped out (NOTE: I only drove 3 miles from work to the hobby shop, and the diff was cool to the touch when I performed this check.)I tightened the sensor and immediately called the dealer.
I'm now in their loaner and have supplied them with a sample bottle to collect some of the eflluent when they check later today or tomorrow. (The 2013 Legacy is pretty nice, albeit very noisy, btw.)
So, 2 things:
Damage? The oil that the dealer drained with 30k miles on it was amber. The oil they replaced came out looking dark gray, with a slight luster to it. If the diff was filled to the vent port and the lube aerated, could that cause failure in a bearing, etc.?
Honor? What do you think the chances of the dealer owning up to this are? (NOTE: this same dealer has caused accidental minor damage and replaced/repaired without any argument.) My concern is that they "forget" to check and fail remember the effluent characteristics when they drain and refill. I've given them a sample bottle, so I'm also hoping I don't get back something looking remarkably like the new bulk oil they put in, saying something like, "see, it looks fine after 1k miles, what did you expect. The overfill didn't cause any issues, it's just the same issue you had all along, but now it's getting worse. NOW, we'll gladly fix it for $1k dollar bucks!"
Thoughts appreciated.
Well, the STI doesn't have a viscous-coupling, it has a Torque Sensing rear LSD. They took another day to think about it. The next day, they called and said it was definitely the center differential. I thanked them for their time and agreed to pay them 1/4 of the time they say they spent trouble-shooting, because I was doing more of it on my end, over the phone, than they were.
When I pick the car up, they say they even went so far as to drain the rear diff to see if there were any indication of failure there (there were not; just amber-colored, 30k-old, EXPENSIVE Motul Gear 300.) I didn't ask for the drain and fill, and so did not pay for it.
FAST FORWARD ~ 1.5 months and ~1k miles later:
I've been on travel and in training for the past few weeks, and the STI sat either at the airport or at home, with not many miles since being at the dealer and leaving for travel. When I started driving again, the binding was MUCH worse than before.
I put the car up on a lift yesterday afternoon and noted that the top of the differential cover was coated in black, greasy goop, and a fresh, dark-colored drop of sulfur-smelling gear oil was forming at the bottom of the differential. I loosened the temp sensor in the fill port just enough to break the o-ring seal, and a plop of dark-gray oil plopped out (NOTE: I only drove 3 miles from work to the hobby shop, and the diff was cool to the touch when I performed this check.)I tightened the sensor and immediately called the dealer.
I'm now in their loaner and have supplied them with a sample bottle to collect some of the eflluent when they check later today or tomorrow. (The 2013 Legacy is pretty nice, albeit very noisy, btw.)
So, 2 things:
Damage? The oil that the dealer drained with 30k miles on it was amber. The oil they replaced came out looking dark gray, with a slight luster to it. If the diff was filled to the vent port and the lube aerated, could that cause failure in a bearing, etc.?
Honor? What do you think the chances of the dealer owning up to this are? (NOTE: this same dealer has caused accidental minor damage and replaced/repaired without any argument.) My concern is that they "forget" to check and fail remember the effluent characteristics when they drain and refill. I've given them a sample bottle, so I'm also hoping I don't get back something looking remarkably like the new bulk oil they put in, saying something like, "see, it looks fine after 1k miles, what did you expect. The overfill didn't cause any issues, it's just the same issue you had all along, but now it's getting worse. NOW, we'll gladly fix it for $1k dollar bucks!"
Thoughts appreciated.
