Buying a Liberty GT

by **CK460** » Wed Oct 16, 2013 3:16 pm

Hi guys new to the group and first time buying a subaru liberty gt 4gen model.

My question is what is a common fault or what do I look out for on these models?
The car in question is a 2004 liberty gt auto. Done 180k on the clock.
Seems good and clean but im use to v8's and these engines are new to me so not sure what is tell tail signs of wear and abused.

I know check for oil leaks and all but what else do I look for or listen for?

All advice will be great
Cheers

by **Adrian2627** » Wed Oct 16, 2013 7:23 pm

Check that all major servicing shave been done and also the frequency of oil changes. Turbo cars, unlike V8s are much harder on oil so frequent oil changes are necessary. Timing belt should have been done at 100k and due again at 200k, roughly $1k job. Rear bushes on front lower control arms go. Jack the front and check bushes for tears. I'm sure other will have more

by **CK460** » Thu Oct 17, 2013 10:00 pm

Thanks mate. You helped me out alot. And I know better what to ask and check out for.

I found another one for sale but lady owner said the turbo was replaced this year?
Could that be because of failure or just poor maintenanc?

What weight oil you would recommend for these engines?

0w- 40 ?

Sorry for all the questions just trying to understand better.

Cheers
Ck

by **dr20t** » Thu Oct 17, 2013 10:18 pm

CK460 wrote:Thanks mate. You helped me out alot. And I know better what to ask and check out for.

I found another one for sale but lady owner said the turbo was replaced this year?
Could that be because of failure or just poor maintenanc?

What weight oil you would recommend for these engines?

0w- 40 ?

Sorry for all the questions just trying to understand better.

Cheers
Ck

Turbo failure is common at 200,000kms or after certain years. Check the banjo screen filters as these are a cause of turbo failures. They are located inside the banjo bolt toward the back of the cylinder head on the drivers side. You will see what I'm talking about once you look at it. Looks at this thread for pics of how it looks like etc - the thread is for a 2.5turbo but the concept : design is the same. You will also have the same banjo bolts on the exhaust side of the head on yours because its dual avcs.

http://legacygt.com/forums/showthread.p ... ?p=2705813

I would use 5w30 for an engine with less than 100,000kms, 5w40 for 100-150,000kms and 10w40 for 150,000 plus.

If the turbo is gone then have a look in the 2.0 turbo section of this forum for details of your options. This was recently discussed in a thread.

Common failure on these after many years is 02 sensor on the dump pipe closest to turbo. Also check the maf sensor.

Good luck

Mick

by **CK460** » Fri Oct 18, 2013 9:20 am

Hi Mick

Thanks for the advice. I rang again to question the owner but got a weird and very blank answers.
Said oil was done every 10k which is fine but doesn't know why turbo died as they never driven it for them to come on under load????
So kinda set alarm bells off for me when your selling a car and don't answer directly.

Kinda unsure if I should get it or not as they seem to be giving me more question marks and keep repeating them selfs saying its well looked after yet no direct straight answer.

by **CK460** » Fri Oct 18, 2013 9:22 am

Ohh yes they said cost them 4k to replace the turbo????
Seems alittle too over priced if you ask me.

by **dr20t** » Fri Oct 18, 2013 9:39 am

CK460 wrote:Hi Mick

Thanks for the advice. I rang again to question the owner but got a weird and very blank answers.
Said oil was done every 10k which is fine but doesn't know why turbo died as they never driven it for them to come on under load????
So kinda set alarm bells off for me when your selling a car and don't answer directly.

Kinda unsure if I should get it or not as they seem to be giving me more question marks and keep repeating them selfs saying its well looked after yet no direct straight answer.

Without scaring you, the unfortunate reality is that most people including Subaru themselves in most instances don't really understand these engines. So getting a straight answer about them is difficult

They probably are genuinely unaware of why the turbo died. I would say with 90 percent certainty its the banjo bolt screen filters I mentioned earlier and referenced in the above post. The filters couldve clogged up due to oil changes being too far apart, or just due to time and the filters not being replaced.

The remaining causes of turbo failure are general use / age and various other things.

A car could be very well looked after and have an unfortunate accident to prematurely end their life. Such is the nature of a mechanical part

Mick

by **dr20t** » Fri Oct 18, 2013 9:40 am

CK460 wrote:Ohh yes they said cost them 4k to replace the turbo????
Seems alittle too over priced if you ask me.

Nope sounds about right for a vf38/td04hla

This forum has PLENTY of info on these motors - more than you will get from a mechanic : Subaru dealer

Mick

by **drock45** » Tue Nov 12, 2013 4:53 pm

Any decent Subaru mechanic (non dealership) will tell you that the early model GTs suffered from injector problems. Its a big repair job if you need all 4 done - approx $1400.

If you can, take it to a sooby specialist and have them plug the laptop to the ECU to see if it's thrown any fault codes.

by **zch91** » Tue Nov 12, 2013 4:57 pm

Interesting.. Has anyone else heard of the above before?

by **ndlibgt** » Tue Nov 12, 2013 6:37 pm

zch91 wrote:Interesting.. Has anyone else heard of the above before?

First I've heard this too. Anyone else verify??

by **ferret89** » Tue Nov 12, 2013 7:12 pm

Neg, never heard about injector issues

by **Jim2013** » Tue Nov 12, 2013 7:16 pm

ndlibgt wrote:
zch91 wrote:Interesting.. Has anyone else heard of the above before?

First I've heard this too. Anyone else verify??

The 04 GT I bought had the injectors replaced at 80k (2009) according to the service history.
Was $1300 including fuel system clean.

Jim.

by **fibble** » Tue Nov 12, 2013 10:48 pm

Never heard of systemic injector problems either.

by **maj** » Wed Nov 13, 2013 8:30 am

I've heard stories from plenty of different soobie models suffering injector issues.

Almost all of them can be traced back to contaminated fuel tanks at particular petrol stations.

Even my car under it's previous owner had to have an $800 fuel system clean after they had filled up somewhere in Sydney. I've owned my GT for over 5 years now and travelled 150,000kms, never ever had an issue with the injectors or anything fuel system related.

Anyone had reports of the TD04HLA going pop? Mine has never suffered issues and I casually mentioned to the service manager once that I was surprised it hadn't yet. Not that I have mistreated it but yeah after 270,000kms surely you'd think the end is approaching. He said he personally hasn't heard any 2.0L manual having turbo issues, only the auto's, he also knows my intentions to sell the car so I have reasonable assurance he's being honest about it.