Subaru turbo hiccup

Subaru dealers have been instructed to suspend the sale of all cars equipped with 2.5-litre turbo engines made between January 8 and April 5, 2008.

This comes after "isolated" reports of an "engine knocking noise" that has since been attributed to "abnormal wear on con rod big end bearings".

The temporary suspension of production has been called to allow Subaru to identify the cause and produce a fix for the problem which could cause "damage to the engines of potentially affected vehicles".

The models potentially affected by the problem include Forester XT with chassis numbers from 002070 onwards, Impreza WRX and WRX STI with chassis numbers from 015006 onwards, Liberty GT sedan with chassis numbers from 038385 onwards and Liberty GT wagons with chassis numbers from 068148 onwards.

According to Subaru Australia’s national corporate affairs manager David Rowley, the company has not initiated a recall, but will "update its retail network and relevant customers as soon as possible, on receipt of further advice from FHI (Fuji Heavy Industries)".

According to a statement issued on April 8 by Subaru Australia, "1233 cars fitted with the 2.5 litre four cylinder turbocharged engines, manufactured between Tuesday 8 January and Saturday 5 April 2008, are potentially affected.

"Subaru Australia will update its retail network and relevant customers as soon as possible, on receipt of further advice from FHI.

"This will also include advice regarding 171 potentially affected vehicles already with customers."

The statement says other Subaru powerplants, including normally aspirated 2.5-litre, 2.0-litre and 3.0-litre six-cylinder engines, are unaffected.