Hi all,
I to have a problem with a seized and now snapped glow plug on my 2010 Forrester and with only 59,000 km on the clock.
As it happens the warning lights came on (as mentioned above) just before I was booked in for a service at our Subaru dealer.
So when the warning lights came on I took it in and they plugged it in to their computer thingy which detected that #3 glow plug had failed, "no problem, the GP's are only there to start it, we will replace it when it comes in for a service next week".
There was no mention by them that this can be problematic/expensive and my experience with glow plugs has been with an older Landrover where the glow plugs came out easily so I didn't give it another thought.
On the day of the service I get a call from the dealer saying the glow plug had snapped off while trying to get it out and that I had better come in to discuss the our options.
Their initial suggestion was that the motor would have to come out and the head removed, this would cost me about $3,000.
They where however waiting to hear back from Subaru with any suggestions. Subaru were now going to send the dealer a kit to extract the glow plug so things where looking up. The extractor kit arrived some days later and that afternoon I received a call from the dealer saying that they had managed to get the glow plug out but in the process the thread in the head had also been stripped out so there was no thread left in the alloy head. They made a few calls to thread repair experts and it seemed that the motor would have to come out for a heli coil to be fitted. Another call to Subaru was made and they suggested not using a help coil but recommended that they fit a thread insert, there was enough meat in the head for it to be drilled out and a thread insert fitted. So at the mo I am waiting for the thread insert kit to turn up from Subaru and hopefully I can get my car back.
My question now is do I keep it or is it inevitable that I will have the same problem in the not to distant future?
When I bought the Forester I was doing a few K's to work but shortly after the purchase I got laid off and am not now doing the long drive to work. So do I need a diesel when I have only done 59k km in 4 yrs? It has been a great car, I go away camping/surfing and tow my Birkin (Lotus 7 Style) with it and would happily keep it but with the possibility of a $3,000 plus bill for a glow plug replacement I would be mad. Suggestions anyone --
Cheers Rusty
Newcastle Upon Hunter
