FaultScore

Subaru BRZ engine problems

68 of the 130 complaints filed about the Subaru BRZ are about the engine — 52% of everything owners reported. The worst model year for it is 2013.

68

Complaints

52%

Share of all complaints

0

Crashes

2

Fires

Engine & Cooling complaints by model year

2013 BRZ 49 72.1%

Median failure at 60,000 miles

2014 BRZ 5 7.4%

Median failure at 88,000 miles

2015 BRZ 2 2.9%

Median failure at 26,000 miles

2018 BRZ 1 1.5%
2019 BRZ 1 1.5%
2020 BRZ 1 1.5%
2022 BRZ 6 8.8%
2023 BRZ 1 1.5%
2024 BRZ 2 2.9%

What owners said

2024 Subaru BRZ San Jose, CA

ENGINE

Engine failure (rod knock) during commute home. Engine was found with lack of oil (3.5 qrt low) on ~15,000 miles engine block although performed routine maintenance DIY oil changes. Presumably high oil consumption on daily driving conditions

NHTSA complaint #11756105 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.

2023 Subaru BRZ Atlantic Beach, FL

ENGINE

Oil went dangerously low during normal 6000 mile period ( no reading on dipstick, no warning light). Subaru has replaced the engine twice under warranty due to oil consumption, 1 pint in 1200 miles. Issue started around 20k miles, engine replaced at 30k and 39k miles.

NHTSA complaint #11756098 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.

2015 Subaru BRZ Port Saint Lucie, FL

ENGINE

Engine started knocking, within 4 miles engine seized up will not run, only 78,000 miles on the car, original owners, maintained meticulously

NHTSA complaint #11668402 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.

2024 Subaru BRZ University Place, WA

ENGINE

Stock fuel lines on the driver side of vehicle are having rubbing/clearance issues with the hood and are causing engine fires for the 2022+ Subaru BRZ/Toyota GR86 model vehicles.

NHTSA complaint #11668421 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.

2018 Subaru BRZ Mahwah, NJ

ENGINE AND ENGINE COOLING

See attached document for complaint.

NHTSA complaint #11636055 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.

2014 Subaru BRZ Orange, CA Fire

ENGINE

I was driving the car on the Highway & the car caught on fire from the engine bay area. I drover the car for about 5 miles before the fire. the car has no modification & everything in OEM/Stock condition. Many people reported having the same issue with engine catching on fire for Subaru BRZ Toyota 86 & Toyota FRS since they all share the same engine & mechanical component

NHTSA complaint #11597783 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.

2013 Subaru BRZ at 58,498 miles Los Angeles, CA

ENGINE AND ENGINE COOLING

The contact owns a 2013 Subaru BRZ. The contact stated while driving approximately 30 MPH, the vehicle stalled. The contact stated that several unknown warning lights illuminated. The vehicle was towed to the dealer where it was diagnosed with maintenance failure. The contact discovered NHTSA Campaign Number: 18V772000 (Engine and Engine Cooling) however, the VIN was not included. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure and a case was opened. The failure mileage was approximately 58,498.

NHTSA complaint #11584770 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.

2020 Subaru BRZ Templeton, CA

ENGINE

At 20,000 miles I notice a popping coming from the right front wheel area at low speeds or turning to park. 2 dealerships told me nothing was wrong. At 45, 650 I insisted the dealership fix the problem as it was now on both sides of the front wheel area. Top hats and motor mounts needed replacement. The car only had 45, 650 miles on it.

NHTSA complaint #11547316 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.

2019 Subaru BRZ Northbrook, IL

ENGINE

Engine hiccups while engine temperature gets enough level. Nothing comes on dashboard but I can definitely felt the car's hiccup very randomly.

NHTSA complaint #11511987 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.

2022 Subaru BRZ Hollywood, FL

ENGINE

This is a new car. There’s was only 31 miles when I purchased. One day, there’s some sound when I driving the vehicle. Once I parked, all the warning lamps was on, then my car wasn’t able to move. When the incident happened, it was only 4 months of using it and only 5,498 miles. Then I bring my car back to retailer and they inform me I need to replace the whole engine because of lack of oil. Even though they Silas’s my car was lack of oil, but there’s no light on the dashboard lights up and told me I need to add more oil. The process of repairing took 5 months. After I read other owners post on social media, I believe I have the similar situation. It says “ RTV is a sealant used as a gasket for the Subaru FA24D engine in the car and is allegedly applied too liberally at the factory. When RTV is dislodged in the engine's oil, it can clog the pickup. That can cause oil starvation“ Roughly a month later of fixing it(5 months of repairs) , there’s a strong scent of gas when I open the door of my car. And I can’t turn it on the first time. Second time of trying turning it on, all the warning lamp went off again. And the car couldn’t drive again. I bring back to the retailer and this is their respond, “ the technician found fuel is pouring out of the pressure relief valve of the left side head due to a possible failing injector on cylinder #3. We must do a teardown to verify the initial diagnosis.” And the final diagnosis The technician found two injector o-rings that were defective, causing fuel to leak and flood the cylinder chamber, which in turn caused the vehicle to stall. Parts can fail for many reasons, in this case we can attribute it to the quality of the parts themselves.“

NHTSA complaint #11508249 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.

2013 Subaru BRZ Carlton, OR

ENGINE

We took the car into the dealership due to an engine light being on and the recall was something they informed us about and we decided to take care of it all at the same time. We have never recieved safety recall information from Subaru. My Son owned the car prior to us and purchased from Subaru dealership. After several weeks of the car being at the dealership and a very large bill we picked up the car and drove 14 miles and the engine light went on again. We returned the car to dealership and they had it another week at least and we picked it up again with no further engine light coming back on. The engine light never turned back on even when the car stalled out and heard a banging sound. We had car towed to Subaru dealership. The car has been there for several weeks and now they are telling us we need to pay 8000.00 to fix. The car seemed to have lost power after we had recall and feel that the our safety was at risk and my Sons safety as well due to not receiving safety recall notification and service of the recall not resolving the issue with the motor in fact making it worse. Subaru of America has let us know they have no responsibility and will not assist us with any repairs even though our car is stuck in another state and clearly this has been an ongoing issue with this make, model, and year. I had experienced the pressing on the brake and feeling acceleration but I thought maybe my foot had slipped or something as it only happened once. I am thankful that we were only driving between 35 and 45mph when the car actually died while driving.

NHTSA complaint #11478397 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.

2022 Subaru BRZ Port Charlotte, FL

ENGINE

Found traces of silicone in my engine. Checked the dipstick out of curiosity and found silicone or RTV sealant. The car only has 500 miles on it. Will do oil change after break in period of Subaru’s recommended 1000 miles and will have them check the oil pan filter for more RTV…

NHTSA complaint #11477991 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.

2022 Subaru BRZ Torrance, CA

ENGINE

The engine has excess RTV sealant and is clogging the oil pick-up tube. This is cause the motor to have restricted oil flow and causing premature motor failures.

NHTSA complaint #11477896 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.

2022 Subaru BRZ Phoenix, AZ

ENGINE

The new 2022 Subaru BRZ's and Toyota GR86's have been found to have an excessive amount of RTV silicone on the engine oil pan. This can clog up the oil pickup filter and cause oil starvation leading to catastrophic engine failure. A few engines have already failed and more people have been finding RTV silicone in their oil filters and dipsticks including me.

NHTSA complaint #11477878 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.

2022 Subaru BRZ Rome, NY

ENGINE

My car has excess RTV sealant on the oil pan that has now gotten into my engine and is causing oil starvation.

NHTSA complaint #11477882 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.

2022 Subaru BRZ Sheffield, AL

ENGINE

These particular vehicles (and their Toyota counterpart, the GR86) have been experiencing issues with excess RTV sealant used on the oil pan and timing cover getting into the oil. Once this RTV sealant is in the oil, it clogs the oil pickup tube filter. As the excess sealant collects on the filter, it begins to starve the engine of oil. There have been a number of documented failures so far (including one that made international auto news). Some owners are inspecting their oil dip stick and finding anywhere from light to heavy sealant residue even on the dip stick. I inspected my own and found traces of RTV sealant stuck to it as well. In the provided picture, you will see traces of sealant on the length of the dip stick as well as the tip. At this time, Toyota and Subaru have not issued a recall or service bulletin of any sort for this problem. The online forums for these vehicles are filled with nothing but posts about finding sealant on their dipsticks, or posts from those that removed their own oil pan and found sealant clogging the filter.

NHTSA complaint #11477886 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.

2013 Subaru BRZ Yelm, WA

ENGINE

Took my 2013 BRZ Limited in for the Valve Spring recall. After work completed I was unable to get my car home before I had severe knocking, CEL, and power failure. Car was at dealership for over a month. After I got it back it's been driven 10k miles and has a rod bearing failure and all the same symptoms - power loss, grinding/knocking, and dash lights lit up.

NHTSA complaint #11447920 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.

2013 Subaru BRZ Corona, CA Fire

ENGINE

BLOWN SHORT BLOCK / CRACKED CYLINDER HEAD, BROKEN CONNECTING ROD, $7000+ ESTIMATES FOR ENGINE REBUILD. MY BRZ STALLED WHILE TRAVELING ON THE FREEWAY.

NHTSA complaint #11434598 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.

2013 Subaru BRZ at 81,000 miles Leander, TX

ENGINE

The contact owns a 2013 Subaru BRZ. The contact stated while driving 70 mph, he heard an abnormal sound coming from the engine. The vehicle loss motive power and stalled. There was no warning light illuminated. The vehicle was not drivable. The vehicle was towed to the residence. The vehicle was then taken to the dealer to be diagnosed. The contact was informed that the engine needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not yet repaired. Upon investigation, the contact associated the failure with NHTSA campaign number: 18V772000 (Engine and Engine Cooling) however, the Vin was not included. The manufacturer had not been informed of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 81,000.

NHTSA complaint #11425002 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.

2013 Subaru BRZ at 21,000 miles Bayside, NY

ENGINE

I HAD MY BRZ RECALL REPAIR IN THE SPRING OF 2019. IT TOOK ABOUT 3 WEEKS FOR THE SUBARU DEALER TO FIX THE SPRING VALVE. WHEN I RECEIVED IT BACK, MY ENGINE FELT A LITTLE ROUGH AND HAD A HIGH IDLE AND MADE SOME NOISE. DUE TO THE PANDEMIC I HAVE NOT DRIVEN MUCH SINCE THE REPAIR, SO I DIDN'T NOTICE TOO MUCH OF AN ISSUE, BUT WAS PLANNING TO GO BACK TO THE DEALER WHEN COVID WAS LESS OF A RISK. TODAY, I DROVE MY CAR MAYBE 500 MILES SINCE THE REPAIR, AND AS I ACCELERATED ON TO THE HIGHWAY MY CAR STARTED REVVING REALLY HIGH, CHECK ENGINE LINE FLASHED ON AND THE CAR LOSE POWER AND STOPPED. IF I PRESSED ON THE GAS, IT STARTED TO DECLINE IN SPEED AND ULTIMATELY STOPPED. I MADE MY WAY TO THE RIGHT LANE, HIT THE HAZARDS AND WAITED STRESSFULLY FOR A TOW TRUCK AS CARS SPED BY ME ON THE HIGHWAY. I UNDERSTAND THAT THERE ARE ISSUES LIKE I JUST EXPERIENCED SINCE THE RECALL FIX AND WANTED TO ADVISE YOU OF MY ISSUE. PLEASE LET ME KNOW WHAT I CAN DO TO GET THE CAR BACK UP TO SAFETY STANDARDS.

NHTSA complaint #11388616 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.