Hi everyone,

I'm looking for advice from people who know the Toyota GT86 / Subaru BRZ and the FA20 engine well, because I honestly don't know what decision to make about my car anymore.

A while ago, I started noticing a ticking/knocking noise coming from the engine. I checked the oil level and found that it was very low. I topped it up, and the noise became noticeably quieter, but it didn't completely disappear.

The noise seems to be related to engine RPM, which obviously made me concerned about a serious internal engine problem.

So I took the car to a garage for a diagnosis.

The garage's diagnosis

According to the garage, the noise is coming from the bottom end of the engine, meaning there is likely a serious internal engine problem.

They told me there was metal debris in the engine oil, and that the crankshaft was likely to have play.

However, they came to this conclusion without actually opening the engine, so I obviously don't know how accurate the diagnosis is at this point.

The garage basically gave me the following options:

• Replace the entire engine with a used FA20.
• Replace it with a brand-new engine, although the cost would be extremely high.
• Open up and rebuild the current engine, inspecting and replacing whatever internal components are damaged.
• Or potentially not repair the car at all, considering the cost compared to the car's value.

The problem is that I absolutely love this car and I'd really like to save it if there is a sensible way of doing so.

What would you do?

If you were in my situation, would you:

• Have the engine opened up first to get a proper diagnosis?
• Rebuild the original FA20?
• Look for a good used engine instead?
• Or simply accept that it's not worth saving?

For those who have experienced FA20 engine failures or rebuilds on a GT86/BRZ, what did you end up doing, and roughly how much did it cost?

I'm mainly looking for real-world experiences and advice from people who actually know these engines.

Thanks in advance to anyone who can help! 🙏