R19KET

Richard,

IMHO, there's a massive difference between a design fault, and a manufacturing fault.

Cost aside, a manufacturing fault can generally be rectified..........

Scoobyboy, thanks for your help, and I look forward to seeing the technical bulletin.

Mark.

Hyperex

oil change every 20,000km?? are you serious? is this common pratice in uk? for our side of the world (asia countries) we change every 3,000 to 5,000km max. also for turbo car, we use full synthetic oil like castrol rs 10w60 which is not cheap at all. the way i see it, changing engine oil every 20,000k's you're just looking for trouble. exuse me for being straight forward, hope this is not an unwelcome post.

[This message has been edited by Hyperex (edited 17 June 2001).]

EvilBevel

(trying not to get off topic)

Nitro: fine, you probably sell a wonder product (although you just lost me as a customer - sorry Harj) but it has got *nothing* to do with the topic at hand.

Hyper: agree with the intervals, I try to maintain 7000 km, but again off topic.

People, if Scoobyboy is telling the truth, this may well be one of the most shocking threads in the history of Scoobynet.

So PLEASE - I agree with Mark here - let's stick to the topic: engines giving up, potentially because of a design or QC problem.

Sorry to be so blunt.

Theo

R19KET

I've just been sent some more info relating to the "bullitin". Thanks

I've been led to believe that,

A) it refers to the N/A engine.

B) the fault/blockage is on a low pressure return, causing oil leakage.

So we need confirmation on whether the N/A, and turbo's share the same block, and if the fault is indeed on a low pressure return. Ideally, a copy of the bullitin (Scoobyboy ???).

Now, whilst I'm keeping an open mind to this, I very much doubt our problems are related. Even if the N/A, and turbo block, are one, and the same, a blockage in a low pressure return, would most likely cause the oil pressure to increase, oil seals to fail, hence the oil leaks.

One of the "claimed" cures for baring failure, is to shim the oil pump pressure release valve, which increases oil pressure.

The jury is still out on this one...

Mark

Fat Boy Slim

Sieze,

Sorry to hear about the Engine mate, I think I saw you on the A34 last Wednesday, I was coming back from Silverstone :d and saw a scooby, I think RED? Broken down .

140 down the A34 is pretty impressive, usually keep it below 90, as I have seen loads of coppers on that stretch of road

Dunk

scoobyboy

yep sorry peeps thought i had this 1 nailed it does refer to the low oil pressure side as r19ket pointed out but they do share the same block so is there any one out there who has a n/a engine that has had an engine bearing failure.

Sieze

Sorry back now.. The engine people have opened her up and confirm the number 3 bearing "over heated". The rest of the engine is fine apart from the crank which is now worn oval. They said thay could get it treated however but in nine out of ten cases it can't be sorted and you still have to pay for the proceedure. Instead he has a re-ground STi 4 crank redy to put in and will replace the mains and big ends with the rebuild. He feels the pistons/rings/little ends do not need to be touched and feels the engine as a whole has very little wear. He is going to get the heads pressure checked and the (Valve?)lift checked by another firm (to save time). The bad news is the clutch needs to be replaced but he has an OEM one redy to be installed. The rebuild is good value but its not a "true" complete one (and he is preparing the written quote for tomorrow (i'll keep you posted)), and secondly they give me a special charge per hour. I asked him if he realised that I would blow it up in 1000 miles if it wasn't a perfect rebuild and he reasured me it would be perfect. Interestingly he said he had rebuild impreza engines with oil coolers attached to them, and explained I would have problems with low oil temp and poor lubrication if they work too well (possibly cold siezing). Generally he is not keen on oil coolers. He feels the failure is related to sudden bearing failure due to high rmp as a reult of internal poor oil lubrication of the no. 3 bearing. 140mph in my sti ra is 7500 (at start of red line). I didn't sustain it at that rpm though (honestly). He feels it is just one of those things and reminded me that I had got alot of enjoyment out of the car. I am not bitter at all and I have had lots of kart engines let go for absolutely no reason. At the end of the day we are driving highly tuned engines and I guess bearing failure is a risk we all take when we use our full rpm range. Richards 22B let go (with Harj driving) at sustained high RPM and the thing we all have in common is the high RPM. I'm for sure not going to rev mine beyond 6500 rpm in 4th or fith gear (and thats probably the best value advice any impreza owner can get).

NDT

I agree.

my rebuild was so expensive because the debris scored the bores.
biggest single cost was a new set of pistons....but it's better to do it now rather than have to rebuild again.

they also replaced oil pump and oil/water heat exchanger - high risk that there'd be debris in there...

it all adds up....

R19KET

Sieze,

I'll be amazed if there isn't some scoring, to the bores, and pistons, where bearing debri has been carried with the oil. At the very least, I'd expect the bores to need honing, and the pistons polished, and new rings. The engine should be TOTALLY stripped, and all the oil galleries, hoses, and pipes flushed through. Including the oil pump.

I'd also get the turbo stripped, and cleaned, and checked (by an expert !!). Make sure the "turbo" oil filter is also checked.

This should be treated as a complete engine rebuild, even if some components are reused.

Mark.

Sieze

The official quote is £1350 Inc vat. They assure me the pistons and liners are OK. There was some doubt about the conrod so they have all been changed for safety's sake (using 2nd hand STI ones). Apparently the bearing had not totally let go. Luckily I did not have the stereo on and heard the noise (as I decelerated) so slowed the car rapidly. I will mention about debris in the pipework / turbo to him though (thanks for that) but it sounds like there wasn't any.

Stef

I have now had my oil pressure release valve shimmed by Scoobysport when my last engine was fitted there.
Is anyone aware of any engine that has 'let go' after having this mod done?
Apparently, Scoobysport do it to all cars when they change the cambelt.

Stef.

firefox

Stef.. et all

I have some custom made oil relief valve plungers.. which have the extra thickness (shim) built in.

They are also hardened and polished ground, and dont have the centre groove which can cause them to stick open (loss of oil pressure).

I am expecting delivery of these next week.

To be honest.. the subie runs high oil pressure compared to other cars anyway.. but the slight increase wont hurt

J.

Stef

I heard about these from Graham at TSL.
I'd like one please mate.

Stef.

spurner

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:<HR>Originally posted by Sieze:
<B>My big end bearing just went at 140 in my STI RA.[/quote]

Just had the same problem in my RA, crankshaft, 3 conrods and headgasket, all pistons still intact though. Apparently due to an oil pump blockage/seizure.