John Owen

no comp test done but im told, not by the subaru garage, that even it was split it would still hold the cimop if the split is below the rings

rob84

iTrader: (5)

To be honest mate I've only ever seen pistons crack on the top and below the top ring, More commonly known as a ringland fracture. I've never seen one split a skirt, That's not to say it doesn't happen I just find it a touch odd to say the least, especially on a wrx..

Mine broke a land off below the top ring and lost 100psi in compression on one cylinder

Note the big chunk missing under the top ring

John Owen

nice, waas it still pulling like normal and did you blow any smoke?

rob84

iTrader: (5)

was very bad to start/Down on power once started blue smoke everywere & burnt 5 ltrs of oil in 120 miles

another example here of my mates engine

John Owen

Im not down on power, and im blowing no smoke or using oil

merlin24

iTrader: (1)

Not seen a 2.5 piston be it a WRX/STi/Spec D with a split skirt but seen more detted ring lands than I can shake a sh*tty stick at.

Mick

rob84

iTrader: (5)

+1 to that

rob84

iTrader: (5)

Still find it hard to believe it's a piston in all honesty.

John Owen

Yup you could be spot on.

I've just spoken to Tim and agreed until its out and looked at its a bit of specualtion

Im still realling at the near miss at Subaru Peterborough and although the pain is still f-in high at least its nearly half thier top end price

I may still be able to get a Turkey for Crimbo - rather than be driving one

rob84

iTrader: (5)

If it was mine personally Before diving in for the engine strip a couple of checks would be a good place to start..

Check the timing belt tensioner as they make a hell of a rattle when they start to fail, they usually leak on the top of them when they start to give, More prominent noise when cold.

Compression check to identify any potential cylinder issue if the above is fine.

Take it from there rather than spend thousands when It could potentially be something far more simple. Often the small things can be overlooked & judging by the dealer if it is who I think they could be out to make a fast buck out of you.

John Owen

Thats sound advice, thank you

If the dealer was out to make some cash they have already lost out

John Owen

Zen Performance don't answer the phone or reply to emails, have to assume they are out of business

Scott@ScoobySpares

iTrader: (64)

still got our offer here mate and we can collect the car on our recovery truck for a very reasonable price

scott...

John Owen

Thanks Scott, but i want to keep all the numbers matching if possible

Out of interest how much would hte collection be?

0002STI

Mine was exactly as the photos above but i will say the power was ok for a good few miles and no oil consumption, it gradualy got to the point of stuttering and compression was down on the cylinder in question also the engine would rock off idle.

If you do find this is the result of ringland i would go for a full rebuild as the fact of pre-det can cause the bearing to spin on the crank and result in failure later on ( This was the case on mine) and had to have 2 rebuilds.

Chris.

John Owen

You may just be getting an online award for the diagnostics!

I took it to Mr Finch today to get a compression test done as he is only down the road from me

Top tension bolt was nearly out and rattling like a bitch. Tightened up and all bits back on the rattle appears to have f-ukced off!!!!

Compression test done anyway as I was there and reveals all very good and well within normal on all four

All bits back on and now a new noise appears, masked by the previous I think. A look quick look at the timing belt revealed some odd marks and its stayed there for a replacement

I can only assume the garage that sold it to me replaced the belt and just didn't put it back on properly in any way. I will know more tomorrow when its done but right now Christmas is back on in my house

Thanks for all the help and suggestions

John Owen

Also got to ask if I'd let Subaru Peterborough have it and they had found while stripping it down, do you think they would have jet washed it and charged me the enigne build anyway!!!!!!!

rob84

iTrader: (5)

Nice one mate, I didnt think it was a case for an engine build to be honest.
I'm glad all is well & good with your car and saved you a fortune on something not needed. Thumbs up for Paul He's a grand fella..

I never like to point the finger of blame but any kind of respectable establishment would have taken the time to investigate a potential issues and at least have offered a compression test based on there Dodgy Diagnosis, your not the only one I've heard from thats had issue's with the aforementioned garage. its shocking, gives the good dealers a bad name.

APIDavid

iTrader: (4)

NO! That is n't going to happen at a Subaru dealer, they have far too much to lose.

What they might have done, l suspect, is change everything inside the timing covers. That will generate a large bill and the problem would be cured and you'd be grateful that it wasn't a full engine build.

Dealers might be labelled "stealers" on here, but in fact the only real criticism ought to be that they are tied in with high hourly labour costs and having to use OE parts at full list price.

But as for suspecting that they'd charge for work not done, I seriously doubt they'd chance that.

We trade with many Subaru dealers across the country and I've even had I M themselves on the phone in the past asking for a little guidance. They have a job to do and do it their way. Doesn't mean they're dishonest.

David APi

MOTORS S GT

iTrader: (2)

To clarify the above, the adjuster on the alternator was almost falling off, causing the rattleing issues, the leakege test revealed no abnormal issues, other than a very slight No4 cyl, inlet valve leak, still only 7% leakege, 1 up on the other 3 hot, or as hot as my hands will bear.

The worrying issue was the noise from the front r/h corner of the cambelt area, upon removing the cover the belt was in a dreadfull condition, for a relitively new belt, the culprit appears to be very badly adjusted belt guides, the crank one in particular, which has done this damage was not tight at one end, & has appeared to have dug in & out the belt, i think on start up cranking, the tensioner has been replaced as its showing leakege.

Anybody else seen similar, as its a first for me on a Subaru, with this sort of damage.

APIDavid

iTrader: (4)

Fat lazy fingers is the culprit there Paul. We have seen it before where the guide has been left loose at either or both ends. A similar problem can occur [ we've also seen] where the lash guide has been set too tight against the belt above the crank pulley.

Usually ignorance of settings is the problem.

But, we have also recently, had an idler pulley stud pull out of the block with thread failure, on one of our built engines after 7 or 8 months. Clearly it wasn't like that when it left here, it just did it.

David

rob84

iTrader: (5)

Not seen any with marks as bad as that, but I've just recently rebuild a wrx hatch that an non subaru dealer had done a belt/pulleys & water pump change & left the small bolt on the rh inside guard on the alloy bracket slack which dropped out & slipped the timing & destroyed the valves. But can't work out for the life of me why they'd had the rocket covers off and held the cams with stilsons & made a right hash of it.

John Owen

Car now collected with new belt and minus the rattle

Big thanks to Paul Finch and a shameless plug of his services, thoroughly top bloke, clearly extremely knowledgeable and helpful in sorting this problem

Now im back in love with the car

John Owen

And just to complete the Unity Subaru nightmare, it turns out they had got my number plate wrong on my mot Cert so i had to go back today to get it redone so I could get tax

I watched with ammusement as they brought the car around and the guy pressed the alarm fob to lock it only for it to go into the multi beep mode. he then unlocked tried again and when it did the same he just shrugged and walked away. He said nothing when he handed the key at the desk either

Nobody asked why I cancelled the engine rebuild that was booked and nobody asked if it had been fixed

All in all a great intro to my local Subaru dealer

chopperman

Some of these main dealers are rubbish. I had my engine "re-built" by a main dealer as piston #4 cracked. They chucked a new piston in only for #2 to let go 300 miles later while running in. I got Mr Finch to re-build it properly. Turns out that not only had they not checked the other pistons but they also damaged a cam shaft (dirt on journal), cam belt cover and hose clips on the rad. Runs lovely now and i will not be using a main dealer again. The lad that re-built it at the dealer was supposed to be a Subaru "master mechanic" yet mate school boy mistakes.
Glad you got yours fixed now and you took it to the right bloke