djandyg

iTrader: (2)

Hi guys, I yesterday put a deposit on an 03 plate WRX. The car has had one owner from new, 52k on the clocks and fsh. Completely standard never been messed about with.

The all seemed great, started it up from cold, no knocks or bangs, smoke or anything concerning looking.

However there was 2 things iv picked up on. The coolant level was a bit low (not empty, but just slightly below the minimum mark). When i checked the oil i noticed the level was a little bit above the maximum mark on the dipstick. The oil was very clear though, not creamy, and i couldnt see any creamy gunk around the oil cap. The last service took place under 1000 miles ago, and it passed an MOT 10 days ago.

We test drove the car for a good 10 miles at least, including mixed driving on motorway and country lanes - the car seemed to perform well and pulled smoothly, went up to around 100mph - i made sure i kept a close eye on the temperature gauge and it never moved passed the middle mark.

However the fact the water was low and oil a bit high has really started to play on my mind since last night and im tearing my hair out being concerned that the water could be leaking into the oil. If this was the case, what checks could i do to verify this? would the car not run properly? Would the coolant system pressurise or not? would there be exhaust gas in the coolant?

Im an apprentice mechanic so i could take a block test/sniffer kit thing and test that - also going to get the coolant topped up and road test it again and see if it goes down maybe?

The rest of the car seems perfect, the guy seems very genuine - he said he hasnt topped the oil up or anything as it was serviced last than a 1000 miles ago and so hasnt ever checked it.

Any advice will be very much appreciated.

Andy

djandyg

iTrader: (2)

bump

scoobiewrx555

Normally when you service the car you would only top the oil up so that the level falls halfway between the min and max markers (COLD) on the dip stick. Overfill and you're likely to get a lot of oil blowing out through the engine breathers and into the intercooler and then burned in the cylinder. It will smoke a bit and foul the spark plugs that's for sure not to mention it will affect the performance and smooth running of your engine.

Top the water level up in the plastic container on the right that's attached to the radiator to the max mark and take the car for a run. If it goes down again it doesn't neccessarily mean you have HGF problems, it might just be a leaky rad or hose. a sniff test would certainly rule out or confirm HGF issues.

djandyg

iTrader: (2)

I checked for any signs of any smoke and couldnt see any at all....Performance and running wise it seemed fine, engine was smooth, no splutters etc.

When i checked the coolant bottle it wasnt totally empty, i will get it topped up then ask for another road test, would i expect it to drop some of the coolant even from say only a 10 mile road test if it was mixing in with the oil?

I think i will do a sniffer test as well, however is it possible that a head gasket could leak just between the water jacket and oil gallery only, therefore im guessing it wouldnt be affecting the actual engine compression, or allowing exhaust gas to enter the cylinder - or is that me just getting too over paranoid now?

Like i said the engine oil did seem very clean, but seemed to be a kind of reddish colour - are some fully synth or high performance oils a different colour?

bigsinky

10/40 synthetic.

scoobiewrx555

The oil might have had some kind of additive in it to make it tinge red although modern high performance recommended for Subaru fully synth ester based oils don't need any extras adding to it. They might differ in colour slightly although from one to another but i've never noticed or bothered to notice either.

I know gearbox oils can differ in colour bigtime i.e. I use Redline Heavy Shockproof and that's a bright shocking pink.

djandyg

iTrader: (2)

is reddish in colour do u mean?

esp ltd

iTrader: (1)

The red oil is probably Slikolene Pro R oil which is not only red but top quality and expensive

djandyg

iTrader: (2)

Ok thanks very much for that, the car was serviced at a motorsport company so that may have been the case.

I asked the guy last night to top up the coolant and to check the oil and see what he thinks, iv just had this reply....

"I have topped up the coolant to the maximum mark on the reservoir. This took less than a pint. Given the coolant system capacity is 7.7 liters; it's not surprising the car has been running at its normal temperature as indicated on the temperature gauge.

I checked the oil level, making sure I wiped the dipstick properly first. There are three marks on the dipstick; upper level, lower level, and a third mark that indicates where the oil may expand to when the engine is warm. I found the level to be just below the third mark. So I conclude from this that it was slightly over filled at the last service. As I said in my last note, I haven’t noticed a detrimental effect."

does this sound right? in which case i may have been over reacting slightly?

djandyg

iTrader: (2)

anyone else any opinions/suggestions?

nick172sport

iTrader: (6)

as long as the header tank is full left hand side are you looking at the overflow bottle on the right

djandyg

iTrader: (2)

Yeh i only looked in the white plastic resevoir on the right hand side. Is the other metal tank with a rad cap on top the other expansion tank i take it?

nick172sport

iTrader: (6)

yep as long as that is full the metal tank its fine dosnt matter about the plastic resovoir on right hand side

djandyg

iTrader: (2)

Thank you for that

Ian

iTrader: (10)

could be worth getting a aa/rac inspection, then if anything does go wrong, i think you have some come back