DutchKev

iTrader: (1)

well its been a while since i have been here as i had to sell my old MY99 because of insurance problems

cut a long story short, I bought a mondeo V6 zetec s which lasted all of 3 months before my points came off my licence, then the subaru itch came back so i sold the mondeo and bought myself a red V4 wagon



took it for a service and my mechanic told me there was more water in the oil filter than oil i'd only had the car 3 weeks, in which time i'd changed the seized 2 pot callipers for a decent set of 4 pots with disc, pads and a full brake bleed

with the fact that the car may have HG issues, and the fact i always wanted a saloon over a wagon, i traded my wagon in against this:-



1998 uk turbo 2000 in reddish blue, 17" speedline st2 alloys, stainless backbox, sti hi rise spoiler, sti front splitter. needs a bit of attention to the bodywork but i was expecting that anyways

took the car out for a test drive, all was ok, car boosted fine, no nasty knocks, bangs etc from anywhere. the only problem i was told about that he was aware of was the fact that the thermostat had been changed recently but the coolant system wasn't bled / pressurised correctly as the heaters wernt getting upto temprature and had an air lock

so knowing how difficult subarus are to repressurise when filling the coolant, i took the car knowing this was an "easy fix"

boy was i wrong

when i initially bought the car, i drove it back from west brom to tamworth, the drive went fine with no problems untill i got to within 100 feet of my house, pulled onto the drive and noticed smoke from under the bonnet. popped the bonnet and smoke was billowing from under the expansion tank, so the car was left to cool down and left to stand for 4 days whilst i could get hold of my mechanic

took the car to him today and received the worst news possible - because i had drove the car with no coolant in it (will explain later) ive cooked the engine and possibly cracked the heads the smoke was oil coming from the blocks dripping onto the exhaust. further investigation showed the rear crank seal has gone and is leaking oil onto the exhaust as well.

this was all discovered after he flushed the coolant system for the blockage and ran the car to get it up to temperature.

the bottom rad hose STILL does not get hot, nor does the heaters. the car was with him for 4 hours, and in that time the coolant had completely drained from the car - BUT the floor was bone dry - so there is only 1 place it can be going

looks like i need to get the engine completely stripped down, get the heads sent off to be skimmed and pressure tested, as long as they're not too warped that is, refit with new metal head gaskets and then change the cambelt, air con belt, aux belt, water pump, plugs, filters etc

i would buy another engine, but then i've still got to have the belts and service done, as well as source the engine, collect and get that pressure tested and fitted etc, so ive decided to get this engine sorted instead.

i'm just praying i've not warped the heads too much - otherwise i'm gonna have to look for 2 new heads on top of everything else.

pagey1982

iTrader: (1)

Well I hope you get it sorted with out too much hassle.know how u feel brought my classic 2 months ago as a none runner and I've had problem after problem

Frenchwood

Unlucky that fella. Hope it pans out well for you!

Primeiro

The wagon you had, funny question but did that have A/C?

Think thats my old car but cannot remember the reg but sure that reg rings a bell. Large back box but other than that standard.

If you go ahead with engine build, get the cylinder block decks skimmed aswell & check your bores, ej engines dont like heat!

ianbott

I've got a great set of skimmed and reconditioned 98 UK turbo heads for sale, PM in interested.
Cheers Ian.

alcazar

iTrader: (2)

Oh dear.......nope, you simply CANNOT drive an airlocked car safely. Coolant can't circulate, the oil overheats and the engine will overheat too.

You will be lucky to salvage much from it at all, sorry.

DutchKev

iTrader: (1)

primeiro - no a/c on the wagon fella

ian, thanks for the offer fella, gonna see what damage has been done to the block 1st then see what condition the heads are in afterwards, if they hold pressure after being skimmed and tested then happy days, if not i'll get in touch for a price

alcazar - i'm preparing myself for worst case scenario atm, if the main block is buggered then i'm gonna buy another V4 engine and get that stripped down / skimmed etc. i won't be going down the forged route (sadly) as i just don't have that kind of money

alcazar

iTrader: (2)

TBH, you would be better looking for, and saving for forged parts and decent ACL Race bearings.

donnyouk2007

Hi dutchkev the blue impreza in this post has just found its way to me can you give me any details about it please thanks.

DutchKev

iTrader: (1)

Before I sold the car I swappwd the engine for a semi closed deck sti engine and whlst it was out it had a full service inclding plugs, oil and all filters. I also changed the front brakes from the knackered 2 pots to the 4 pots it has on currently. Mechanically the car was solid whwn I sold it, the only issue was the bodywork which wasn't the best

donnyouk2007

Cheers for the reply didnt think it was standard when i brought it. was the ecu changed or is it still the original one. Thanks sorry for asking so many questions

DutchKev

iTrader: (1)

Ecu turbo injectors etc are all standard, the only thing that was changed was the bottom end