Hard to say.My first question would be what thickness head gaskets did you use?

 

Thanks mate. I need to get a few reliable months under my belt with the spare engine.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Subaru-Imp...item3f110fa1ae

1.9mm iirc. Shorter rods were used as I bought non-stroker pistons. This thickness I believe gave a CR of 8.5:1 and I think cometic are the only company to make 1.9mm.
My suspicions are either bore wash (as running in was a stop/start affair), the head gaskets (although the oil looked fine once it was drained) or i've done something else valve-wise.

 

Hope it's the least severe outcome for you mate

 

It's unfortunate whatever it is as it looks like you done everything right to me.

 

Well, no real update as I've lost all motivation. I will take the car off road at the end of November and use the wife's Renault Scenic as a daily. There's a few reasons for this, as the tax and MOT are up on the Impreza and the wife needs a more reliable and safe car to ferry the kids around, so we're likely to get a new car on PCP.
It also means I should have more motivation to get to the bottom of the issues with the forged engine.

So far I have dropped the oil and found no signs of water. I also checked the valve clearances and found they were within tolerance, although I'd be happier with a few shim changes to tighten things up. The turbo which I thought was the issue has been on the car with a cheap spare WRX engine I bought from a fellow scoobynetter back in June and running without issue. Since then the forged engine has been covered over in the shed. The cam belt timing was also fine.

I'm suspicious that the compression tester I have isn't giving an accurate reading, so the next thing to do before I pull the spare engine out is compression test that with the same tool to see if it gives a similar reading. The only difference in set up between how it was with the 2.1 in and how it has been since June is the change of cat downpipe to now running a decat downpipe.

So I have a couple of questions. Has anyone experienced problems after using Tesco's 99 or heard of anyone experiencing similar?.
I'd also be looking for a decent cover, preferable one I'd drive "into" as I'd like to cover the bottom of the car also.

I'm also a little bit suspicious as to the start of all these problems, IE filling with Tesco 99 rather than Shell. I've just read a thread on pistonheads with people saying they have developed misfires after filling up at Tesco, and problems disappearing after a change of fuel. Of course I could be clutching at straws. I'm wondering if the change in fuel could have somehow broken up the cat in the downpipe, causing a blockage and overheating the turbo?

 

What absolute rubbish, if tesco 99 is good enough for my scooby it sure as hell is good enough for yours lol. Mine runs faultlessly on Tesco fuel and has done for years. There is no noticeable difference between the two. Some people say they can feel a difference but to be honest I think that is just a placebo.

If your car is mapped for 99 then tesco or shell wont make a difference.

Give us a recap of the problems and symptoms etc mate

 

http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/t...uel&mid=402890

 

"Regular unleaded" is that what yours was running?

 

Im not quite sure how you can take that link as anything useful what so ever?

Its all hear say and speculation....

Do you think if tescos fuel was "bad" my car would run on it with the abuse it gets?

If you read the thread tesco and shells fuel are both 97 octane with ethanol added in.

Dont believe the crap you read on the net...

 

I don't I was suspicious from day one as I did 1200 miles without problem on shell without a problem. One trip to Tesco and the misfire begins. It's only a thought, it's not like it would be the first time Tesco have had dodgy fuel.

 

How is your car going

 

At the moment fine lol. Few bits that need doing but the wedding/decorating and having 2 kids birthdays within a week of Christmas is killing us financially.
Its still a giggle, still brings a smile to my face even with the cheapy engine in.

 

Im just in the position now where im looking for a spare block to go down the same route for 2.1 stroker build. After sitting and reading all 23 pages of all the ups and downs of your build im now much better informed so thanks for sharing.. Well done for getting your hands dirty and i hope you have some luck when you come to repairing and resolving the issues with your engine.

 

are you any closer to fixing the problem with the 2.1

 

Thanks for reading mate, are you starting a project thread?

I'm spending more time trying to keep the wife's Renault Scenic on the road, I haven't worked on the R since the spare engine was fitted.
Since the scenic will become my daily I need to keep it running. The plan is to get probably a Seat Ibiza on PCP for the mrs, scenic for me commuting and the impreza to come off of the road.

 

+1 my car has run for over 5 years in my ownership on tesco 99 ron through various stages of tune and not one single issue.

 

Was your car mapped with Tesco 99 in the tank?. 2007 wasn't that long ago, although I think it was mainly a local issue.
Research how many people have had major, major issues with contamination with different types of Tesco fuels. It's an eye-opener.

http://www.vxronline.co.uk/forum/arc...t-144138.html?

http://www.briskoda.net/forums/topic...mentum-99-ron/

http://www.audi-sport.net/xf/threads...mentum.159398/

http://forums.mg-rover.org/archive/i.../t-453489.html

http://www.pistonheads.com/GASSING/t...lem&mid=402890

http://www.petrolprices.com/blog/tes...ated-fuel.html

Mostly the OP complaining about a misfire after filling up with 99 then spending **** loads on changing x, y and z and it was only cured by changing fuel. Then a million replies of people saying the OP was talking bollocks.

I'm not saying this is the problem with mine, could just be a complete co-incidence. But it was mapped on shell and only developed a problem after filling with Tesco 99.

There also seems to have been a problem with Tesco's Diesel in Bournemouth recently...

http://www.bournemouthecho.co.uk/new...ksome/?ref=twt

http://www.heart.co.uk/dorset/news/l...tescos-diesel/

 

only ever used tesco 99 ron, always mapped and subsequent tweaks done with tesco 99 ron in tank.
only reason i used it was due to no shell nearby though.

 

https://www.scoobynet.com/general-te...esco-99-a.html

https://www.scoobynet.com/general-te...esco-99-a.html

https://www.scoobynet.com/general-te...-problems.html

 

Hi there

Our wagon has been mapped on V-power,but we are mostly run Tesco T99 mostly,because just due T99 has been easily to get as V-Power when we are been on road

Agree V-power is more consistent and is bit better,but I've few bad experience with V-power too,mainly bad batch of V-power,agree this can happen,this I would expect from Tesco not V-power

When we are switched to Tesco,I've datalogged almost every day as precaution and mainly I wanted to be assured everything is working as should and we are not getting excessive knock etc or ECU doesn't pulling down timing

Now on Civic Type R we are running too Syvecs and again we are running Tesco mainly and again I'm logging just we are want to be 100% sure,everything is OK

Did you tried add Octane booster to Tesco if this misfire,hesitation disappear or did you check with yours mapper if he can point you right direction

On yours ECU(ESL) you should be able to datalog,if yes then please datalog and send those logs to yours mapper,I'm sure he will able to say,what or why do you have those issue

Not sure there,but I would try to at least datalog and try other fuel station

Good luck there

Thanks,Jura

 

Thanks Jura, It's my hope, and just a theory, that my cat downpipe has broken up. Hence the noise and very quick heat coming back into the turbo. Hence apart from the downpipe the problem has gone completely with all the same parts on the spare engine. And with that in mind my cheap-*** compression tester is pants, thus measuring only 50psi across the board. It's odd to have that low compression on all cylinders, whilst the engine ran fine. At the same time the boost solenoid went on the blink, whether that can be caused by either the misfire/cat problem I'm not sure. My 2 biggest problems are time and money. Time being because it's my daily, and the reason when I thought there might be trouble I pulled the engine and whacked a spare in there. If I sort the wife a new car that I don't have to work on, and have her car as my daily I can spend whatever time on the R without worrying about it getting me to work the next day. I've drained the oil to find no water, so it's probably condensation in the filler neck. I've checked the valve timing and it was spot on and the clearances were all within tolerance. I never use Tesco, for no other reason other than the spaces between each pump at my local garage are just 2 car widths. So if you fill up behind someone you've got to sit and wait for some idiot to finish dithering in the shop. It's closer to me than any shell but it stresses me out. It could be complete coincidence that this happened after I changed which 99 I used but on doing some searches, on here also, it's not uncommon for Tesco fuel to cause problems. It could all be bollocks, my engine could be shot to bits and I could be clutching at straws.

 

Nothing to break up in a decat.

 

Sorry cat downpipe.

 

You can compression test the engine out of the car. You just need to fit a gearbox or bell housing and a starter motor. Borrow another compression tester and re check to be sure. If it's still too low you'll have to pull the heads off. If the cat is suspect just cut the kneck of the downpipe off above where the honey comb structure is shine a torch inside and see if it's blocked or broken. You may aswell as you would want to rule it out. No point guessing

 

How much oxalic acid do you need to do calipers to remove rust. I know you put it in water but dont know how much to buy??

 

Ive always ran Tescos momentum 99 and never had a problem

 

Tucked away for now.....

 

2.1 back in....

 

Glad to see your projects moving again Alex 😎

Did you find out what went wrong bud ?

 

Not 100%. I'm fairly sure the cat in the downpipe was causing the racket as when the spare engine went in I fitted the decat and all was fine.
I needed to take a break from it all for a while, and garaged the car at the end of last year to keep on top of it rusting away. Instead of running up the spare engine weekly I thought it best to run up the 2.1 regularly.
I'm fairly convinced if it was the cat that was causing the racket then it was down to Tesco momentum, as that was all that I did differently in 1200 miles.
But it's running, just got a very high Idle issue I need to sort before I can run it up to temp and see how it all is then.