My guess would be if bits of sparks etc were firing out of the exhaust as I think you said, then you have bigger problems than your ecu dicking about......

For a start the ecu doesn't control how many red hot sparks get fired through your exhaust lol, souns like a ring land has faile to me, if you told the guy what you have said on here surely the first thing he would do would be compression check and bore check?? Surely this would be basic stuff for any mechanic?

Not sure if I would be happy with an explanation of I've had some splits off and poked a finger in

Aside from this I do hope you've been lucky and it's an easy cheap fix for ya, fingers crossed.

Mick

 

, sorry pal but the reason I asked is because he sounds like he hasn't got a clue, just because someone used to rally doesn't mean he understands subaru's and in particular the 2.5 ringland failures, if your car was doing what you said there's a 99.999% chance Your engine has shat it'self and no amount of poking your finger in the turbo is going to cure that, by the sounds of it he'd do better sticking his finger up the exhaust.

Sounds like a case of the blind leading the blind.

As for your comment about finding a cheaper option of the replacement engine for £2100, replacing a 2.5 with a non forged 2.5 is a recipe for disaster, expect the same to happen again if you do this.

I suggest you read the thread about the 2.5 engine failures at the top of this page.

But hey I could be wrong.

It's your car and your money, so I don't care what you do.

 

I'd be going to a actual Subaru Specialist and fitting another 2.5 won't help you in the long run, you will end up more out of pocket having to shell out gain when that 2.5 goes bang!

I'd seriously get it checked properly then look into Forging this engine!

 

Update OP?

 

Well it turned out after being sent to the Scooby specialists it was electrical and some 'multi point' sensors into the engine had got water inside and corroded causing electrical signals to be sent everywhere..... £350 lighter for the fix and she still wasn't running right. Plug in said P0420 Catalyst system efficiency below threshold and P0302 Cylinder 2 misfire detected....
After almost £600 and a month in garages I got bored and trader her in 😰😰