crossy

Just over a year ago, i brought a 95wrx import, after just a few months the engine let go. Had the thing rebuilt at great cost as the warranty company would not cough up even though the garage reckon the oil pump gave up. Well just 8 months later the thing has gone again.
The car is basically standard.. Magnex cat back and ITG filter. I ALWAYS use Shell Optimax. I check the oil every week and don't drive like an idiot (most of the time) as i can't afford the consequences of loosing my licence.

I have a mate that had an import STI V type R and that also let go twice.
Are UK spec cars more reliable?? Is this common for imports??
Did i just buy a bag of s**t?

Eprom

Have you found out why it let go this time? Thought you had to use octane booster as well, to optimax to increase the octane level.
Do you have any monitoring on the car, knocklink ect.
These cars were designed for 100 octane.

dhorwich

who changed the oil for you..??????and what oil was in it..??

When the oil was changed each time you had it was the crank position sensor removed and the car cranked over until the oil pressure warning light went out.????

Dan

Ken E

I had a 94 wrx import for 2.5 years and done 40k in it with no problems of that sort whatsoever. Have recently sold it and it was still going strong at 87k.

I kept the original air filter on it as had heard stories of induction kits and oiled filters damaging the maf sensor. Having an itg on your car, have you checked the maf to see if it got contaminated ?

also, is there not some sort of warranty with a rebuilt engine ? If I paid out for a rebuild I would expect it to last at least 12 months.

rmcoasby

I think they should have a health warning on them. My StiV blew up last week (first time). Dirty great hole in No.3 piston and a knackered block. I am careful and always use 98RON fuel. It was not even a grey import as they were official here in Cyprus. I now realise that I should have had a knocklink, boost gauge, octane booster, front mounted intercooler etc etc. It's a bit much and I am fecking annoyed. I had only done 50,000KM in it.

New engine on its way from blighty, plus knocklink, gauges. Can't have a re-map here as local tuners are butchers.
Cheers, Richard

dhorwich

STI's are pretty renowned for blowing up, a search shows thread after thread of peoples problems...

Alot of it is down to the STI's limited ability to retard ignition due to knock as they run so close to it. Then there are MAF sensor theroys, big end bearing N0:3, oil pump e.t.c e.t.c.....

I think the first thing is to get it remapped...

Dan

andyr

I would guess that the initial oil change was ok (obviously don't know what oil was used but if the rebuilt engine lasted 8 months then there can't have been too much wrong with that particular job.)
Also you don't mention the nature of the failure - bearing / piston meltdown ?

However the rebuild itself may not have been done as well as it might have been ? plus there seems to be a couple of weak points on these engines (well more than a couple if you were to believe all the scare stories on here ! but I'll stick to the fairly well proven ones to my knowledge)
1 : Jap spec WRX engines have an ecu mapped for their home market fuel : 100 / 102 octane. UK Optimax is 98 ron. Therefore detontation can occur even when sensibly driven : either a remap / replacement ecu / fit knocklink - last one is cheapest.

2 : oil pump can seize, even for a fraction of a second or so, leading to bearing failure. A modified one might be a good idea (not for increased pressure but to alleviate the risk of the pump failing)

3 : Uprated fuel pump is also a recommedation from some people in the know.

Certain models of Impreza (not yours I think, MY99 or so ?) have a MAF which is prone to fail when contaminated by oiled air filters and this can result in a lean mixture but no CEL - knocklink can prevent this from happening I believe.

However I'm not a scooby owner (yet, soon, very soon !) so my knowledge is based on trying to interpret the masses of info and mis-info on web sites such as S'net.

Andy

stavros

rmcoasby
butchers???????
as far as i know...compared to england they are not...

Gedi

If you don't use a good quality booster (or have it remapped) and keep your eye on the knock, then you can only expect it to go bang.

As previously mentioned, these engines run very close to knock and by running optimax only, your engine will not last long. Its a performance engine built in a country which has much better fuel than us.

This may not be the only cause, but it is by far the greatest on Jap cars. You need to simulate their fuel if you are going to run their map.

I can highly recomend NF Booster. Even on a hot day I only ever light up the second LED on my knocklink. Normally its completly quiet. Its a completly different story without the NF in the tank.

As an anaolgy, think of the "Top Fuel" Dragsters. If the fuel in these cars isn't to the highest standard, the car won't even make a 1/4 mile before meltdown.

spence7

OK my 2ps worth, I owned a MY93WRX for 2 years. Got it with 50K miles on it, and in two years took it up to around 100K miles. Initially I used super unleaded then optimax religously. If I ever was in the middle of nowhere and I had to put 95RON in I only put in the minimum. I always use Mobil 1 motorsport 15/50 every time, and I used dare I say it, Halfords oil filters ! After a few months of owning it I fitted a TSL midsection and backbox, and an ITG airfilter. All ran fine with no problems, letting the engine tick over after a run it always sounded exactly the same and seemed like it would go on forever. Then I ditched it. But that's another story

Now I have a MY95WRX with a supermegaphone zorst, standard air filter, I use optimax and 50mls of NF Octane Booster, and Mobil 1 oil and to date no problems as such. And I do drive the car enthusiastically with the odd track day maybe once a year. No probs yet touch wood there won't be.

So in my experience if you pays yer money for one which appears to be in real nice nick when you buy it, this is a good indication that it's been maintained well engine oil included. Then if you run good oil here in the uk and replace every max 5K miles (sounds rough at this point and you should hear that it needs replacing) you should be ok. Then there's just the usual freak manufacturing faults like oil pumps which funk up a well maintained and good running motor.

Charlie H

Snap! Run a 93wrx for 3 years now with the only failure being the fuel pump a few weeks back. Runs on SUL or optimax plus octane booster in the tank every other fill up. Have done a track day and do give it a good thrash every now and then. I have fitted an AFR and knocklink though just to be sure and just as well as the week before my fuel pump died my knocklink started to show a bit of det so I took it easy. Since the pump swap there has been no other detting at all In my opinion, that knocklink may have saved my engine

scoobycar60

A lot do seem to go bang for all the reasons listed and some, and yes my old STI2 went bang a couple of times which proved expensive to say the least.
Solution 1
For me... stick with a UK car and stay with the manufacturers warrenty STI 7 or 8 with PPP is quick enough for me, new age WRX with PPP is not far behind, these are probably where the sensible money is going these days as they are cheaper than ever second hand, extend the warrenty and enjoy...
Solution 2
Buy an import but keep the £3000 you should save handy, you may be lucky, if not pay for a rebuild then flog it, if it goes bang chances are unless you renew everything that could have caused it from fuel rails, fuel pump, oil pump, MAF, remap exhaust, induction
etc etc it will probably happen again and again (personnel experience here)then go to solution 1

Sorry thats how I feel everyone will tell you they know why your car probably went bang and IMHO they are full of bull and waffle.One week on here its all oil viscosity, next week its octane rating, then its detonation, boost spikes and poor maps, then its oil starvation then ignition maps, engine design sustained high boost, sustained high revs, fuel pump,oil pump the air filter MAF design the weather etc etc, they could all be right. The truth is there are so many variable it is nigh on impossible to cover all possible reasons for a knackered engine with any confidence that it may not happen again.

dhorwich

Or just get the jap import and have the ecu remapped for optimax as soon as you get it..!!!

Dan

Gedi

every other fill up.....how does that work???

that means you run the correct fuel every other time. I am lost as to the reason behind this. Must confuse the hell out of the ecu, trying to advance and retard dependant on what you have in the tank at the time.

crossy

Thanks guys some help with possible solutions, thanks. Last time it was No.3 big end bearing caused by oil pump failure.. it sounds the same this time, but have not had the engine stripped yet. I did not realise that i need to run an octane booster as well. What does a knock link sensor do?

THOMO

has anyone gone bang with fmic and lets say filter and exhaust system,no other mods.i have read alot of threads i dont remember anyone going bang with fmic filter and exhaust system.im leaning to the cooler engine theory.

rmcoasby

stavros,

maybe butchers was a bit strong but i have heard and seen some scary things here. anyway, i respectfully withdraw the comment. if you can recommend someone to me in cyprus i would be very grateful
regds, richard

Eprom

Hi
Knocklink sensor, is an extra sensor fitted to the engine which connects to a box of electronics, to provide you with a visual display when the engine is detting, so you can lift off the loud pedal. On JDM cars that are setup to run 100 octane, the ecu can't retard the ignition far enough to prevent det when using lower octane fuel. Det is also caused by other things lean mixture, high cylinder temps, to much boost ect. Search for link on scoobynet or the internet.

nom

'Hole in piston' typically has a pretty simple cause - detonation induced pre-ignition (the det increases the cylinder temps enough to cause pre-ignition, which puts a hole in the cylinder every time, on pretty much any petrol car). As to what causes the det, it's all described above - with standard ECU JDMs, it's too much advance for the fuel, so many of them go, especially non-modified/slightly modified ones as these tend to be the ones without the monitoring kit that would prevent the sustained knocking. With any of the models - but particularly those with TMICs - it's too high charge temperature (hot summer's day being able to do the job), especially if 'having a go' after slow moving traffic. Running higher than standard boost adds to both the above problems. And running lean raises cylider temps, typically mis-reading MAFs, so a common cause of engine failures with UK MY99/00 which have a pathetic attempt at a MAF sensor.
Bearings are a little less clear to me ...

[Edited by nom - 6/13/2003 1:39:56 PM]

Charlie H

Gedi - the reason I use octane booster at every other fill up is simply because the octane booster I use (millers) is supposed to be mixed with 50 litres of fuel. My car normally takes about 38 litres when on empty therefore if I used octane booster every fill up I would end up diluting the fuel with it. This was a subject discussed on the bbs when I bought my scoob 3 years ago and I have always stuck to this with no problems. As far as the ecu constantly altering to compensate - I believe the earlier cars are a lot slower at re-adjusting the settings after a bad/Nul batch of fuel and therefore take a few fill ups to fully adjust to the new fuel. Because of this fact, alternating the octane booster has never given me any problems at all. I also have a knocklink and AFR and don't every seem to get any det whether or not I have octane booster in but I use it just as an extra precaution.

Someone stated on this bbs a while back that the worst thing you can do as far as detting was concerned is to plant your foot to the floor while in a high gear. Aparently flooring it in 5th at about 2500 rpm can cause massive det!!! His advice was always drop a gear before planting your foot and "feeding" the gas in rather than just foot flat down. Don't fancy confirming this theory in my scoob though, but it certainly does it in the works van

If I can find the thread, I'll post it here

[Edited by Charlie H - 6/13/2003 3:11:25 PM]

scoobycar60

Here we go again

StickyMicky

this thread scares the **** out of me lol

sg72

Charlie H
Just read your reply . Spot on mate.
Just posted a thread about planting my foot in 5th

With knocklink lighting up.

Leviathan

LOL at Mickey, yeah and its only about 6 weeks since we last went through all this stuff!
It feels like we are chasing our tails.
At the end of the day the engine is not bullet proof as some are led to believe and like Bob in swindon told me, it just needs to be treated with abit of respect and TLC!

sparkster

The big end went on my jap import 93 wrx about 4 months ago. The engine has been replaced by a second hand block.

Fitted a knocklink after engine had been replaced and ran the car on optimax as i had usually done. It was flashing red at every opportunity and the ECU could not retard the ignition enough. No wonder my engine let go!!!!!

I bought and filled the tank with optimax and NF race formula octane booster. I use quite a lot at 5ml per litre of fuel.

The weather is warm and i'm driving the car harder than ever and the most that the knocklink will light up is the second green light. I hardly pay any attention to the knocklink anymore. Ive reset the ECU and the car is running great. I now dont have to worry about a remap. Yes, i'm paying extra for the octane booster but i dont drive the car far enough for it to be costing me the earth.

I'm sure you can horse the **** of an import if you just use the correct fuel and oils and are able to monitor any problems

bandyandstrange

Big ends do not go from too much detonation ive heard all this stuff on here and it is complete scare mongery. if big end no 3 goes all the time from too much det then why are the others ok? they have the same load and forces on them as the rest, the piston would burn through first then similar damage would be seenon the remaining pistons but i bet they all look ok ?

Leviathan

Agree with bandy, Bob R has said that its not typicaly number 3 anyway, it can be any!

sparkster

guys, if its not det can you advise me of other probs that may cause a big end failure as i really dotn want to fork out any more money on my scooby for a while - much appreciated

nom

Big ends do seem to go from too much det, or at least it's a major contributor. And number 3 is no more common than the others from the stats that were collected (by Bob, I think).
Det contributes as it not just weakens the rods, etc. through shock loads, but also dramatically raises the cylinder temps, leading to more det so possibly pre-ignition (and a hole in the piston), and the oil can begin to go, so friction goes up, so heat, so blah blah blah & pretty quickly the piston doesn't want to go up & down any more, causing a bit of a problem.

Ever noticed how the more heavily modded cars seem to do ok, despite their stresses are much higher? Possibly 'cos they're set up correctly for the European fuel, and the owners are distilled paranoia & keep an eye on AFR, EGT & knock monitors for any hint of a problem. So minimal det. So far more reliable engine with far more performance.

sparkster

p.s. - i havent heard anyone come up with other reasons for failure other than incorrect oil over the last 6 months of reading engine failure threads