fasteddie84

iTrader: (1)

Hi all

I bought myself a 2006 Hawkeye STI over the weekend and have been using it for the past couple of days.

The previous owner had had it for about 3 years and used it for getting to and from work but also did a couple of track days in it although over the last 6 to 12 months, he has used it less and less (once a week) as he has been cycling to work.

The engine has had the track friendly package fitted by PowerStation on 98RON petrol which includes:

Pipercross panel filter
Miltek de-cat exhaust (not sure whether any cats are still present as can’t hear them meowing!).
Ecutek remap

It has also had the stage 3 handling kit from PowerStation which includes:
AST coilovers with top pillow mounts
Whiteline front anti-roll bar (no adjustable)
Whiteline rear anti-roll bar (adjustable)
Whiteline front anti-lift kit

He said that this is basically the Type 25 spec suspension…

Firstly, the car is quite hesitant when building up the boost. I am putting this down to being mapped on 98RON whereas we use 97 over here so guessing that it needs a remap doing to cure this but also because it hasn’t been done for a couple of years so a bit out of date. To solve this, I am going to put 97RON fuel in it (as I don’t know what’s in it at the moment), change the plugs with NGK Iridium heat 7, and change the fuel filter. I will then see how it runs and if it’s the same, I will get it remapped and hopefully that will sort it out.

When I got it, I first noticed a little puff of blue smoke from the exhaust when the turbo really kicks in. I am not sure what pressure the turbo is at when it’s doing it but guessing it’s getting close to 1.5bar. I put this down to the car not being used much but it’s still doing it so thinking I should look into it a bit closer.

It only does it when you put your foot down and as the gears are quite short, I can’t really tell if it continues but believe it stops after a second or two. It doesn’t smoke when cool, when warm, when ticking over, when driving normally etc.

My thoughts are:

Check to see if the turbo spindle has any excess play in it. If it doesn’t then move onto the next job. If it does then that’s my problem.
Clean out all the intercooler pipes to see if they have any oil in them. From work on my mates car, they do have oil in them anyway so maybe this is just a natural thing.
Test drive and see if it still does it.
If it does, I might carry out a service (change the oil and filter) as it may be a case of the previous owner using the wrong oil and the stuff that’s in it is too thin and cause it to smoke slightly.
Test drive and see if it still does it.
If it does, carry out a compression check. Can anyone recommend a good compression tested that will fit?

Is there anything else I should check or clean?

Thanks

fasteddie84

iTrader: (1)

Anyone?

davefaedeen

blue smoke normally means one thing turbo is about to pop!!!

fasteddie84

iTrader: (1)

What about ring land failure?

Would that produce the blue smoke as well or would that just drink the oil like no tomorrow?

The car has only done 37k!

davefaedeen

IMO if it was ringland failure it would be constant smoke if its just when your booting it then the turbo is more likely. 37K not uncommon for a standard turbo to let go given its not running standard boost.

davefaedeen

check the turbo seals, oil feeds etc.

fasteddie84

iTrader: (1)

Been doing some checking today and have mixed results...

Did a compression test and all 4 cylinders were at 130psi, give or take 2 psi :-)

Now, the main bit of concern is the plugs on the left bank (the ones closest to the battery) were wet looking whereas the ones on the right bank were dry.

When I was chatting to David at API, he said that cylinders 2 and 4 are the usual culprits for ring land failure.

Both of these make me think ring land failure

I was going to tackle a rebuild myself at home but David has made me think otherwise. Anyone have any comments on this?

I am going to change the pistons, rods, bearings, head studs and gaskets. Guessing that the total for parts alone will by £1,500!

APIDavid

iTrader: (4)

In our experience oil smoke or consumption is almost never a turbo failure on a Subaru. It is more than likely on a 2.5 hawk that it is either ring land failure or a failure of the air pump.

The data shown by the spark plugs is quite telling. The problem cylinders are 2 & 4 for ring land failure, the plugs on 2 and 4 are wet........................

It is not possible to do a hot compression test, so the indication from the test can be misleading/ inconclusive. If it could be done at working temperature, a different story might be told. But given that the engine is prone to piston failure, I'd be very wary.

The turbos on 2.5's do crack across the land between the wastegate hole and the exhaust hole. But it rarely causes a problem and most customers report no symptoms or sign of the crack. But once you know you have a crack you need to do something about it.

David APi

blackpoolrock

id be taking it back via the last owner front door

fasteddie84

iTrader: (1)

Sold as seen unfortunately :-(

fasteddie84

iTrader: (1)

Just to conclude this thread, the problem was ringland failure and here's some photos to show what that actually is: