expertinnothing

Hi All,

I know very little about scooby's and would appreciate some guidance.

I recently bought a 2007 2.5 WRX Wagon. Done 50K with full service history (subaru main dealer + specialists). Bog standard from what I can tell. If I'm honest I'm disappointed with the performance. It runs quite rough, stutters and has flat spots, feels like it wants to fly but is being held back. Fuel consumption appears poor too.

Differing advice from "it needs a good service" (had a 50K service in May 2013 at 47K?) to "try an ECU remap, new air filter and performance exhaust" or "how about an induction kit?"

I wouldnt be planning on doing any of the work myself so would hand it over to a specialist.

Any advice from scooby experts gratefully received and if you can recommend a specialist near to Milton Keynes then all the better.

Appreciate your time and advice guys.

riiidaa

iTrader: (2)

Forged pistons, before the 2.5 poos itself

ditchmyster

iTrader: (7)

Give this guy a call he'll come to you and give you a diagnosis and you can have a chat to him about the best way forward, he's in your area.

Tim Farmer at Subbus, Number is 07880661866

expertinnothing

Excuse my ignorance riidaa but I don't know what this means. Are you saying I have the pistons replaced? If so is this a problem with the 2.5?

expertinnothing

Thanks Ditch, I'll call Tim in the morning.

FuZzBoM

Hiya, This is an almost identical situation to myself.. Even down to our home town lol
I have just purchased a 56 plate wagon and want a little more poke. Mine also seems to have poor fuel consumption.. 80 miles on half a tank so far.. I found the air filter was neglected to be changed on the last service?! As such I have a Pro-R (pipercross) panel filter on order. I Also attempted to upgrade the Y pipe last night. Failed due to poor manufacture of the parts.. Nothing aligns up.

My 1st big mod on mine is EBC Yellowstuff pads, At present the brakes are binding and do not give me confidence.
Be interesting to see what direction you go in with this.

thanks,
Fuzz

ditchmyster

iTrader: (7)

If your brakes are binding then it's probably a seized piston in one of the calipers, which is quite common, new pads won't solve the problem.

FuZzBoM

Sorry not intending ho hijack the thread..
Already had a look at the brakes, Pistons are fine the pads are stuck in place by the pins and general dirt etc. I freed them off a little but I plan to give them a good going over at the weekend. I see little point is putting worn pads back in so a good excuse to upgrade. Along with new pins etc.

riiidaa

iTrader: (2)

The 2.5 engine suffers ringland failures etc many threads about 2.5 engines failing, the title of your thread says " How to improve my '07 2.5 " my comment was a slightly ferocious one about needing to strengthen your engine.

Have a read through the forums about people's woes with the 2.5, and what preventative measures you can take.

expertinnothing

Thanks for the heads up, I'll read those threads. No point in improving the output if the engine can't physically handle it!

expertinnothing

Spooky! Thanks for the advice. Will keep an eye out for you!

FuZzBoM

You can't miss mine. Its a 56 plate, Black wagon with 18 inch black Prodrive wheels on it. Rear windows are also blacked out. I live over the west side of the city.

I think the piston failures may be more common on the later models. all the ones on this thread are 2008 - 2010
https://www.scoobynet.com/scoobynet-...-failures.html

I am sure someone will correct me

expertinnothing

I will keep an eye out for sure. I live on the east over near J14. Tim, the guy recommended in this thread, is coming out on Friday. Starting with a full service and cambelt change and going from there. Brakes definitely need looking at, grinding now!

FuZzBoM

Keep me updated on what happens with Tim. I am happy to do most of the work on cars myself but I know when to get in touch with a professional.

I have done the front pads and plan to do the rears this weekend.

I also made the mistake of working my fuel consumption out 16mpg... that can't be correct can it? Its not like a am flat to the floor everywhere. have heard a rumor a remap can help with fuel consumption on everyday usage but at £450 not sure its worth it at the time being.

ditchmyster

iTrader: (7)

If your only getting 16mpg something is wrong or your boosting it everywhere, the 2.5 has plenty of torque so doesn't need to rev to 5k in every gear, should pull you along quite nicely at 2.5/3k rpm under normal speed limit ish driving, once you start going over that then they will use fuel but you should still get 22/25mpg without driving like a granny, mine is a 2.0L wagon and even when i'm having a bit of fun I still get 22 ish mpg and if i'm careful then 28/30mpg and as much as 35mpg on a run keeping it around 80mph @3k rpm, You should be able to p!ss that with a 2.5L as mine has the PPP and it's known for not being the most economical map.

I'd be having a chat with Tim if I were you.

FuZzBoM

In my commute to work I very rarely rev it over 3k (only about 2k while engine cold) I did find when I got it that the air filter was VERY dirty, the filter side was in fact black... Swapped out for the Pro-R (pipercross) filter and it does seem to pull better and so far 50 miles to quarter of a tank. I think the clogged air filter could have contributed to the very poor fuel economy?!
Time will tell on that one I guess. If no better by the end of this tank I will call Tim.
I can also find no evidence of plugs being changed. with 57k on the clock I guess this is possible. plugs on order..

ditchmyster

iTrader: (7)

Mine had a pipercross filter on it when I got it, seemed a bit strangled and would cut out when coasting up to a particular roundabout at the end of a long down hill stretch of road, swapped it for an STI one I had in the garage and the problem went away, I also cleaned the maf sensor at the same time so not sure which solved the problem.

A faulty 02 sensor can also cause very poor MPG.

FuZzBoM

Sorry again for hijacking thread lol... I was planning on cleaning the MAF when I get a chance. o2 sensor might be a tad expensive to swap out to test the theory.
I do have an elm327 so i will plug that in to see if the sensors are reading correctly. Give me a better idea at least.