DHB07

Hi all

Almost 2 years since I got my GB270 Wagon and despite the odd knock here and there, it’s been flawless until now. The short version of the events below is a written off engine – overheated, warped heads, ruined valves, head gasket and melted timing belt and bearing! I’ve put this together in the hope that other people can learn from my bad luck/ignorance/story.


Part 1. A random squeal

My drive home from work is around 20 mins of urban, stop start driving, averaging <30mph. About two thirds of the way home I downshifted to 2nd as I approached some lights.. As I did, I heard a faint squealing that persisted for 5 seconds and disappeared. “Strange”… everything else seemed OK. “Maybe it was another car”.

2 minutes later, same thing happened. “Hmm, pretty sure that is me.” Engine temps fine, no warning lights. Sound disappeared. “I’ll keep an ear out for that”.

2 minutes later, now almost home. Pulled away at an “easy” Impreza pace to jump the traffic and swap lanes. As I did, engine temp needle climbed rapidly to 2/3s heat and stabilised. “Wow, ****. Never seen that before”. Shift to 5th, temp heaters on max power and max heat, windows down. Effectively idled the car downhill to home. Reversing on to the drive the gauge jumped up again. Turned engine off.

Popped the bonnet to find some sort of fluid around the engine. Immediately thought that’s what must have caused the squealing; rad/pipe burst and the fluid on the belts at the front has caused the squeal.


Part 2. Burst rad

Let the car cool over night and fired her up the next morning. Sure enough, just ticking over on the driver the needle rose to the “just above 1/3” position, and then proceeded up to 2/3s and beyond. Bugger.

Cue trip to Halfords (not in car) and picked up some rad weld and new fluid. Sure enough, the reserve reservoir was low and there was fluid beneath the car on the drive.

Rad weld didn’t sort the problem.

Following morning, jumped in the car and headed to local garage. Heaters on full, cold engine, trundled 2 miles down the road. Engine hardly got up to temp and only just hit the “just above 1/3” position when I arrived. The guy there (trusted, used him for MOTs and anything non-specific for the whole family fleet) confirmed it was a split rad and fitted and new one.
Back up and running fine, happy days…


Part 3. 2 weeks later: Isolated random squeal


Driving back to Newcastle from Manchester with family in the early hours. Lifted off as leaving the M6 slip road (had been doing 70-80mph for circa 2 hours) and, as I did, heard the squeal again. “Bugger, not again.”
Engine temps OK.
“Maybe I imagined it? Maybe it was a brake? First time touching them for hours..?”
Accelerated hard leaving the roundabout… nothing, no noise, all good.
Braked hard to check the brakes. As I came off the brakes and shifted down to 3rd, temp needle shot up. “****, didn’t imagine it”.

Pulled over, engine off, popped lid, called AA (over an hour from home). All levels fine.

AA man: “How’s the engine temperature needle now?”
Me: “Well, it’s not registering, as the engine’s off”
AA man: “Yes, the temperature gauge will only show when the ignition is on”
Me: “No **** Sherlock” (not really).
(Mum’s phone dies mid-call with AA – classic)

5 mins later turned ignition on, temp needle right where it should be. Fired her up and sat for 5 mins. All good. Nursed her home without any other issues whilst my Dad and I tried to get our heads round what had just happened. “Maybe a pin hole in the rad, that’s then sealed itself? Fault on the sensor? Odd, I’ll keep an eye on it.”

Inspected the engine the following morning and no issues – all levels fine, running fine. Put it down to a freak event.


Part 4. 2 weeks later, no issues since but a “tapping noise”.

Nice evening for a drive and I hadn’t been for a “proper” drive for a few months. 20 miles up to my parents place on country roads, driving quickly, but nothing particularly strenuous on the engine. Revs up to the redline once, but much harder on the tyres and brakes than on the engine. A great drive, just the sort of driving it’s made for!

Left my parents 45 mins later and fired it up. As I did, I noticed a strange light knocking/rattle. Popped the bonnet. Sounded like a bearing had failed in the aircon or alternator and it was rhythmic at the same tempo regardless of engine revs.

2 mins later, noise disappeared and that was it… Nursed her home half expecting an electronics/engine warning light at some point but no issues.

…Until… I downshifted to 2nd as turning on to my road and I heard the dreaded squeal. “Oh FFS”… engine temps then climbed as I reversed on to the drive.
“Right, there’s a proper problem here”
Engine off, popped the lid to a load of steam.



Part 5. Meltdown

Next day I nursed it along to the local garage that fitted the radiator a month earlier. Windows down, fans on max power/heat and no issues. Again, engine didn’t even get up to temperature by the time I got there.

I explained the previous set of events to the mechanic and he reckoned maybe it was water pump. Straight away he recognised pressure in the water system, and on taking the lid off the water shot out – huge pressure but not hot at all.

Said it was one for a Subaru specialist, but insisted there were no heat issues (and I agreed, nothing seemed/felt too hot in the bay). He said I’d be OK nursing it to the guys at Gilesgate Autocare (who have been brilliant, as usual).
I called Chris at Gilesgate and explained what was going on, and the story to date, plus the possible diagnosis from the local garage. He too said to nurse it across to them, and pullover/stop if the engine temp spikes. This all made sense.


I’d gone 5 miles without a problem in 5th gear @ 50pmh when climbing out of a 50 zone the temp gauge started to move FAST. “Here we go! Just get to the top of the hill! (50 metres)”
Downshifted to 4th and as I released the clutch in to gear I felt what seemed like a stall. Down to 3rd… all power gone.
“****.”
Pulled over, steam and smoke pouring from the engine. Engine off. Called for a tow truck.

And that is where the story ends.


Gilesgate have reported:

Warped cylinder heads, warped block, knackered valves, timing belt melted(!) along with the timing pulley bearing(!).


In hindsight, I’m wondering if perhaps I’ve had an airlock in the cooling system, and this has caused multiple occasions of severe overheating, without the thermostat picking up any problems. There’s certainly been something going on in the background…

I’ve also since read about issues with the temp gauges/thermostats that suggest they’re not worth paying attention too, and that they operate more as a “switch” than an actual gauge.

The learnings for anyone else here: the instant you get a moment of overheating, get the car thoroughly checked out, even if it appears to be fine!

gc8simon

DHB07

Hmm, nasty. I did have a new rad fitted after trying the rad weld though...

bustaMOVEs

iTrader: (31)

2.5?
Where have you been......? The 2.5 isint known to be good on head gaskets, yours seems like it wasn't spotted early on and just cooked everything

DHB07

2.5...

Clearly not reading enough What would have been the HG telltale signs?

johned

Thanks or the info and hope you got sorted out ok in the end.

trevsjwood

iTrader: (2)

the problem started with a leaking rad. oem water temp gauge moved which in Subaru terms means it boiled, so high probability HG damage. Car should have been parked there and then, not moved or started until new rad installed or recovered to a place of repair.
Thanks to OP for posting his experience.
Trev

DHB07

Hurts to hear but this is in line with other reading I've done. Just hope others benefit.

Wasn't aware of what the OEM temp gauge actually represented until too late!

trevsjwood

iTrader: (2)

much better with aftermarket temp gauge for safety.
to be fair you don't really know unless you've been through it.
Trev

Tidgy

Sounds like headgasket has gone. It's a 2.5 so common failure. Reality is nothing you could have done to prevent it, when they go they go.

Radweld could well have caused the failure as well, nasty stuff and should never be used.

When they fail its pot luck how much damage is done, but sounds like its pretty much fried your whole engine.

got two main choices, get a proper rebuild (bear in midn second hand engine could fry its headgasket down the line), or sell as a rolling shell which will give you peanuts.

TECHNOPUG

iTrader: (1)

Temp gauge has 3 readings: under temp, correct temp and over temp. If you ever see the needle go above working temp, stop immediately and don't start again until any issues have been resolved.

Gambit

iTrader: (6)

id concur with gc8simon radweld was not a good idea. but not much use to you now

being a GB270 wagon i would be for looking at getting it rebuilt - such a rare sight on the roads

longsh07

Out of curiosity, how does the temp gauge compare to the one on a classic? Are all classic's truly analogue or also go in steps like the later models?

I own a 99 WRX, no overheating issues but planning to swap out the radiator which is starting to rust quite badly. Want to be prepared just in case of an airlock when refilling!

mickywrx

iTrader: (29)

Work the same way on a classic. Want a proper temp gauge, buy decent aftermarket.

mickywrx

iTrader: (29)

Also to add, using Radweld when the block and heads are aluminium is suicide, IMO.

alcazar

iTrader: (2)

Stock temperature gauges are very basic indeed.
The senders cost very little, and consist of a plug in which there is a substance whose resistance changes with temperature. However, being cheap, they only do anything over the range from around 70-110 deg C.


So once it starts to rise from the centre, you are basically fekked.

Fishbowlhead

iTrader: (1)

Are there replacement sensors that would work with the dash gage then that just plug and play?, but give a better reading than just (ok-your fooked) ?

alcazar

iTrader: (2)

Not really, since the gauge itself only reads from 70-110

jaygsi

iTrader: (46)

Right think i need some gauges, thanks for posting your story, when buying an Impreza i'd recommend doing your homework on them, so you know which models to avoid etc.

Fishbowlhead

iTrader: (1)

Thanks for the info.

darrenmma

man sounds dead unlucky for you ….I ran mine into ground for 3 years now rebuilding...red lined above multiple times....once lost all compression and cut out...come back alive 30 min later drove it a year after that....headgaskets blown to pieces but until I took the engine apart it still sounded bang on and drove fine but overheating issue constantly made it unusable....sounds like yours didn't have half of this and destroyed man feel for ya

davemar

The temperature gauge can only record the correct temperature if the sensor has coolant passing by it. If you've got an air-lock or are low on coolant they gave give a low reading when the engine is really overheating as they are just measuring the air temperature.

Linksfahrer

Five posts , but Davemar has it spot on.

The airlock issue is relevant especially if a head gasket is suspect , as the piston moves down it pulls the water from the head into the cylinder and can press the exhaust gas into the water circuit. You can tell if things are wrong by unusual discoloration in the reservoir tank (do when not under pressure). And if you cant feel / hear fluid when you squish the top radiator hose, then you have no coolant in the top of it. Get some gauges and watch them ( I mean oil temp as well ) then get to know your car , you should begin to see how it responds to traffic , high power runs , outside temperatures. When anything untoward, unusual happens then start doing the level checks before driving further.

From brutal experience, check to see also the condition of the top hose and clearance , as they get older they sag and can be rubbing on the fan blade. Mine exploded on the way home from the car purchase at over 100 mph. You literally cannot see a thing when it happens.

alcazar

iTrader: (2)

And then when you get home you need fresh under-crackers....LOL

DTB

Pardon my ignorance here, but in the context of a head gasket failure (or I suppose any overheating issue), what's the correlation between coolant temp and oil temp?

I have only the standard dash coolant temp gauge, but I do have a separate oil temp gauge in my dash gauge pod. Is that any help whatsoever or would the engine already be fubar by the time the oil temp rose?

alcazar

iTrader: (2)

Engine oil temp lags coolant temp on my Imreza 2.5 forged classic by about five minutes in actually achieving temperature from cold.

Once hot, the oil stayed at around 100 while the water was at 87 or so. There is no oil cooler fitted, but of course, the rad and thermostat keep the coolant temperature lower.

As for a fubared engine, my understanding is that there are many ways in which a blown HG can damage an engine, from coolant entering the upper cylinder, to oil and bearing contamination, even oil stavation from bearings once it starts waxing the oil.

My engine suffrered a blown HG as a lightly modded UK 2 litre. It was repaired, but the repairer wasn't a Scoob specialist and didn't know to split the engine and replace the bearings while it was out.

The repaired engine lasted 6 months before destroying it's bottom end in france...about 40 miles short of Calais, where I ended up paying nearly £700 to get it back into the UK, not having European cover at the time Sunday, french Autoroute etc all added to my bill.

DHB07

Hi all

Dragging this up from the dead 18+ months later. I finally took the rolling chassis down to Nippon Auto spares in Derby after umming and arrring over what to do with the Wagon.

The guys were great - replacement engine out of a Japanese automatic model, with only ~43k miles on the clock. They did the swap within 3 days, kept me posted throughout and spent a while with me when I collected it going through everything. So, big shout out to them: https://www.nipponautospares.com ! (mods, I feel it's a deserved endorsement!). Engine's running sweet, and maybe it's my imagination, but I swear it's pulling better than previous (old engine had 104k miles on it!).

Sadly though, I'm thinking of selling.. so if anyone's interested in #15 GB270 (with a low mileage engine!), let me know!