steve1178

(JDM STi 03)

Well had my car back from having the timing belt done yesterday (Another thread on here about that ) and took the car out today and its not a happy bunny!!

was going down the dual carrageway 5th and 6th and it was pulling lovly, was just saying to my mate that im quite confidant about this engine now as timing belt is done and found out that a rattle was just the cat heatshield. then pulled off on to a 60mph road and accelerated away from a round about to the next, only once did i take it close to redline (About 7800) and then came to a stop and the next roundabout. Pulling off I thought... hmmm sounds a bit weird, tried to pull off and it was miss-firing like noone business.. Luckly very close to the garage where my mate works so hobbled there. My mate Popped the bonnet and the engine is rocking back and forth quite violently. As far as he can tell it is not knocking so hopfully the bottem end is ok (Car has done 52k miles) so with that gave it a little rev (Prob about 2k) and as the engine was running back down there is a little tap (Like flicking a can of strongbow (which incidentaly im drinking shed loads of now)) like a "ting" sort of noise. My mate thinks that it may have dropped a valve and as such the piston might be hitting it back up (Or across as is the case in these engines).

they are going to have a look at it for me over the next few days and let me know what they find (Not like subaru main Stealers and just add things to the cost (As per my last post)).

Well i suppose my question is, what do you think has happened?? As simple as a plug or coil pack gone or somthing more serious like the valve? There is no smoke at all when started and oil looks fine.. Any thing subaru might have done when changing the belt or just bad timing? Also I always run it on V-power or tesco 99oct (Was on V-power when this happened) If ya need any more info just let me know!

Cheers guys. Off to Cry now

dazdavies

iTrader: (22)

Firstly do a compression test on the offending cylinder. If compression is ok you can rule out the broken valve head issue.
If nothing is immediatley apparant, re do the timing belt. It's not difficult to do and if the belt is new it will still have its alignment markings on.

Was the tensioner replaced when the timing belt was done?

See how you go from there.

steve1178

Yeah, the tensionor and one idler was replaced.

cts5555

If the belt was installed wrong, it would have been like it immediatly right? Unless it jumped a tooth, we pulled the 2 covers off and the timing is correct on the cam sides, but without pulling of the crank pulley is there any way to line the crank up/ check crank pos?

If the compression test and timing prove ok, what else could have happened?

JRFRACE

probably don't take it to 7800 once you get it fixed anyways, someone may correct me but thats past the power band into the grenade band

good luck!

cts5555

The p1/ sti5 also had a high rev limit, around 8k. They must be designed to rev that high or the limiter would be lower. Kinda contradicts my idea of the valve drop. I should say, they SHOULD be designed to rev that high!! LOL

merlin24

iTrader: (1)

Remove the crank sensor out the top of the oil pump and you can see the timing mark/line(with a torch) on the crank gear.
If the belt timing is out - get the car recovered back to the main dealer who did your cam belt to rectify/repair it.

cts5555

Nice one!! Alot easier than removing crank pulley.

exvaux

iTrader: (1)

mine did the same,V5 sti,dropped a few valves on the quarter mile,ran for a while but ended up destroying the valve guides and a cylinder bore and had 0 psi on cyl4 and 75 psi on cyl 2

GlesgaKiss

Thats true, but the engine should be able to take that abuse for ages, never mind just before a gear change. Dont think the OP has done anything wrong here IMO.

cts5555

OP ?? Original Poster??
If so i agree too.

jeffers999

yes and me too ....... with the above

cts5555

Jeff boy !!!

Any progress with this yet? Comp test?

Fingers crossed for a timing belt problem.

steve1178

Hi guys,
Just heard back from my mate (mechanic) and the exhaust cam has snapped... . Rather than go to subaru for the part is there anywhere else i can get this cheaper? the engine code is: EJ207DW5CR.

Thanks guys.

dazdavies

iTrader: (22)

Something doesn't ring true here. Cams don't just snap!!
Has a cam lobe broken off or an Exhaust Cam pulley wheel has snapped maybe?
Also the Subaru Engine has Two exhaust camshafts (left and right)
Some pictures might help.

steve1178

Going down after work and ill try and get some pics of it.

its the exhaust cam on drivers side that has gone. From the sounds of it one of the cam caps nuts had snapped so only one nut holding the cap in place so with the extra tension of having a new belt and high revs this seems to have given up the ghost in a big way.

This could be the cause of a few posts that i have put up on here. 1st one was about bad tapping when warm and above about 2.5k rpm (Thought it was just incorrect oil, not knowing anything about these engines). And a couple of other things.

dazdavies

iTrader: (22)

That sounds more plausible. Your cambelt is more likely to snap before a Cam actually does. Be prepared you might have a knackered Cylinder head on your hands.

steve1178

Ok, here are the pics!!!
Not sure how to post them on here so used photobucket..

steve1178 - Photobucket - Video and Image Hosting

Very pleased that subaru are only chargine £94 + VAT for the Cam!!!

Hopfully my mate said that i should have it back for the weekend

Well pleased at the moment!!! Nice one JEFF!!!!!!!! CHEERS DUDE!!!!!!! Owe You a pile of strongbow



Will let you know how it goes on the weekend!

Cheers for the replies guys!

steve1178

Well looks like the rattle wasnt the heatshield (As Subaru said) Was the cam trying to say hello to me

Fingers Crossed!!!!

exvaux

iTrader: (1)

which is why i never trust my local dealer,if it cant be plugged into their computer for an answer your as well talking to the reception desk

AdamR

Are you replacing the cam cap aswell? If that was the reason for the breakage, i'd imagine the cap would be damaged aswell.

jeffers999

He is a very lucky boy, the cam cap is totally undamaged otherwise
it would have been a much bigger job, all we need is a new cam, 4x cap bolts and a gasket or 3, and by weekend it will all be alive again (but still slower than mine) sorry steve lol......

silent running

I can't believe that cam snapped in two, that's mental! Never seen anything like that. I had a cam seize due to a blocked oilway in the head and it basically welded itself to the bearing surface. That was nasty looking, but a snapped cam...

dazdavies

iTrader: (22)

You've done extremely well to get away with so little damage.
Have the valves been checked to see if any got bent etc?

SPEN555

For info, 2003 JDM STi rev lmit is 8,250rpm.

Hope you get it sorted okay and damage is minimal.

steve1178

The compression has been checked and on all 4 they are excatly the same, so fingers crossed!!

Cheers for the info 'SPEN555', I thought it was 8k so was always changing about 7800 if I was on one!!

JRFRACE

but 7800 is beyond the power band no? you will go slower by changing up then rather than at 6000 to 6500

steve1178

I dont think so... not had it dynoed to find where the power band is but when i was at santa pod (USC 2008, even with dodgy cam so prob lost power) I set the shift light on one of the runs to 7k and all it managed with a 1.9 60ft was 14.8, taking it to 78-8k it run a 13.7 so i think the twin scroll is just getting to its element above 7k. Surely the STi department at subaru wouldnt let it rev that high if there was no point to it!

Anyone know what the 2003 jdm sti twin scroll should run stock at the track? I know it should have run better than what it did so im putting it down to power loss due to the valves not opening enough with only 1 cam cap bolt holding it in place or with the cam ratteling the knock sensor thinking it was knock and retarding the timing..

bluenose172

iTrader: (2)

Standard it should be around 13.4-5.

JRFRACE

well you seem to think that the rev limit is a target to aim for, its not, its the limit, can anyone find any dyno sheet that shows an impreza doing anything other than lose power at 7K? i could be wrong but i'm fairly sure they all make their peak power before that, usually in the mid 6000 range.

If you are right fair enough, but if not you'll end up damaging the thing if everytime you drive it hard you redline it (or close too) just because thats the 'limit', for your own sake don't do it, but if you want to push it as hard as it can go then i suppose each to his own