RS_Matt

Took the car to DLM Auto services in Darlington today for an Harvey Smith up-pipe fitting, I took a pic of the fitted pipe (just for progress threads) and a few people on facebook and one on here have said it's been poorly fitted.



I thought I heard something break off under the engine and hit the underside of the car hard as soon as we got it back on the road but I'm no Subaru expert, does it look normal? Looks to be a nut missing and someone says it's all been bonded with black silicone.

stringostar

i have an upipe and mine looks the same.. there is a nut missing off the stud on the right hand side, where the bracket is.. they are a stupid thread size, like a 10mm metric fine! also, feel the black gunky stuff... if its hard, then its black exhaust paste.. if its rubbery, then its silicon sealant.... wont hurt the car if it is sealant..

RS_Matt

Good stuff! When you're not as clued up as most on the mechanical side you worry about everything.
I don't think I could get a nut on the stud anyway now as it looks threaded to hell.

stringostar

the problem i ad with mine is the nut to the left of the one which is missing on yours, on mine was missing.... i couldnt find a nut to fit, so i got some vice grips, unwound it, and put a nut n bolt thru.... from what i rememeber all that bracket does it keeps the turbo rigid... but to be honest, mine hasnt got the bracket on and it runs fine...

shep_UKSpec

iTrader: (3)

They have a bracket on the otherside aswell so I wouldn't worry mate, I'm sure if we are all honest we have all had that random bolt left over we can't work out where it came from lol

maydew

iTrader: (9)

in pic looks like its sheared off? thats a support brackets to help the turbo move with the engine if remember there one either side without them you may crack the headers/up pipe/studs or get a gasket leak.


as for the sealer not somethin i would use so close to the turbo have they used this on the 2 up pipe joints under the turbo?

subaru squash metal gaskets are generally fit and forget.

edit in pic looks like sealer been used underturbo too i would replace it to be fair

RS_Matt

Yeah looks it. I chose Harvey's garage to do it because I thought they'd be the best.



Has any one else had an up-pipe fitted at Harvey Smith's garage?

Mrchips

iTrader: (7)

+1 to having metal gasket fitted, looks a bit two bob using sealant.

maydew

iTrader: (9)

generally never heard anythin bad of them but standards can slip.
and not staying you cannot use sealer there just myself and many others would not as this gets very hot plus subaru do 3 very good metal gaskets for the job which everybody uses, and as a professional company they should advise this as a minimum.

have they reused the old gaskets and stuck silicone to them?

maydew

iTrader: (9)

gaskets oem
turbo
http://www.importcarparts.co.uk/part...en=&searchKey=

up pipe to turbo
http://www.importcarparts.co.uk/part...en=&searchKey=

headers to up pipe
http://www.importcarparts.co.uk/part...en=&searchKey=

RS_Matt

Didn't ask. I read somewhere a while back Harvey Smith's fitters reuse the old gaskets if possible. so I presumed they would.

maydew

iTrader: (9)

have they also re used old studs and has that one snapped off so you can no longer get a nut on it .if so take the car back and get them to put it right

RS_Matt

The one that looks sheered off looks new. It's not rusty or anything.

The garage is 78 miles away! I'll email Harvey the pic, see if it's just something they do.

maydew

iTrader: (9)

to be fair after the turbo yes you can get away with it but before the turbo no i would never re-use mine,

1.why go to the expense of paying over £100 plus fitting for a part to reuse old gaskets and do half a job.in my opinion you may as well kept the factory up pipe .bit like changing the oil but leave the oil filter till next time
2. if they going to leak its always at the up pipe
3.using silicone on a joint as you tighten up it oozes out and so also oozes inwards...........sitting under the turbo hummmmmmmmm
4.hope the silicone is lambda safe.

maydew

iTrader: (9)

might be pic but other ones look rusty on top,do the other one that is sheered look shiny because its sheers do the threads look new?

i read harvey was really ill so not sure you will get a reply

RS_Matt

Actually the other bolts when zooming in on the pic look very old and rusty. The nut and stud must have broke clean off if it was fitted.

maydew

iTrader: (9)

imagine that what happened , to remove ideally whole lot needs to be removed , surprised they didnt stick that back on with black silicone there with it oozing out the sides lol lol lol

if you dont mind me asking how much was total supply/fit

RS_Matt

It was £214, £75 fixed price fitting.



Looks like it was probably over-tightened and broke off the first bump I hit. Something did make a noise under the bonnet when we first set off then hit the underside of the car. I just presumed a stone had flicked up.

maydew

iTrader: (9)

take it back and tell the tight f..ckers to stop penny pinching, for price of new gaskets and studs they should be fitted
studs are couple quid to buy with nuts and makes the job look professional .

you should of brought the standard sti up pipe off here for around £35 quid as there more than up to the job mate

my94wrx

iTrader: (4)

strange that the up-pipe wasn't fitted with new studs as i am sure the price Harvey quotes includes the studs, as for the gaskets/sealant its false economy to re use the up-pipe gaskets due to the work required to redo the job if they blow and using sealant before the turbo is risky also.

RS_Matt

TBH there's quite a lot of thread still left so it can't have broke off just like that, it must have unscrewed itself first then broke off.

Just got to find a nut that will fit back on the stud if the threads are still ok, they do look a bit battered though.

RS_Matt

Just got the car out of the garage to have a better look and the black stuff is like a black grease, the studs are actually new, the old ones are still in the original cat up-pipe.

I found a nut but it would only go on the stud at an angle. I don't really know what to do now.

dunx

iTrader: (3)

I thought this one was quick enough already ?

dunx

P.S. It's not worth worrying about, if it aint leaking, get it's head kicked in !

antdye2008

I have had an upipe and turbo fitted by Darren at DLM and have not had a problem with there work he has done for me.
He came highly recommended a few years back and i always use him now. Iam sure if you have any concerns he will be more than happy to help you.

RS_Matt

More of a precautionary mod for the turbo!

The reason I took it all the way to Darlington is that I've heard brilliant things about Harvey and his crew but 160 miles is a long way to go and get a bolt put back on, especially if it going to come off in 2 minutes of driving like the last one.

I just hope someone can get a new stud in the up-pipe without having to reinstall it all again. My local knowledgeable Subaru garage AET wanted around £370 for fitting.

Maz

iTrader: (34)

Get down to Richard Henry Autos 01274 732508. Given the service you've had and the prices you've paid you'll be pleasantly surprised!

harvey

iTrader: (48)

I find this quite sickening.

If you had any doubts or concerns about the work done, the intelligent thing to have done would have been to pick up the phone to Darren rather than start trial by Scoobynet.
You will struggle to find anyone as helpful and obliging as Darren and to suggest the uppipe was not fitted properly from photos on Facebook.................
I do not know anyone who is likely to fit more uppipes than Darren and in the event of any problem he would want to rectify that.
Just what do you think you are doing?

You were supplied with a new, stainless steel, slip jointed, pupose designed uppipe, DEI heat wrapped with 5 NEW Subaru Studs. £139. Fitted for a fixed price of £75.
Does that not represent good value for money???? Lots of people seem to think so.

Clearly some real experts on here that know far more about these things than Darren or me.
By all means, make arrangements to bring it back, we can refit your old and give you a 100% refund.

Darren and I both go out of our way to help everyone, often beyond what is required and even when little or no money is being spent but this is just a total scunner. We are not greedy and try to give best value for money to fellow Subaru enthusiasts. Maybe we should increase prices, save our time and hand over to maydew, the "experts" and facebook.

RS_Matt

The picture was first posted in my progress thread, then on facebook where some local tuners questioned it, I only queried the missing nut thinking it was normal, this didn't need a phone call - just a new nut! but when others posters on here queried everything about the fitment I thought I better double check with the knowledgeable Subaru tech guys on here.
Also I was only asking initially if the pipe was fitted correctly, not criticising, I thought the missing nut might have been to improve how the pipe sits. I did email you with the pic but got no answer. (still haven't in fact.) I only put it on here because someone said my headers may crack because of the missing nut and I needed to double check asap, if so it would have been unwise to go 80 miles back for a re-fit.

I wasn't going to mention this and it's another big factor in not taking the car back, my car has new scratches down one side of it after leaving it at your garage. I can produce pictures of those too.

EDIT: Given the price you quote and what's included did I get the black sealant free?

Myles

iTrader: (40)

Uh-oh. Popcorn at the ready.

RS_Matt

I honestly didn't think I needed to phone, but when people started pointing out just how badly it had been fitted I kinda thought it would be wrong phoning up other than to complain.