chewystickypeanut

Sorry to be so blunt but I am rally concerned over my engine. Its a 2.5 hawkeye 56 plate STi and I have noticed that the engine temp gets bloody hot-just under the H mark with normal driving. It goes down a little but kinda bounces all over the place. In any other car I have owned this would be bad news and seeing as i have only had the car six days i am hoping that this might be normal? i used the intercooler spray to cool it down which seemed to work but the temp kept creeping up a lot

do i have anything to worry about? (fingers tightly crossed here)

petethemeat

iTrader: (6)

It should be around the 1/2 mark , it is on my bug and has been on every other car I have driven.

Be very careful driving it until this is sorted, something is definitely wrong and should be rectified. How is your coolant level?

Did you buy from a garage , any kind of warranty ?

chewystickypeanut

its got a 12 month warranty thankfully. was hoping it would be the norm in these cars!

gonna take it for a test drive on the motorway and see what happens then call the garage tomoro but the service has been **** since i bought it so could be in for a long ordeal!

chopperman

Could be head gasket or thermostat.

ozbod1

on pritty much any car if it passes halfway theres a problem be it low coolant iffy thermostat/waterpump or whatever, as a rule if it gets near red its too late...take it straight back and get the garage to sort it....

RedScoob

Poss. head gasket? Maybe a bleeding issue? Just throwing some ideas around in case it rings a bell with someone.
Personally, I'd take it to an independent garage and get them to do a sniffer test on the coolant, as most friendly garages will do this for free. As above, check the coolant level first...

chewystickypeanut

Well it looks bad!

Took it on the motorway for a junction, doing 30 on the way to the on amp the temp rose quickly, got on the motorway and the temp went down then as soon as i got off the motorway the temp hit just under the H. another wierd thing is whilst i was on the motorway the heater was blowing super hot, but when the car ws stopped it went cool again. Not bad after just six days of owning the thing!!!!!!!!

r1c

iTrader: (9)

What's the coolant level like?

scott181

Take it back fella

robw1468

iTrader: (2)

You need to get it to a garage quick , sounds like headgasket , take oil cap off and check for sludge same for oil dipstick and the rad cap , if the coolant has gone down and there are no leaks underneath then its deffo leaking into the engine and could sieze at any time , the reason it ran cooler on the motorway is more cool air getting into the rad area and cooling it down enough to keep it lower then at low speeds not enough cooler air to keep temps down , at the very least it could be airlocking , meaning air in the water system get it checked ASAP to be on the safe side
and good luck mate

Alan Jeffery

That sounds like a head gasket leak. The cylinder pressure being obviously higher than the water system will cause the water to blow out from the pressure cap into the expansion tank and out of the overflow pipe.
If the heater is blowing cold, it's because there isn't enough water in the system.
Personally, I wouldn't drive it any further and I'd contact the garage immediately.

chewystickypeanut

Well on further investigation the news isnt great.

The clear plastic coolant bottle on the front right of the engine definatly looks to have oil in the water. in fast there is black sludge stuck on the inside of the bottle and underneath it is wet. if you touch the under side of the bottle you can feel the water and the undertray and front subframe is wet. Thank god its under warranty but the only downside is they use a contracted fleet garage and not someone who knows about these cars. taylor motors is up the road so once it is fixed il get him to check the work out.
trying not to stress about it but it is gutting to have the car for six days and this to happen. i knew it would take time to trust a car like this that could have so many things go wrong to it and this has not done me any favours. Starting to miss my Civic type R again :-(

ozbod1

would have been painfull if you didnt have a warranty...that would take the sting out of it for me, scoobs dont have a weak head or gasket so more than likely, prev owner/s drove it with a failed water pump, blew the gasket-car went to auction-car dealer bought it and sold it to you.....or along those lines....like you say its well worth taking it to a good garage after and get it proper checked over while you have a warranty....it can happen to any car my mrs type r needed a head gasket@ 45k so.....

chewystickypeanut

true, just dreading having to deal with the dealer again. fantastic service up tothe point where they took my money then it has been dire from that point. we bought two cars that day too and both have had problems. the clio renaultsport has electrical issues and now mine has died. they cant even return a phone call so it is gonna be fun tomoro. The dealership is 3 miles away so should be fun getting it there!

chopperman

Actually head gasket issues are common on the early hawkeyes and a few 07 cars have suffered. Subaru revised the gasket to solve the problem and in most cases it worked. Fitting quality 11mm head studs is the way forward.

chewystickypeanut

Well the AA man has just left. It failed the sniff test and its definatly one of the head gaskets. There is only oil in the front right bottle so he said the damage might not be too bad but its gonna be almost impossible to get all the oil out the engine. He has advised to get rid of it.........devastated! didnt help that he is a civic type R driver which rubbed salt in the wound. Tomorow is going to be a long day! dreading having to deal with the dealership!

chopperman

You have only had it for 6 days. Take it back and demand your money back. Dont drive it there as they could accuse you of causing more damage. Make them recover it.

chewystickypeanut

Thing is I really want to have the car fixed. I've really fallen for it even after this. Just nervous about who's gonna be fixing it...will see tomoro what they say

scott181

Well you have only had car 6 days I would ask for money back . And if thay don't u need to report them .

chopperman

You could always ask him for some money back so you can get the engine fixed by a specialist. Forged pistons, new bearings, 11mm head studs would be about 3-3.5k but then it will be rock solid. If he says no chuck the car back at him and look for another.

360ste

iTrader: (1)

Agree money back then go looking again.

RICHARD J

iTrader: (4)

Don't keep it this is probably just the start of your problems. Even after repair it will probably just be another Scooby money pit. Demand a full refund & get advice from trading standards.

Bean1984

iTrader: (3)

Get shot of it mate. When a car starts to go wrong it will always go wrong mate. Theres loads of other scoobs out there

TonyBurns

iTrader: (3)

Prosport, 0161 432 9999, I wouldnt take my Subaru anywhere else (plus Pete will do the job properly and not just stick some new gaskets on).

Tony

TonyBurns

iTrader: (3)

Oh and name and shame the dealer

Tony

petethemeat

iTrader: (6)

The clock is ticking - if you foresee problems with the work etc then while you have the law on your side get it taken back . Is it sale of goods act that means you can reject an item in a given time period?

If they are as bad as you are thinking they will be you will save a stressful LONG drawn out process. A friend of mine had his bottom end go through no fault of his own , despite having warranty the garage ducked and dived every which way and resorted to underhand tactics to prevent them fixing though warranty. Not saying your place will be the same but any sniff of a situation like you have mentioned and I would be trying to hand it back.

cster

See if you can get your money back.
It is not like you have had time to fall in love with the car.
I have an 06 STI and spent a couple of grand on the HGs, which the guy did wrong and then another 3K getting a rebuild.
The **** who did the HGs also damaged the transmission, which to this day is unresolved.
Get your money back.

Tidgy

money back, your talking tfour figures to get put right properly, and simply put it aint worth the hassel.

plenty of cars out there, give us a budget and sure folks can come up with some cracking cars for ya

chocolate_o_brian

iTrader: (22)

Classic headgasket symptoms that my friend

My honest opinion? Take the car back. You have every right under the sun given your circumstances. 6 days is nothing, and with a 12 month warranty you have even more impetous to get your money back. Mention trading standards and local papers if necessary but most of all be polite and make notes of anything they say incase you need the evidence. Hopefully it won't come to that but the best way is to have as much info. as possible. There are many, many other subarus out there for you to also fall in love with, don't fall into the trap of putting your trust in an obvious money pit. Scoobs are bad enough for that when they are working right

Good luck.

chewystickypeanut

Well off to a great start, rang the dealer at 9.00 this morning and got the "i will call you straight back".......still waiting.

Your feedback has given me a lot to think about. I don't think the risk is worth it to trust them to fix the car unless they tell me its going to a specialist. Praying they agree to take it to prosport but its doubtful when they can get it "repaired" at trade cost......

Might be back on the market for a car today....:-(