My "00" classic is still pressuring the coolant whist on boost, only a little bit but i would like it fixed. No signs of overheating, no sign of oil and water mixing but I suspect head issues, engine is a uk phase 2. Car has about 69/70,000 miles currently I'm guessing I need both heads skimmed and both blocks skimmed? oversize head gaskets? . Hopefully figure out why it went once the engine is apart? I'm right in thinking I need to have work done to the bottom end whist it's apart as its common to "go" after head work? What sort of figure should I be looking to pay to get this work carried out? Or would you suggest I buy a v6/7/8/9 engine as a replacement

 

Is she a keeper, because any way you slice it, it's the thick end of £3k for someone to do it right?

Although that said, if you can do some of the work yourself there is A LOT of money to be saved, If it were me I would take it out and find a good bottom end and bolt it up myself, easiest way for a diyer if you can find a good un.

 

i have the same problem mate. i kept bursting coolant hoses on my v3 import, and now i am at the stage where i really need to do my heads, 1 month before xmas,. i am unsure what to do with mine tbh, but i do need the car doing asap but not really got the funds to do a proper fix right now so what am thinking is just do the heads so i have the car back and then after xmas, replace the cam belt, water pump and tensioners ect or consider a sti engine swap. ????

 

I want a classic as a keeper, but maybe it's not best to invest too much into a turbo 2000, it's too good to break, I was hoping to get away with putting £1000 into mine engine and a tat more for an upgrade but 3k it would cheaper to buy a another car . Maybe it will be put in storage till I can find a donor car or come into some money.

 

mine wont cost me much to repair (it carnt ), am gonna take the engine out on wednesday with the help ov a mate, take the heads off. get them skimmed on thursday, replace heads with new gaskets and bolts, and replace engine, oil and coolant friday. (well thats the plan )
then am back up an running then i can decide what to do after xmas

 

The first time my V3 STI blew the head gaskets I did it myself with genuine Subaru gaskets & belt kit, but I didn't touch the bottom end eventhough it had 100K on it, as I'd changed the oil & filter every 3K. I drove it hard for over 20K with no problems & the bottom end is still fine sat up the corner of my garage, only removed it when I fitted a fully forged CDB to run over 450BHP. I'm not saying you can always get away with this, but if it's been looked after & you know the history it is possible. Not bad for a job which cost me under £500.

 

Cheers mate, I will give it a go,

 

Not too many get away with it, but your car your money.

 

I know a few other people who've got away with it but no one posts about it, you only hear about the ones that went **** up. I think if you know the car has had regular oil & filters with quality parts & the filter is always primed by cranking with the crank sensor disconnected, then you've a good chance of getting away with it. However it is a risk & you need to weigh up your options. At the time it was all I could afford & the car would have been broken if it didn't work. It ran 330BHP & I drove it like I stole it for another 20K, the bottom end still sits in my garage & I'd use it again if a project came my way. Iv still got the same V3 STI now running much more power but if I hadn't done a cheap job at the time it would be scrap now.

 

I'm assuming that all these folk with pressurised cooling systems have had h/g failure confirmed by a garage doing a sniff-test?