I regulally hear tales of low mileage scoobies of all types constantly blowing up engines normally due to a failure on the third piston. On a recent visit to a tuner I noticed three scoobies all in for engine rebuilds and after making enquiries I discovered that all three cars had melted piston No 3. One of the owners of one of the scoobies was spending an absolute fortune on his rebuild with Cosworth pistons and numerous other upgraded parts but when I asked the tuner if this engine would suffer the same fate he told me that this was highly likely because these engines are sh1t !
My question is this: How many people on here have been running high boost (over a bar) and how long have you done so for ? Is there a way to ensure that these engines last ?

Im very worried about melt down on piston number 3,infact Ive removed the sparkplug from that cylinder to help slow down the inevitable!

I was at a tuner a couple of years back who said the same thing about the engines. At the time I was looking to move up to a WRX/STIIV or V . What they were doing back then was changing the pistons to Cosworth items and also fitting uprated fuel pumps.

I had heard so many people having problems that I changed my mind and bought something else.

Still miss the sound of that flat four though!

Mine a FLAT 3..........
It ticks over more smoothly with the plug out!

On a more serious note how many motors where made/how many fcked up think about it.

My car a JDM MY00 has run 1.2bar (standard) since I had it with 5 miles on the clock. I have the oil changed (silkolene pro s 10W50)every 2000 miles (equates to about 6 months) and only run optimax and booster. A lot problems with engines letting go seen to be either low quality fuel related, oil related, maf realted or constant high speed driving (well in excess on 100mph for some distance) then suddenly lifting of. Again the high speed driving woudl put more strain on the oil. If you want to be confident then you need a few guages fitted to allow you to see whats going on. Oil temp, oil pressure, turbo boost, knocklink and EGT.

There are other alternatives as well uprated oil pump, fuel pump.

Due to reading about problems I have left my downpipe cat on, its noisy enough as it is and I dont think it will gain a lot, and due to the gearing it pulls like a train from 2000rpm to the redline anyway :D

MY99 86k boom...

Piton No2 though :eek: (just like to be a bit different) :D

STi3 92K miles, running like a dream.

<touching all available wood>

sipie, what mods did you have?

I am a huge fan of the scooby even though I drive an RS Turbo. My car is a 2ltr with modified head/cam etc..and once run in will see 230 bhp. I know my car doesn't sound like a scooby, it doesn't grip like a scooby and it doesn't have the superb acceleration exiting corners like the scooby but even with a hard life I know my engine is going to last for at least 50-80k miles and after that it's only going to cost around a grand to rebuild it. It must be a constant worry when you own a scooby knowing that if the engine does fail then you're looking at big bucks for a rebuild. This was the reason that I didn't buy a scooby or a Cosworth even though the Cosworth must be cheaper to rebuild than the scooby. I guess the thing to do is buy from a dealer and make sure that the engine is covered under the warranty ?

MY00 UK Car, 75k Miles and growing every day. Never had a single problem with the engine or with the car.

Si

Peccy..not many :( The problem was caused by the HT lead not firing leading to a built up of fuel which eventually went with a big bang when a spark did get through :eek:

Managed 38K on standard MY99, piston no.2 went bye bye...SiPie, you are not alone!! Since then, rebuild Tek2 full decat 25K miles and not a hint of trouble!!

Cheers Kenny... Just a backbox and downpipe...

.....but don't forget that pesky ITG filter (let's not start that debate again :rolleyes: ) which may just have had something to do with the fact that the MAF was on it's way out again [img]images/smilies/mad.gif[/img]

MY00 43k and all is well (Or so it seems ;) )

Apart from the high speed cruising and lift off phenomenon, i wonder how many of these third piston type problems happen after the engine has been ragged? You know, not just accelerating hard out of a bend or out of a junction, i mean revved all the way to the limiter all of the time, really straining the engine unnecessarily. I hear scoobs around my neighbourhood and you can tell who appreciates thier scoob and the prats who have to do everything at full revs. I'm convinced those are the cars that let go.
I know at least 20 people very well who own scoobs and over the past three years, only one of them has had an engine let go and that was Velryba experiencing the high speed cruising thing. A few clutches have needed a bit of attention but apart from that, i think used properly, the engine is as sound as any other. Abused then of course it will eventually fail.
All IMHO. By the way, i'm not saying that all engine problems are the drivers fault ;)

Mikey :cool:

Thanks for the replies

chrisp (or anyone) , im about to buy my first impreza. You list some gauges and a knocklink and other bits and bobs. I am a cautious man at heart , would these be advisable for me to get to keep a close eye on the engine and potentially avoid some expensive situations.

thanks
brett

There have been big threads on here before about this going into much detail about causes..from lack of air going trough the scoop throught to oil related stuff. If I remember rightly no conclusion was reached. No3 is the one that usually does let go.

STI5's are very prone to it. For me they are my ultimate scoob. But most of the ones I have seen in bits at engine builders and come to think of it the one that had packed up at Goodwood (Charity Day)after an engine rebuild was an STI 5.

Anyone got any links to those old posts - RE engine failures

Steve

I think Mikey has got it right. high performance engines like a modified Scoob are very susceptible to eventual problems if they are not treated with a bit of respect. Once they have been tweaked up the safety margins are reduced and if settings etc are not right than troubles will soon surface. If you dont have the basic add-ons like a Knock Link, AFR metering,boost gauge etc then you could easily be into the weak mixture/detonation band without knowing it. Thats when the pistons melt and the big ends go! No 3 cylinder is subject to higher temperatures due to the engine layout and therefore is more likely to detonate.

The way an engine is treated makes a big difference. If you let it warm up properly before you wind it up, change the oil and filter evry 3K miles, and dont have it on the rev limiter on every gear change, it will just keep going and you dont actually gain in performance by ragging the backside off it.

Les

IMHO it could be down to poor servicing procedure and bearing wipe. The oil filter isn't filled properly or not at all, on the dealer service and the damage is done. The car goes well until ragged or high speed cruise then pop.

Probably not all the cases but a fair proportion. I can bet that an engineer on a tight time schedule won't wait as he carefully fill the new oil filter before fitting like you or I might.

F

Has the No 3 thing anything to do with piston slap on the same one?

My MY97 lasted 30K, was replaced by the main dealer because of the piston slap (for free - thankfully).

Previous owner was a women who did alot of local miles, if that has anything to go by.

Personally my opinion is engine life is directly related to servicing, cold starts, and how the owner thrashes it. Redlining every now and again is OK, as is the odd Full throttle launch etc. But on a regular basis its not - on any engine. Or gearbox / clutch for that matter too.

Also the drivers ability to detect bad running and miss-fires etc. As driven for any period running badly will do more harm than good.

I add emphasis on servicing - always do it - properly no matter how little miles you cover. I've seen engines (not scoobs - yet) cover 20K without any servicing for just 18months, and are essentially wrecked. Same goes for engines that have covered only 4K in 5 years

hmmm, Seems to contradict my Lightweight V8 Landy. 1971 Rover V8 engine, Thrashed most of the time when off-roading, 1 oil change in 14 years, filled up with sludge, and 5psi max oil pressure when hot - 1psi when idle!! Still goes though - covered 120 miles in it this year.

[Edited by ALi-B - 2/11/2003 5:38:38 PM]