Engine rebuilds - Something to be worried about?
 

I've been trawling the adds on pistonheads for an 03-05 STI and from time to time you do see mention of receipts for full engine rebuilds. Now, I could take this as a number of things...

- Someone with a spare bit of cash refreshing a leggy engine
- Someone who's engine went pop after too much abuse and have no choice but to rebuild
- The WRX/STI engines aren't as strong as I'd originally hoped

So, which is it? All of the above? I don't mind the odd big bill but a 4 figure rebuild would just be a total killer. Should I be worried or am I reading into engine rebuilds too much?

Cheers.

To many poorly modded cars , not looked after properly, thrashed to death and not maintained.

I am on my third and have never had a break down far less an engine rebuild!

Although my engine was in tip top condition, I got mine re-built.....just because I wanted more power. Nothing sinister, mine gets well looked after, but I wanted a rebuild to push the limits more.

Mine ( early bugeye ) decided to wear it's valve guides, so a forged rebuild will take me from mid 400's to ?

Once run-in and mapped !

dunx

P.S. One long faster corner on a track and it could be history... mine ran 2+ bar of boost and held together fine, trackwork as well.

Usually it is a bottom end gone.
Usually it is down to poor maintenace or mods not mapped in ect.

I will stick my neck out and say these engine are more delicate than many. Therefore you reallly need to keep ontop of oil levels, servicing, warming up and cooling down.
Many with a lightly moded car that have been well mapped and many with standard engines suffer no problems at all if they are sensible and thorugh about how they look after the car.

If you go for bigger power and give it autobahn/track abuse then yes. Engines will need to be pulled every now and then. My engine is being pulled now at 15k, I had a bit of bad luck but accept that is what happens sometimes with high powered cars. But then any car at big power levels will have its weaknesses and cost a alot to run. Just pick your poision subaru, evo ect.

So dont let engine rebuild put you off
Just check the following.
Do these three things stack up YES or NO
1. Who did the rebuild - are they a known name APi, Clinic ect ect
2. Who did the mapping is it a known name Bob R, Pat H ect ect
3. Is the owner a coherent contentious guy with a fair bit of knowledge. Or a dribbling chav

If not walk away...actualy run :D

I see a lot of scoobys for sale that have recently had a rebuild.
I can't help wonder why someone would spank all that money on a rebuild and then sell the car unless the rebuild didn't quite work out.

i think a car thats had a rebuild from a reputable company would be a good car to buy.....

Sorry to hijack this post,
But ive just bought a 01 Bugeye WRX its got a ninja exhaust and a pipercross filter on it, i dont think its been remaped.
Ive noticed a few of you mentioned that its important to get the car mapped when modding, is it something i should be worried about? and if so what do i need to do?

Thanks

Jay

Hi Jay

Has have fitted Induction kit or just panel filter?If its panel filter you don't need remap,if you have fitted induction kit you will need remap...

About the Ninja exhaust,depends if its Catback or Turbo back,if its catback i would suggest you don't need remap,if its turboback(turbo back means you have decatted downpipe)you will be OK without the remap,but if you want little bit more power remap will be best bet.

Jura

i had mine rebuilt to low compression, 2004 sti, valve seats had worn and had very low compression in cylinder 4 (around 35 psi) , still drove and boosted fine funnily enough but decided to get rebuilt sooner rather then later, fully forged it whilst it was all apart for peace of mind.

Thanks for the responses guys. I will be looking for a standard STI if I can help it so I guess a rebuild should never come into it.

I'm still researching things to look out for so I'll be well prepared when it comes to buying so any help in invaluable to me. Thanks again.

I've got an 03 version 8 JDM 2.0 STi for sale just now. Low miles and with an engine / gearbox warranty. Standard -ish car. Taxed and tested ready to go.

Call me for pics or further details by Pm [ Private message system on here ]

David APi

01926 614333

Cheers mate, but I wouldn't have the money together just yet. Hopefully in 6 months I'll be ready to buy. Thanks all the same though.