Viewing this tomorrow - opinions on engine bay, possibly issues?
 

I'm going to see a very tidy looking UK300 tomorrow afternoon. The owner sounds like he knows what he's talking about and has looked after the car, however, this photo of its engine raises a couple of concerns which I hope someone who knows the cars could help me with.

First, as was spotted in another thread, the oil bottle behind the left headlight. Not something you'd carry in the car unless it was burning/leaking oil? I guess there could be a reasonable explanation too, I intend to ask about it.

Secondly, the aircon pulley (I think - has a triangular plate, on the right under the belt guard) appears to be quite dirty - possibly oily, which may relate to the first issue. Could something in that area be leaking oil? If it was a head gasket issue, could oil drip down there? (I know very little about the layout of these engines so that might be a silly question).

I know its hard from a photo, but is there anything else that jumps out as odd? Obviously it has an induction kit of some kind and the extra lead from the battery is for a towbar, but its the possible oil leak that concerns me.

Any advice would be very very helpful!

http://i.ebayimg.com/t/Subaru-Imprez...cR!~~60_57.JPG

You'll probably find it's more rust than oil. But have a good feel over it. The head gasket sits pretty much underneath that so I doubt it would contaminate this pulley if the head gasket was leaking - there is a head gasket the other side too of course!

Non standard blow off valve fitted by the look of it (bottom right corner on the TMIC)
With regards to the oil can, It's not an ideal place to store one I guess, but then where else can you put one? There isn't really anywhere decent in the boot.

Ok, so it may burn some oil, but then the owner is clearly keeping it topped up.....one hopes.
But if thats a Fuch's label I can see on the bottle, then he's using good stuff.

They best was to check would be to take off the engine undertray and put it on a ramp and use a very bright torch to see for any leaks of any kind. - Not ideal with a private sale, but could be worth it for peace of mind.

I always carry oil in mine to check and top up if needed, easier than digging it out each time i use it. So dont see a bottle being an issue, ask him if it uses much oil. Some do a bit which isn't a problem, some dont use any, its only whne there burnign alot its a worrying sign. I cant see him leving hte can there while driving, may well have topped it up and put it down while he took the pic.

The pully looks rusty, whch is totaly normal.

As said the red wire is none standard, as well as the blow off valve. But red wire could be any number of things, none of which are untoward, again ask.

From that pic i can't see anything that would worry me (assuming oil question is ok)

You have doubts so leave it there.If you buy it the Subaru paranoia will kick in. Keep looking there are plenty for sale out there.

It has a towbar, so I assume the lead off the battery is for that - it looks heavy duty and fused at least. Good spot on the blowoff valve, I never have picked up on that as it looks fairly OEM. Do they tend to burn oil? and if they do, is it anything to be concerned about? (I realise that's a very difficult question without knowing why its burning it!)

What's he been towing? Ask that too.

I'm fully prepared to walk away if the answers I get don't satisfy me - as you say there are loads about for sale, I'm just especially interested in this as its a low-miles UK300 with ppp. If its sound, it'd be a same to pass on it due to possibly unwarranted paranoia :)

My standard STi Spec D burns some oil, but it's not rediculous. Perhaps a 150ml slug every few weeks. I have no leaks, but then mine is a 2.5 so I'm hoping it's not a chocolate piston ring.

Have a good listen on COLD start up for rattles etc. If he's warmed it up already, maybe walk away.

Also, I'm always a bit jubious if someone has just cleaned and engine before sale. May be innocent just to tidy it up, but may not be.

Good point! He said he's only done 25,000m in his 5 years of owning it, but if its been a workhorse then that's as good as 50,000!

I say after a good look / listen etc, take it on a long test drive. A roads, B roads, motorway. You're the one parting with the cash, so he shouldn't mind a decent drive. Maybe offer to but a fiver in the tank if the fuel is low.

Listen for rear suspension noise. Soooo common on Subaru's. It's the grease inside the inner struts which dries out and causes knocking - my NSR one does it.

There are grease nipple mods on here which seem to sort that out without buying new struts.

From what he said its recently had new rear shocks (along with a few other bits and bobs) so hopefully no issues there - like I say, he seems to have looked after it properly but I'm concerned about missing something through not being familiar enough with the cars - thanks for the tips, all very helpful!

have a good read through any paperwork and check all fluid levels (inc gearbox-dipstick is just down by the intercooler)

look for smoke from the exhaust (on tick-over aswell as boost)

I think a lot of it relies on common sense and gut feeling.
You're being cautious so that's a good thing. Good luck with the viewing, and let us all know how it went.

Try and find someone local who knows what to look for .I would imagine there must be quite a few in your area on here.

Its a bad time of the year for judging smoke from the exhaust, unless it's black! I agree about paperwork though, go for receipts and invoices, more important than the service book IMHO.

Engine bay looks like its just been washed.. look at all the droplets of water on the blue pipe and on the black plastic...

was warned by my late father to watch out for carts with too clean engine bays.... why have they been cleaned??

this added to the oil bottle.. and suspected air pump pully... might have a leak somewhere which he is trying to hide.

Vik

Not necessarily the engine bay, he might have just jet washed the whole car (assuming he sent other pics not just the engine bay) and some water has leaked in.

I'd be equally interested in what it's like underneath, especially the front subframe, etc. Have a darned good look. Bugs can rust like mad:

https://www.scoobynet.com/general-te...ame-query.html

That red cable I would say is powering an external amp in the boot, you can see the fuse carrier just towards the back, when installing a tow bar you don't need to run any extra power wires they just crimp on to he existing wires at the back of the car, basically it just replicates what is happening such as lights on, indicators on etc.

I must admit the just-washed look made me suspicious too, but from the other photos its obvious the car has just been washed, so I'm giving it the benefit of the doubt til I see it.

ouch... exactly the kind of situation I don't want to end up in! I'll make sure I wear my sensible head and don't get swept up in the excitement...

hm, interesting... another question to ask there then!

Just don't jump in for the first car you see mate, there are literally bucket loads of Scoobies for sale at the moment and because the market is so crap for sellers, you can take your time and get a good one at an equally awesome price! :thumb:

If it were me and truth be known I'd probably not even go and see it, just because there is so many on the market right now; so you can be very picky at a low budget and be patient...

I know what you're saying, but I also think you could probably pick fault and find 'possible' issues with 90% of the cars on auto-trader before you actually go and look at them, if you spend enough time thinking about it!

If you don't mind us asking, what is your budget bud? And are you looking for wrx, sti or some other limited model in particular? And have you priced insurance for each of the models your interested in to see how they compare against each other? Or is that not a concern to you?

I don't mind at all! Budget is around £4k and I'm looking for a newage WRX - partly for insurance reasons and partly because the STIs within budget don't seem to be in as good condition as the WRXs (higher miles, lots of mods or just tatty). I'm not especially after a special edition, but the UK300 has the advantage of the prodrive extras which improve the look but are classed as 'standard' by insurers. I don't want anything too modified, but a STI spoiler would be nice ;)

Well... I took the plunge! The seller answered all my questions - the oil bottle was there as it was parked up on the family farm and if he didn't keep it out of sight it'd end up in a tractor! Towbar is a Subaru item, fitted early in its life and he'd hardly used it. Cable off the battery was for an amp which had since been removed.

It's not without it's issues, but none of them are what I'd deem serious. It's getting a full valet tomorrow so I'll probably put up a 'my new car' thread once I've got some photos!

Thanks to everyone for the advice and especially Hawkeye D for his input via email

welcome to the subaru fold matey,what issues are they? make sure the fuse has been removed from that amp power cable and trace it back to the boot to see what he has left the connections like,if its still live and he has left bare wires you dont want them touching the metal of the car

I would be more concerned about the induction system, the PPP uses the std air box, changing to that system, which looks like a K & N Typhoon, has deviated from the PPP spec, so what else, if it is different in other ways as well then it will not be running as prodrive intended when they put the upgrade on it. So it should have been mapped, or if not then checked to see if it does need it.

Low mileage cars are hard to come by but suggest you tread carefully and ask all the right questions.

cheers

bob

i find that kind of funny cause the guy washed the car sum people are suspicious would u prefer the car to be black as f**k and coverd in dirt when u go to see it then then u would think he doesnt give a **** about it and never washes itl lol just what i think personally like

Bit of a squeak from the PS on full lock which went away after it warmed up, hopefully just needs the belt adjusting or replacing. The lenses on the sidelights are both cracked, I didn't notice that til after I got it home and it got dark - not visible at all in daylight! I've a feeling they might be tricky to replace, being the prodrive items. Other than that it just needs a good clean inside - outside is virtually spotless, it drives *really* nicely too :D

The cable for the amp is off the battery now and tucked away in the engine bay - no fear of live wires!