& I am one happy happy bunny

Picked up this afternoon from ScoobySport, so first off, thanks to Pete & the crew for returning PTMW! to me in good order and better than before

When the engine was taken out & split, as well as the bottom end bearing being fragments, it was found that the crank was damaged, #3 piston was cracked, #3 rod was damaged/bent as well the head having being knocked

Gotta say that if I "do" something I "do" it in style

This necessitated a new short engine + having the head skimmed to get it back straight, rather than the crank rebuild we thought it might be.

Today was the first day I could get down, so having to use Public Transport (bleagh) Pete picked me up from Chelmsford Station for the trip to Basildon - only 90 mins by train as opposed to 3 hrs if I had had to go to Basildon! No wonder the roads are busy...

Anyhow, once PTMW! started up & they went for a quick drive round the block, came back to check all was well & I was upstairs with Pete & Paul. They heard PTMW! idling, looked at one another, said "MAF Sensor", Paul reached for one & Chris (1 of the mechs) came up the stairs saying "Got a MAF sensor?"!! They'd all diagnosed it!

This is a possible cause of why it all went pop @ Brands As I understand it, not having the MAF sensor working allowed the ECU to think there was more fuel than there was in the injectors, which led to DET & one buggered engine was the result

Someone might answer that more correctly than I but tbh I'm just glad to have PTMW! back. If I'd had a KnockLink fitted (which I've just got from Buzzer's Group Buy!) then I would have seen lights a-plenty possibly allowing me to back off enough before damage was done.

So it would seem that a KnockLink is a good idea even if your car is not modified just in case your MAF goes...



One good thing, or one thing I'm happy with, that came of this is that, whilst the engine was out & 77.5K on the clock, thought it might be an idea to change the clutch, as it was bound to need it...

Clutch plate less than 1/3 worn Now that is pretty damn good after 77 and a half thousand miles, dozen plus trackdays, REVS shoutout, TOTB and Scooby Shootout drag runs I am not a ***** on road/track so it is all down to mechanical sympathy and good gear-changes

Ho-hum. Got a new engine & that means 1000 miles of gentle driving before I can play again. KnockLink will be finished fitting tomorrow, Lamda to follow, together with any other sensors I can get on. This was one F of an expensive MAF sensor to go wrong

However, I am well happy that PTMW! is back, in one piece, with a new engine, which should be good for a few miles yet

Once again, thanks to Pete & ScoobySport

PTMW! is BACK

 

weeee!! Now get on Planetside with us you goit!

 

Good stuff Puff.

What spec/power is your new lump then?

 

How long was your car away for?

 

The new short block is indeed a new short block, courtesy of (VISA & ) FHI/IM. Standard OE EJ20. Old heads.

Coulda gone big but that opens the large can of "expensive" worms

 

Good to hear you are back on the road

Tim

 

Happy for ya Puff

 

Great news Puff

 

Ballpark cost?

 

Pleased for you I bet it was nice to have it back so quickly

 

Good news Puff

That visa bloke handy to know

Deano

 

Nice one Just the boring running in process now I am shocked that a MAF sensor could do that damage but it makes sense If the MAF sensor failed I would expect to see the check engine light on the dash.

Paul

 

Every cloud has a silver lining

 

nice one puff after reading about maf problems time after time, I am wondering if subaru shouldnt have made this a service item, say at every 30-40k.

Richie.

 

...and how exactly was a dodgey MAF sensor diagnosed from listening to the idle? Was idle all over the place?

 

Glad to hear you are back with the car Puff. Its amazing how quickly the failed MAF can ruin a motor. I suppose being on the track made it happen quicker. A lesson for us all.

You are right, the Knock Link is worth its weight!

Les

 

It's always possible that MAF was faulty for quite a period of time, causing cumlative damage and giving little or no indication of a performance problem. And obviously the stresses of a track day would only make the problem worse.

It's only when it's linearity and accuracy degraded to the extent that it was causing a bad idle/running you would notice it was duff.

You would think with the amount of failures that occur, the dealers would have test euipment to make sure it's response and linearity was to manufactueres spec. And it would be a standrd service procedure to check this...then again - if the car is out of warrantee...it's only more money for them

I now await aload of people In the Technical sections saying "Your MAF sensor is duff." Whenever someone hints at a idle or running problem

 

I think, I for one, will be going to get a Knocklink and mabey a LamdaLink or similar...just to be safe

 

In order to add a few miles on PTMW to speed up the running in time are you coming to the Cambs meet this evening then ?

 

Good news in the end then Puff. I remeber your face at Brands as I was in the garage next door. When I saw your engine in pieces. It didn't look pretty I bet your m8 VISA has broad shoulders for the size of that bill

So now that PTMW is back on song will you be coming to the Ring at Easter??

 

Happy to hear it Puff!

I get mine back tomorrow

 

Hi John what's happened to your motor then??

 

It went bang, couple of days before PTMW did.

 

 

If you don't mind me asking; in what region was the size of the bill ?

 

Why does everyone want to know the cost?

Suffice to say that the figure was in excess of £2000 but less than £4000 and I reckon that I got very good value for money from ScoobySport against alternatives/dealers

Bottom line is that it is not an expense that I wish to re-incur & for the price of a KnockLink, I'd not wish on anyone else.

TaviaRS

Sorry to hear about yours too m8 Probably cheaper to fix than mine & I recko it might've been a bit more stressed than mine wer Glad you're getting it back.



I've put it back to standard today from its Track Day prep (cage out, seats in etc) & fitted the KnockLink. The bugger is that I can't adjust the KL properly until I've run the engine in LamdaLink next

Been driving it around a bit too - 800 to go

 

just leave the knocklink set to max.

The ECU learns around a faulty MAF as it degrades, it's only when you do an ECU reset (by leaving the battery disconected whilst the engine was out in PUFFs case most likely) that you get the poor idle, unless it has a total failure. It's always a good idea if you suffer an engine failure to replace the MAF and also do a fuel presure/flow test to check the fuel pump, as a common reason for engine failure on these cars is related to one of these two areas.

Glad you are back up and running James.

 

I was interested in a ballpark figure to weigh up the advantages of keeping warranty intact. A real world figure like this is much better than the numerous estimates dotted around the place. Why do you want to keep the cost secret If its low then good advert for Scoobysport, if its high then you will get a lot of nobbers saying how xyz would do the repair for half the price, without knowing the parts required , but you already said "I reckon that I got very good value for money" so why worry?

 

...and how was MAF diagnosed from listening to idle?

 

read two posts up!

The idle goes to pot (hunts up and down) after an ECU reset when the MAF fails.