Gordo

P1 had it's 45k service just before Christmas (full transmission oils, cam belt, cam belt tensioner) - just under 500 miles and less than 2 weeks later the engine started making alarming noises on the way home (first high rev overtake - other half is pregnant so it's been mostly motorway travel since the service) - Mondial chap and the dealership both believe it's an internal engine issue and serious ('possibly a piston hitting valves').

We won't know for certain what it is until later next week (holidays meaning the garage won't get round to it until then).

The garage has so far indicated they think it'll be covered by warranty (thank goodness for the extended warranty!) - but it's got me thinking - it doesn't seem right that this has happened so soon after a major service - it feels like the engine going pop was exactly what we were looking to avoid by changing the cam belt. The Mondial chap suggested it could be the cambelt jumping a tooth (tensioner fitted badly?).

Presumably if I didn't have the warranty I'd be chasing the garage - what mileage/time cover do you have following a service? i.e. if it had blown up on the way home following the service, that would clearly be their problem, right?

The garage have indicated they'll need me to green light the work to identify the problem - and believe it'll require and engine out and strip - anyone any experience of similar situations and what steps I should be taking? Garage has also said the warranty people will probably send out an engineer to inspect/confirm their diagnosis.

Gordo

andy97

iTrader: (1)

If you do a search on p1 blown engines, you might find that quite a few have blown up at around similar mileage to yours.

Api engines rebuild about 5 impreza engines a week- probably the best well known subaru engine builder in the country

Andy

banny sti

iTrader: (68)

Hi mate sorry to hear about the mishap. I had a very similar incident in my impreza a couple of years ago. I had a full service same as you fluids, cam belt etc. A day or so after gave the car some welly and it cut out. Lost power and steering assistance. After looking under the bonnet i saw it had chucked the drive belt. It only happened after the car had been to the dealers. I phoned the dealers immediately who came to my house investigated the problem and took the car away. The aftercare service from my local dealers ( R n Goldens) was exemplary they rectified the fault which could possibly have happened while the changed the cam belt and returned the car to my home address. My experience since then has been very good of them, but must stress these glitches can occur.

Regards Banny

banny sti

iTrader: (68)

point noted mate but i think in this case the dealer may well have had a hand in the demise of the engine.

mgcvk

Lots of P1's seem to be going pop shortly after service. There was a thread about it not long ago. At the risk of sounding like an **** and rousing PS Lewis, might be worth checking that your garage prefilled the oil filter and cranked up the pressure before starting etc.

RS Grant

Just need to be careful how you ask.. otherwise the response will be "yes, of course we did that" even if they have no idea what you are talking about.

Its irritating, however, the Warranty should cover this as long as no major mods have been done since the car was bought.


Cheers,
Grant

Gordo

thanks guys - I can't help but feel the garage is directly related to the problem (hence I'm not naming them - will give them a chance to sort things out first).

it's had no mods at all (just better brakes and bigger wheels) plus full dealer service history.

Gordo

Raartoot

Ive been thinking about upgrading to a P1 but this is the sort of issue that puts me off, most Ive seen advertised have had rebuilds etc....

RS Grant

Surely if they have already had the rebuild, thats the "risk" removed??


Cheers,
Grant

Raartoot

Ah yeah most cert, I dont disagree there mate, just that when you hear of a car thats had a rebuild, it tends to put you off - ish, well it does for me, is it just me?????

RS Grant

Nah, there are defo 2 ways to look at it.... First is: "Must have had its *** kicked to need a rebuild" and the Second is: "Its had a rebuild, so should be safe for 40k+ miles easy now".

Once you've gone to see a car, you can kind of judge what sort of life the current owner has given it by the way he/she drives it and talks about it.


Cheers,
Grant

Terminator X

iTrader: (7)

I'd heard that the P1's use the engine intended for the Jap Sti Version V ... the Jap ones blow up "all the time" so no surprise that P1's go as well?!!

TX.

PS

I used to own a JDM Sti Ver V + the engine did indeed blow up on me. Cost me £3k though as I did not have a warranty.

Gordo

He has a point - I'm pretty pissed off mine's only done 44k - so much for the 'bomb-proof' subaru!

Raartoot

Well lets hope you get it sorted GORDO, bets it pissed you off big time, if they get funny, tell em scoobynet will be down to sort em out ...

well take 44k off them and then blow them up!!!

RS Grant

I'm pretty sure that its not so much the engine, its the ECU... its a STi V5 Unit used in the P1, which is designed to run on Jap Fuel. Obviously the UK owners wont know this, in fact, I'm sure a lot of original P1 owners chucked in normal 95ron rather than Super/Optimax.


Cheers,
Grant

TonyBurns

iTrader: (3)

There is nothing wrong with the engines in these cars, they are pretty bomb proof, its the ecu and the "fix" they used to bring the fuel quality in line with the 97 ron the P1 needs.
Bascally, the P1 runs a JDM STi ecu, its not mapped for uk fuel, so they shove some broquets in which increases the octane rating, these are suppose to last 100k, it looks like most dont reach 50k hence the reason you should use the highest octane fuel available on a P1 (97+).

Tony

Bob Rawle

The P1 is pure STi 5 with cosmetic changes to shell and interior plus its got a delimiter in the ecu wiring loom, ecu maps are identical, as long as you run on good quality fuel ( and booster in reality but Optimax can just hack it), then there are loads of cars out there going strong. Its also mis informing to say that these cars blow up "all the time", treated properly and handled correctly they do not. Bear in mind that they are sprint cars and would be speed limited in Japan preventing high revs in high gears from being held, over here we de limit and then expect things to stay reliable when doing just that, brief excursions are fine. If the engine is bult to take account of that need then they have no issues.

There is a tendency for big ends to go if the oil changes are done "not correctly", I use that term as while some of us advocate one procedure others deride it, I know of at least two dealers who analy change oil though.

If you have a valves/piston problem then most likely the cam belt tensioner has stopped doing its stuff, this is known as an issue and changing the belt will have disturbed the sealing, its a hydraulic tensioner that allows the belt to jump if it loses performance. Some dealers replace it as std when the belt is changed.

Let the dealer sort it, if you have extended warranty you ought to be covered given you haven't changed anything related.

hope that helps the understanding

Bob

Andy.F

As Bob says, the P1 and Sti 5/6 are reliable and can take a good thrashing through the gears however sustained top speed running is not recommended.

In my experience most of the P1 engine failures are caused by the failure of the maf sensor. This causes the engine to run lean at full power, this in turn can cause piston and/or bearing damage.
The MY99/00 UK car runs the same maf sensor but due to their lower power output, in most cases they can actually cope with maf failure, they just go a bit faster !!

If you buy one of these cars secondhand then my advice is to invest a further £75 in a new maf sensor, it only takes 2 mins to fit.

Andy

scoobfan

It seems that these cars are not high speed motorway cruisers
but as said sprint cars.

The air scoop is not completly efficient at high speeds resulting
in high charge tempratures and det.

I hope you get it sorted bud

Rob

justanotherperson

this might be a dumb question but im asking because i dont know the answer,

would any of the above relate to a UK wrx on an 02 plate,for example ?

Andy.F

Not really. The MY02 maf sensor is more reliable and the gearing is also taller, this means the rpm is lower for the same speed. On the Sti/P1 it is possible to get to 7000rpm + in top gear.

Andy

justanotherperson

Wow an answer from the king him self
Nice speed record you have there Andy, sory to hear about the accident though,

Ok that has put my mind at rest,the thing is, i was a Ford fan and ive been brainwashed in to thinking that the Subaru has "chocolate" engines and now im just waiting for mine to bang in some shape or form albeit the engine only has 22,000 mls on it, but i do like putting my foot down

rossyboy

iTrader: (8)

Its been said here time and time again, but you always hear of the engines that let go and not the thousands of others that are running just fine.

This results in a good deal of scaremongering and a lot of worried owners.

A standard 02 uk wrx is extremely unlikely to melt an engine if serviced correctly and not red-lined in every gear, every day. They wouldnt score highly in owners surveys if they all blew up would they

justanotherperson

Dave_A

Just had the MAF replaced on my MY99 as it decided to pack up, for a week the car drove like a pig apart from under full load, when it went like stink - now the MAF's been replaced its back to its usual slow self!

Dave
www.scoobyphotos.com

Terminator X

iTrader: (7)

Is it true that the oil pump on the Ver V Jap STi's is pretty poor & could do with replacing with a better one (Extreme Scoobies rebuilt my engine & made this comment at the time)? If so, does that apply to the P1 as well?

Bob - didn't mean to scaremonger earlier, sorry ...

TX.

Andy.F

It's the same capacity as all the other turbo Impreza's from 95-05 as far as I'm aware.

FWIW I used the original 100,000+ miles Sti5 oil pump on my 2.33 engine and it ran fine. I eventually 'bottled out' and bought an RCM pump only to find I actually had slightly less oil pressure than with the OE pump !
If it aint broke, don't fix it !
If the pump has come off a broken engine then it would be a wise move to renew it as it may have chewed some debris.

Andy

chris's scooby

I had a letter through from Subaru asking if i wanted to renew the warranty on an Impreza i no longer own. Nice to see they're on the ball...

Interestingly there was a list of prices for the warranty extension for several models. The P1's cost was the only one that was over a grand. I'm pretty sure it was about £400 dearer than any other model. I'd guess on average these have more claims than the other models?

map

from looking on P1woc its seems more people have had engine probs just after a service than high speed blow outs, so i'll make 100% sure i get mine crank'd over after an oil change

one other thing as andy and bob are about i have a standard P1 apart form a cat back zorst, and im thinking of afew mods, any advice on the way to go ???

cheers mark

Gordo

Interesting - the service it had (at 44,200 miles, 490 miles and 10 days before it went pop) included the following, all mentioned above:

- cam belt
- cam belt tensioner (apparently the old one was leaking oil)
- MAF sensor

the latter two were changed under warranty - presumably the warranty people won't be happy they've just shelled out and this has happened?

I'm now wishing I'd told them to leave the cam belt alone. Interestingly I was told the P1 has a UK service book - i.e. the book says change the belt at 45k - the dealer says it should be 60k and has written this in the book. All starting to feel a bit fishy to me.

Does anyone know if there is any form of time/mileage guarantee after a service (or after fitting a cam belt) ?

Gordo