Marky-San

Well, wisely I didnt do the NBO2 run as I had a feeling something was wrong.

Went out this morning, car nice and cold - though I'd go through a series of runs with it to see what the 2.5K rev noise was. All seems ok at idle and when driving it was pretty good - so went on motorway and knocklink was carrying on as normal, AFR was doing its stuff as well.

Got home, car running and all I could hear was 'knock-knock-knock-knock' which can be made worse by lightly accelerating to a rasp!

So it looks like a con-rod or big end failure, yet again?

Only had the car engine rebuilt at cost of £3,000 at xmas by API Engines, done 2,500 miles since, did everything I was supposed to - <3K for first thousand, and not much above that the last 1.5 thousand. Had scoobyecu fitted for UK fuel, knocklink, afr - drove it like a ****ing nancy for last 6 months and its still goes **** up!!!!!

Cant tell you how pissed off - disappointed - just plain ****ing mad - gutted I am

Just puts me off the car totally. Might just cut my losses and sell it as is for a ****ing ridiculous loss of money per mile.

Now going to hit my head off a wall.

drb5

iTrader: (4)

can't tell you how gutted i am for you m8 nothing i can say can obviously make you feel better, but you've just gotta work out what you want to do with it. whether or not it's worth you spending more money on it or not, but i'd get in contact with david after all, i'm sure there must be some kind of warranty with the job???

give me a shout if you do consider to sell the car as is though

keevster

iTrader: (1)

Sorry to hear this mate, sounds as if you've had a **** poor time of it. I have similar luck, nothing is ever fecking simple. Personally mate, i'd try and get hold of another engine, then get shot of it.
Hope what ever you do, it works out.

Paul

Marky-San

Need to say, I'm not blaming David at all for this. He was totally sound and I would still recommend them to anyone - I've had a few engines from David over the years and been happy on service and quality point of view. I think theres maybe an inherent problem with the actual subaru engines, maybe to delicate or summit? i aint no mechanic, so who knows - maybe just plain bad luck?

Anyway, jsut checked my warranty and it was dated from 19th Dec 03, and today is 13th June. So I might be ok - only just!! Going to call David early tomorrow and see it we can work a way through this.

drb5 - if all goes pear shaped, i may be in touch.

drb5

iTrader: (4)

no probs m8 would be near perfect for what i'm looking for


good luck in sorting it though, it does brake your heart, although i can't imagine how i would feel if it happening to mine again!!!


ps: wouldn't expect you to blame david. too many good things come from that guy

Carl Davey

iTrader: (3)

My thoughts exactly.

Gutted for you Mark. I nearly sold mine after the original engine went 2 weeks after the warranty expired. Gawd knows what i'd do if it happened again.

APIDavid

iTrader: (4)

We offer a warranty with our units for this very possibility, I have pm'ed 'Marky- san' with our intentions and proposals. No doubt he or we will fill in the details when we know.

We'll have the car in ASAP to see what has happened.

David API

PS whilst we offer a 6 month warranty we'd be fairly unfriendly if we actually took it to the extreme and didn't do something for our customers when reasonably out of warranty. After all an engine built by just about anybody should last a bit more than 6 months and 1 day.......

drb5

iTrader: (4)

any first off idea's david what may have caused it? not trying to get at a problem which yourself's have caused/not done properly, but genuinly wondering your thought's.

APIDavid

iTrader: (4)

Could be absolutely anything, We've just cured a 'knocking API engine' this week by putting the guys number 4 plug lead back on for him. AFTER collecting the car from nearly 150 miles away. He did get charged.

Could be; up pipe, hydraulics, piston, crank, cam belt tensioner, loose crank pulley, loose flywheel, just about anything

If there's anything wrong with build quality, the engine doesn't last 5 minutes let alone 6 months -ish. If there's a faulty part, they usually fail quite quickly too. Speculation gets no-one nowhere [ poor grammar I know] We'll have to wait and see.

Rest assured, if it's our fault, we take full responsibility. No question, that's why we have the reputation we have for straight dealing.

David

drb5

iTrader: (4)

pmsl

granted that it could be anything, but how could it be the up-pipe. agree with anything hydraulic/mechanical of engine internals though. i'll be interested to know though

would have liked to have seen your work as well! could have gone down with marky-san's motor if it does go down..........just to peek, not to steal anything

Marky-San

Hi David - thanks for posting.


Folks, Can i reaffirm that I'm not questioning API's product or support - crikeys David responded on a sunday night to my mail! - now thats service.

My sense of sadness (and really disbelief) is that I've done nothing but throw money at it since I bought it 2 years ago and I cant get enjoyment from it. Driven it all of 7K miles and spent in excess of £6K (thats not including insurance, tax, tracker, mot, petrol etc.) - quite distressing, considering its a old L-reg (no matter how historic or special).

As David says the root cause needs to be determined, hence why I'm asking if any knowledgable local boys want to come and look at it as it could potentially save David and I alot of unecessary wasted time. Rest assured the matter will be dealt with properly with least amount of hassle to both sides - after all, its only a car engine at the end of the day (so I keep telling myself)

drb5 - you can take my car down if you want.

Rgds,
Mark

drb5

iTrader: (4)

lol

we'll see if i can help first

talizman

iTrader: (1)

Is that your sale scuppered matey?

Marky-San

Yeah mate - for the moment. But it'll be back in some shape or form

Marky-San

drb5 - yhpm

za-sti

Mark , sorry to hear about this. not likely to be the engine though as if there was a fault it wouldnt have ran for 6 months

did you ever trace the initial fault with the engine and is this problem the same as before or different.

when mine went basically went through everything , fuel pump. pres reg, ignition leads, etc. but I think my failure was simply down to poor fuel rating.

let me know how you get on

cheers
Za

drb5

iTrader: (4)

mary-san
yhpm back

Marky-San

mary-san? Your heading for a bruising

za - the problem of the initial engine was likely detonation from David himself, hence the scoobyecu to run on uk fuel and the afr and knocklink to spot all this. Correct oil and filter combi was used. Optimax every tank. Everything was running fine - only went through MOT 2 weeks ago without a problem. The only thing that needed changing was the MAF - as it was idling a bit weird, but that was sorted in a matter of days and never driven to be safe. It was checked on the select monitor and it was all fine and dandy.

The only noticeable thing was a drop in oil level - needed about .5 litre to top up again. Remember as well that the engine hasnt been stressed, so it also could be a defective component from the manufacturer. Again, its all speculation until the can is opened.

The problem last time was an erratic knock that was hard to reproduce - so much so that the AA guy thought I was imagining it. This one is continuous noise from start up, sounds different too - alot more bag of spanners like, and increases in volume with the revs.

I genuinely am stumped by it - atleast the last time I had a high speed run that killed the engine (along with fuel etc etc) which made it understandable. This time I've taken all precautions, havent been above 80 in 5th gear - hardly punishing (on m-way I sit at 65-70). The time factor isnt really the issue as I dont do many miles in it (6 months - 2,300 miles). I could do that in 6-7 weeks going to and from work - hence the civic).

drb5

iTrader: (4)

was gonna edit it, but it was just WAY too funny

Big Den

Mary-Ann

When the rev counter reaches the red line your supposed to move the wee stick with your left hand, whilst pressing your left foot down on the left pedal. Blah Blah Blah.

Only kidding Mark, what a b@$tard. Sure you'll get it resolved though.

Best of luck

Big Den

JohnnyR6

Sorry to hear your woes, i hope you can get it sorted, it would be a shame to let such a nice car go

Trem

iTrader: (3)

God damn it Mark. I feel for you chum. By the sounds of it you got your car done at the right place(API) there isn't many engine places that would be as good about it as David is being. I hope it gets sorted one way or another.

You can get no fun out of the car now in my opinion, if you get it sorted you will still drive like a nancy for fear of something going wrong. Get it sorted and sell it mate.

I hope all goes well for you. Such a shame for a true lover of a car to have this much heartache with it.

Good luck mate, you know where I am.


John.

Paul_M

Sorry to read about this mate, I can imagine you must be pretty p1ssed off with the car just now. Still at least it was built by someone reputable who has already shown he will get it sorted for you. As David said no point speculating, it could be something as simple as a loose component resonating - these kind of things have happened to me many times over the years with various cars (such as the infamous Mondeo cat heat shield rattle), it sounds really bad until you know what the cause is.

Hope you get it sorted without too much grief, keep us posted