Returned to Impreza ownership - some advice needed.

Returned to Impreza ownership - some advice needed.

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texaxile

Original Poster:

3,294 posts

151 months

Saturday 8th October 2016
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Just picked up a 2004 WRX PPP in blue, the last owner had it for 9 years and it's been kept fairly well.

I've been scanning the service history , it's had main dealer up to 50k and from then on by Extreme Scoobies up until early last year. It's now overdue another service and I've a couple of questions to ask before doing so, hopefully the collective can help me out a bit.

I purchased on condition rather than age, stuff like 4 matching Good years, receipts for EBC pads and Brembo discs from a couple of years ago, a well kept service diary and a general good all round condition, but I get the impression the guy kind of lost interest last year, hence the late service schedule and nothing done over the last 16 months. The mileage between the MOT's from 2 years ago is 13,000, 6500 done in the last year to date. Mileage now is 84K.

It'll be in for a service next week, with the intention of doing all belts apart from the Cam belt which was done in 2014 (although I'll get a visual check done) it'll have a coolant drain and refill, plugs, oil , filters etc.

Is it worth doing gearbox and diff oils as well while it's up on the ramp?.

What's the best oil to use in these?. I always go to Opie but there's a lot of choice, so any personal recommendations would be appreciated. Same goes for plugs, as I'm not sure which are the best to get.

My previous Impreza was a Hawk, and while I did like the car I never really took to it for some reason. It wasn't without its problems and seemed to had had a fairly hard life, but the servicing was always done at the main dealer, whereas with this blob it'll be an independant.

texaxile

Original Poster:

3,294 posts

151 months

Saturday 8th October 2016
quotequote all
Hi Stants, you're right it's a no brainier for the extra hours labour plus the cost of oils. The receipt just shows a full cam belt replacement from Subaru dealer, so I'd assume they do the whole lot. It's showing the thick end of £640 for fitting etc.

Oil wise there's a lot of info out there, some on scoobynet suggest 10w40 for slightly older engines, so I'm really not sure what is for the best, and the oil grade isn't listed on any of the later receipts.

Lastly, does anyone know what kind of things tend to go on the blobs, or general stuff I should be looking out for?.

Thanks in advance .

texaxile

Original Poster:

3,294 posts

151 months

Monday 10th October 2016
quotequote all
Thanks for the replies so far. Stants, the OEM undertray is still in place so hopefully that's an issue which I won't encounter (and didn't check tbh). bodywork is good all round, no rot peeping through that I could see.

I think I'll probably go for a 10W40 oil, any suggestions as to which would be appreciated. I'm a big fan of Helix and use it in the Lancer Turbo so if there is a 10W40 application of Helix I'll probably use that but it's not necessarily a given that I will.

Just had a chat to the mechanic today and said that I'll supply the brake fluid, engine, gearbox and diff oils plus filters and he'll provide the coolant. I'm not too struck on the braking ability of the WRX's, my hawkeye wasn't brilliant, and the fluid in this one is noteably dirty so with any luck it might improve things a bit. He did frown a bit when I mentioned plugs, apparently they're a bit of an arse on Imprezas, even up on a ramp but is there a cheat method / easier way of doing them?.





texaxile

Original Poster:

3,294 posts

151 months

Friday 14th October 2016
quotequote all
I've read that shell coolant also fits the bill, but there's so much (dis)information out there it's hard to tell whether normal OAT is fine to use. Subaru say it needs to be non anime, non phosphate and non silicate. I might just go for factory coolant anyway unless any of the collective knows a suitable alternative.
I changed the alternator and ac belts today. Absolute piece of piss, done in less than 15 mins , the 2 gates belts cost £20 delivered, give or take.