Subaru STi Head gasket failure

[PHaviator]

Following on from previous thread..
Now 5 weeks since buying STI Spec D
Has had:
Dipper tube "mod" to expansion tank
New thermostat
Engine out and new head gaskets (failed)
Contnues to bubble air into expansion tank
so:
New water pump
New caps for header and expansion tanks

MKar in Rochdale have no idea what else to do
Any suggestions?

[stevieturbo]

PHaviator said:

Following on from previous thread..
Now 5 weeks since buying STI Spec D
Has had:
Dipper tube "mod" to expansion tank
New thermostat
Engine out and new head gaskets (failed)
Contnues to bubble air into expansion tank
so:
New water pump
New caps for header and expansion tanks

MKar in Rochdale have no idea what else to do
Any suggestions?

Firstly, what was your previous thread ?

Did someone competent carry out whatever work was done ?

[PHaviator]

my previous thread was from 5 weeks ago, with same title
As to competency, who knows...?

M Kar are Subaru main dealer in Rochdale, and my nearest now that Riding and Co closed in Preston.
I think I've had it with them now.

In retrospect, I should have had it taken to SkoobyTeknix in Fleetwood...
M Kar have, apparently been chasing the fault in conjunction with Subaru UK
I'm going to speak to Adrian Hobbs (again) tommorrow, to confirm that "bubbling" in the expansion tank = "still not fixed"


Bought the car from Redline in Knaresborough, who have been pretty good.
We'll see HOW good when i tell them i want my money back tommorrow, eh?

mark C

[stevieturbo]

When you say bubbling in the expansion tank....what do you mean ?

do you actually have a cooling system problem ? Is it overheating ? Is it losing water ? Whats actually wrong ?

Or is it a guessing game ?

[Pumaracing]

99% of head gasket failures, especially repeated ones, are because the block or head are not flat or not machined to the correct surface finish which needs to be very fine for modern gaskets. The average engine reconditioners ploughed field finish will not cut the mustard. I have no idea of the history but if it ever overheated then something is likely to no longer be flat.

I did a Scooby block and heads for someone a while back with similar problems and they all needed a skim to get everything right again. It's now pumping out over 500 bhp with no further problems.

[PHaviator]

I'm sorry Stevie, I wasn't trying to be clever.. I'm just a bit hacked off with it all now
Pioked the car up from Redline in Knarsborough 5th June.
I live in Preston, and the car boiled before I got home
Limped last 5 miles in 3 hops so as not to get it TOO hot
It dumped its coolant onto my drive from the expansion tank.
allowed it to ccol, topped it up (warm water) and drove 1/2 mile up the road.
Boiled when i got back ,coolant dumped again.
Rang redline, very apologetic, agreed car must be faulty, but asked that we try and find out what was wrong before giving money back. Ckaim to "know" the car, and belived it kosher...
They arranged beaver tail for next morninbg which brought me a Diesel Mondeo(!)"courtesy" car ,and took my Spec D to Subaru Main dealer.
The first two "fixes" did not stop it boiling, but the head gasket change has (they say)
However, it still has air bubbles coming up in the expansion tank once it is warm
These are "less" since the water pump change, but it's still happening
Don't think it can be right!!
And neither, it seems do Subaru UK
rest as above...

Foubnd anbother in Northwich
Time to move on, i think..

Mark C

[PHaviator]

to Puma racing..
The heads went off to "a specialist engineering company" after removal for crack testing.
They were,apparently, NOT warpedor cracked, but the faces were "Skimmed" to remove surface marking
There is, apparently an absolute max of 0.3mm allowed for removal of metal on these heads, which, I am told, has NOT been exceeded.

[stevieturbo]

This should be very very very simple for any mechanic with half a brain.

OK, if we assume the engine has been repaired. Big assumption, I know.

With the system totally empty, they should usually hold about 7.5 litres of coolant. I would drain it entirely, and fill whilst measuring. This way you can see if it has filled up, with no air locks.
Fill veeeerrryyyyy slowly.

Once full, then let it warm up, ensuring fans come on, water ciculates thru top and bottom hose when stat opens, and that generally all is working as it should.

Then you can take it for a drive, again, keeping a very close eye on the gauge.


Or, for a mechanic with a brain cell....just do a sniffer test on these bubbles from the header tank, to see if they are indeed contaminated with combustion gasses.
If they dont have a sniffer for this test...take the car to a competent garage who does.

Sadly many main dealers are incompetent.

You say you're from Rochdale, whilst Ive no notion of that area. A quick search tells me that Pennine Subaru arent that far.
Not sure if they do normal work like that, but Im sure they do.

http://www.penninesubaru.com/

[PHaviator]

bubbles into header tank have been -ve on sniffer test even when the gasket(s) were blown..!!
Still -ve
just bubbles...
If I was taking it anywhere, it would be ScoobyTeknix in Fleetwood who i know and trust, but I think I'm going to go for money back and try again.
not sure i could ever trust this one now!!

mark C

[stevieturbo]

Pennine build big engines....so work like that would be a piece of cake to them. if they do undertake normal stuff.


I dont know who Scoobyteknik are, or if they are any good.

[Pumaracing]

There's really only a limited number of things that can be wrong.

1) A leak in the coolant system either internal or external - a pressure test will check for this.

2) Blocked or misrouted coolant hoses.

3) Thermostat sticking

4) Water pump failure.

5) Airlock

Some of the above have already been eliminated. If the rest are checked through in a logical fashion it's hard to see how the problem can't be made to go away.