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Engine using a tiny amount of coolant


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Well everyone my v1 wrx has started using a tiny amount of coolant around 40-50ml every 400 miles, also sometimes a few bubbles in the header tank, now from what i've read and asking a few of the rally boys at work and my own experience i've concluded the head gasket is on its way out as there no sign of any external leaks so i'm going to whip the engine out over the winter and do the job myself, i'll get the heads skimmed while they're off and my question is is it worth getting the heads ported and polished at the same time, i'll be using a small local garage who build race engines and are very well thought of around where i live to do the skimming and any other related work, any advice is much appreciated folks :thumbsup:

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Sound i will double check all hose's again as couldn't see anything but was getting distracted by the wee man at the time asking a million questions lol 😆, could the bubbles in the header tank be a leaking hose drawing air in? Just want to make sure everything is sweet before booking it in to see mr forrest for a remap as don't want to spend all that money for it to fook up during or after the map 

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Yeah you're right there tidgy dont want to pull the engine if i don't have to, like i said i'll double check everything and i'll also borrow the sniffer from work over the weekend and see what that comes up with, the engine has done 83k but its also 25yrs old so maybe some deterioration in the gaskets, cheers for the advice matey 👍👍

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You will get some bubbles in the expansion bottle as the headder tank cap releases hot coolant into the expansion bottle.

As tidgy said check for crusty coolant on the hoses at the ends and the inside of tight bends .

If your still worried get a sniff test done bud [emoji106]



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I will do at the weekend savage i'm going to borrow the sniffer from work, i done a coolant flush a few months back as after i went a run it chucked a load of coolant out of the expansion bottle and while doing the flush i found the heater matrix was blocked so took the pipes off at the back of the engine and blasted it through with the garden hose and loads of s**t came out also loads of crap came out the rad when i flushed it through aswell, since then it hasn't threw anymore coolant out however i do get bubbles in the header tank itself which is making me think the worst and now every 400 miles or so i have to top it up as the level in the expansion tank drops to below the minimum mark and the header tank level also drops a little, like i say its just since i done the flush that its started using a little coolant, maybe the stuff i've used the flush the system had dislodged something 

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Yeah savage i have a set of yellow 440's sitting also a 3'' turbo back exhaust and an apexi air filter and when i serviced it a couple of months ago i put in heat range 7 plugs aswell, the plan was to get it mapped this summer but the wife decided we needed to do up the living room so the budget has went on that 😫😫, got to keep her happy and all that haha 😅, tbh i'll be happy with anything around 300hp or as much as is safe to run, don't really wanting it to eat gearboxes 😁😁

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Been there lol , probably best not to push it too hard . if you've got the oe slanty tmic that will probably be the limiting factor .

Might be worth getting a v3 onwards map sensor as the v1 /v2 can max out at 1.2 bar [emoji6]

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Aye it still has the oe intercooler on i'm unsure if another later intercooler will fit or not and i'll look into getting an uprated map sensor should be able to pick one up off the bay, i currently have a 3 port boost solenoid fitted aswell as thats what was on when i bought the car 😉

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It's obvious..
Get your old parts, polish them and make them shiny.
Put new expensive parts in, get the wife to agree it was worth it (might be good to know sales people)
Put your old shiny parts in your living room.
2 birds....


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7 hours ago, Mark D said:

It's obvious..
Get your old parts, polish them and make them shiny.
Put new expensive parts in, get the wife to agree it was worth it (might be good to know sales people)
Put your old shiny parts in your living room.
2 birds....


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pmsl, i like your thinking

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Haha me too but you have obviously not met my wife though she's the only person on this planet i'm scared of 😂😂, i have to admit i am liking our new super compfy corner couch and spinny chair but would probably like the extra boost and horse's just as much 👍👍

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Lol of it were up to me i would have just put a big hole in the living room wall and parked the scoob in there, i tried to convince her the bucket seats would be just as good as the couch to sit and watch the tele 😂😎, but she wasn't having it though 

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In my household maintenance parts are paid from the joint account (necessity) but i pay for mods .

My mot tester is my brv inlaw and although my scoob flies through the mot ,somehow i always leave with a advisory on the ticket [emoji848]

I think the last "advisory" was for shocks and top mounts slightly worn .......

So my Coilovers were bought from "maintenance money" not my modding pot [emoji23]

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Well borrowed the sniffer thingy from work and gave it a go yesterday, had the header tank cap off and let the car heat right up but it started overflowing a little so put the cap back on and tried it on the expansion bottle  ( not sure if thats the right way to do it ) so will probs just take the car in to work and get one of the car boys to help me out, anyway it came back negative no colour change of the liquid so not sure where the little bit of coolant is going as checked all hoses and no evidence of any leaks what so ever, i even had a feel inside around where the heater matix is and all seems fine 🤔, its starting to annoy me a bit 😧

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Tbh I've never had to do a sniff test so couldn't tell you the correct way to do it .

I know if the headgaskets go they tend to push combustion gases into the coolant ,leaving hydrocarbons behind that are pickedup by the test .

Early stages this can just happen just "on boost" when the pressure is high enough in the cylinders . I think it should still leave a trace even then ,so id get someone to double check .


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Yeah i think i'll take the motor in to work and get the car guys to check it for me savage, the one time it did throw some coolant out the expansion tank was after i had been boosting down the road to get home one night however it has never done it since, would really like to get to the bottom of it before it gets any worse, oh and by the way i like the idea of getting advisories at mot time to get new shiney bits for the scoob and not get an earfull off the wife haha 😅😅

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  • 1 month later...

Well i've decided that i'm going to pull the engine out over the winter and do the head gaskets as its still using a little coolant and theres no evidence of an external leak also the crank seals are a bit damp so will get them aswell, will steam clean the engine while its out so its all nice and shiney clean 😎 its doing my head in that its all dirty, getting a loan of a folding engine crane so i can get the engine in the back of the car and take it to work and i'll get it on the bench and do it in my limited spare time 

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  • 2 months later...

Day one of engine removal between getting called out to fix broken down trucks, its went from this.... 

 

20180106_112920.thumb.jpg.ce46421ddc8412118da86c37fbb1ed8b.jpg 

To like this.....20180106_130637.thumb.jpg.f77d980864c4394a0c0dc7abb315ff45.jpg 

Now just the coolant to drain and the rad out, disconnect power steering pipes and aircon then it'l be ready to lift out 

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