damien e Posted December 19, 2020 Share Posted December 19, 2020 hi i was driving my hatchback sti the other day, it was fine till i stopped off at Heston services but then it was fine till i started to rejoin the m4. the temperature gauge was going up to the start of the red line. It had water and oil so i let it cool down then it was half way then i started to go on my way. it had hot air out of the heating, less than 4 minutes later it started to creep up again. but this time there is was no hot air from the heating. i stopped to let it cool down. checked it today and it has oil and coolant and now it has hot air from heating. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Linx Posted December 19, 2020 Share Posted December 19, 2020 Have you changed the coolant recently? If not might be worth getting a sniff test to check for blown head gasket. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
damien e Posted December 19, 2020 Author Share Posted December 19, 2020 16 minutes ago, Linx said: Have you changed the coolant recently? If not might be worth getting a sniff test to check for blown head gasket. i have changed the coolant as i changed the thermostate, as that was opening slowly. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tidgy Posted December 19, 2020 Share Posted December 19, 2020 Could well be an airlock then. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
damien e Posted December 20, 2020 Author Share Posted December 20, 2020 6 hours ago, Tidgy said: Could well be an airlock then. this is not the firs time this has done it. it has done it like 3 times since owning it and i had it a year. it does it every so often to be fair. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
savage bulldogs Posted December 20, 2020 Share Posted December 20, 2020 As said above , hopefully it's just a airlock. Let it cool down and check the coolant levels in expansion tank , rad and overflow bottles . Top up if needs it ,jack the front end up and manually "pump" any coolant hoses to try and get any air out. start it up and keep the caps off the coolant bottles. Carefully pump top and bottom rad hoses whilst keeping a eye on coolant levels. If they drop top them up ,once it starts to rise above fill level put the cap back on . When fans cut in check bottom hose gets hotter as the stat should be open by then , Check both heater matrix hoses are getting hot too . If it still overheats , get a sniff test for hydrocarbons in the coolant ,as this is normally the first sign of headgaskets. If it's clear, try draining the system, flushing everything through with a hosepipe and refill. But make sure the headertank doesn't go dry during refilling (coolant in at all times) and pump all coolant hoses during refilling Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
damien e Posted December 20, 2020 Author Share Posted December 20, 2020 2 hours ago, savage bulldogs said: As said above , hopefully it's just a airlock. Let it cool down and check the coolant levels in expansion tank , rad and overflow bottles . Top up if needs it ,jack the front end up and manually "pump" any coolant hoses to try and get any air out. start it up and keep the caps off the coolant bottles. Carefully pump top and bottom rad hoses whilst keeping a eye on coolant levels. If they drop top them up ,once it starts to rise above fill level put the cap back on . When fans cut in check bottom hose gets hotter as the stat should be open by then , Check both heater matrix hoses are getting hot too . If it still overheats , get a sniff test for hydrocarbons in the coolant ,as this is normally the first sign of headgaskets. If it's clear, try draining the system, flushing everything through with a hosepipe and refill. But make sure the headertank doesn't go dry during refilling (coolant in at all times) and pump all coolant hoses during refilling thank you. i drove it today and it was fine. the temperature was at normal level. i will keep an eye on it. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
damien e Posted January 27, 2021 Author Share Posted January 27, 2021 update- head gasket has gone. it going to pole position to get sorted. did a sniff test and it turned from blue to lime yellow. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jay762 Posted January 27, 2021 Share Posted January 27, 2021 Not come across bad reviews from PP so you should be in good hands Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
damien e Posted January 27, 2021 Author Share Posted January 27, 2021 there was a company my dad went to yesterday, they said it was £1500 for one head gasket to be done or £3400 for both to be welded and then shimmed. i never known somebody to weld a head before. they were going to charge £42 for one head bolt. pp quoted like £1300 plus £74 for water pump and they said about head studs for £250 more. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nictriumph Posted January 27, 2021 Share Posted January 27, 2021 the wonderful world of GARAGES......very shocking..............had classic cars for over 18years only my cars have gone to a garage is only for the mot and thats a independent mot station 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jay762 Posted January 27, 2021 Share Posted January 27, 2021 Dont know what would be welded however a skim of the heads on a mill would be in order to ensure no warping and completely flat. ICP have standard bolts for £84. £240 would be uprated items like ARP which is not a bad idea. Cost of water pump £50 or £115 if you want the enclosed impeller type (reduces cavitation) Head Gaskets - £50 - £150 (Standard vs aftermarket Cosworth etc) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nictriumph Posted January 27, 2021 Share Posted January 27, 2021 so thats £450-500 for parts and £3000 for a spanner person.......... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jay762 Posted January 27, 2021 Share Posted January 27, 2021 Some engineering cost for head work Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nictriumph Posted January 27, 2021 Share Posted January 27, 2021 plus london tax,covid tax,big boss tax and other tax......does bring it to £3400.....but how can we as owners be sure that the work has been done fully,,,,how can you tell head gaskets are good quality and not bought on cheap account and that they have used arp bolts.when all the work is hidden...that is alot of trust you give to the garage....and also watch out for the phone call when they have stript it and tell you its goner cost more for unforeseen problems which may be not there or they have balls up Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
damien e Posted January 27, 2021 Author Share Posted January 27, 2021 1 hour ago, nictriumph said: plus london tax,covid tax,big boss tax and other tax......does bring it to £3400.....but how can we as owners be sure that the work has been done fully,,,,how can you tell head gaskets are good quality and not bought on cheap account and that they have used arp bolts.when all the work is hidden...that is alot of trust you give to the garage....and also watch out for the phone call when they have stript it and tell you its goner cost more for unforeseen problems which may be not there or they have balls up that is what i was worried about. i got trust issues with taking my car to a garage. i been ripped off before in the past. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nictriumph Posted January 27, 2021 Share Posted January 27, 2021 once bitten twice shy,,,,dont blame you..........now,is there someone on here who KNOWS what there doing and can help this car out.i would rather give it to forum member to do the work at least you will be informed of whats happening and also you can buy the good parts yourself,and hand the car and part over...atleast your incontact with the person and you can see work being done,,,,some garages get shirty when you start asking question of whats been done Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
savage bulldogs Posted January 28, 2021 Share Posted January 28, 2021 What sort of area are you in @damien e? A member might be able to recommend a local trusted Subaru specialist 🤞 tbh the price does sound expensive but considering the amount of labour to remove the engine , both heads ,strip ,machine, re assembly, refitting and parts .... Unfortunately it's no small task due to the boxer layout. I would add that seeing as its overheated a few times and the h.g has been gone a while .... unfortunately it can add extra strain on rings and pinch the bearings, so a full rebuild might be the better option anyways 😥 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tidgy Posted January 28, 2021 Share Posted January 28, 2021 For a 2.5 rebuild you want to be doing the whole thing, inc bottom end. I see some really bad advice about not needing to do it etc etc, but bearing damamage is very commonly found once stripped and if not done you'll just be back to square one when they fail. (Mate had to take a very well known tuner to court over this after they gave him bad advice not to do it, he won and they paid for rebuild at a different tuner) £3400 labour could be (just guessing at per hour cost) £75 X45hrs, to rebuild properly including heads, bottom end etc is perhaps a tad high, but not huge amounts. If somewhere is building it 10 hours i would be worried they are rushing it, not checking tollerances etc. Any company that says they can price it before its stripped is telling you porkies, unless they charge you new for everything, Yes they an give you a rough guess, but untill the stripped parts are assessed there is no way to tell how bad the damage is, worst case the whole thing could be junk. The engine in my type R was total junk except the headcastings and the pistons, rest inc the block were toast. The next thing is how far your gonna go with the build as far as spec goes. What are yoru future plans? First off there is no point in reusing the standard pistons as they are crap and have a nasty habbit of breaking the ring lands off. So minimum spec i'd recomend, Forged pistons Decent Rods ARP headstuds ACL bearings Decent headgaskets After that its then a case of how far you want to go? Closed decking, uprated valve's and springs, cams etc etc are all options and just budget dependant. You need to make sure the over all spec is matched properly, spec things incorrectly and they just dont work and the result will be a car that drives crap, could be laggy, doesnt make power etc etc The final note i would say, is get all the work done by the same place, rebuild, sourcing of the machine work, mapping etc. Any problems you just go back to them and it's their problem. If you get it built by one place, mapped by another then you can end up in a situation where if something goes wrong they blame each other and you end up paying for a second rebuild. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nictriumph Posted January 28, 2021 Share Posted January 28, 2021 yeah 75 labour.....10 for the bloke doing the job and 65 for fat cat watching youtube or tiktok Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tidgy Posted January 28, 2021 Share Posted January 28, 2021 2 hours ago, nictriumph said: yeah 75 labour.....10 for the bloke doing the job and 65 for fat cat watching youtube or tiktok tad harsh tbh Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nictriumph Posted January 28, 2021 Share Posted January 28, 2021 nah just honest in what people have had done and not done to there car and say to me when they come to me for work on there car....me personaly i would not take my car to garage,i would rather scrap the car and buy another one...but it done to car owners who they trust! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
damien e Posted January 28, 2021 Author Share Posted January 28, 2021 7 hours ago, savage bulldogs said: What sort of area are you in @damien e? A member might be able to recommend a local trusted Subaru specialist 🤞 tbh the price does sound expensive but considering the amount of labour to remove the engine , both heads ,strip ,machine, re assembly, refitting and parts .... Unfortunately it's no small task due to the boxer layout. I would add that seeing as its overheated a few times and the h.g has been gone a while .... unfortunately it can add extra strain on rings and pinch the bearings, so a full rebuild might be the better option anyways 😥 i live in west London, i don't think they is one near me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
savage bulldogs Posted January 28, 2021 Share Posted January 28, 2021 Only one I can think of but is probably too far west, is mick at RM performance in banbury. He'd definitely be worth the journey and possibly could arrange collection, So might be worth a call Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tidgy Posted January 28, 2021 Share Posted January 28, 2021 As savage says not that much around your area, worth traveling for a decent build though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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