New Scooby Owner

[ashburton]

Hi everyone, my friends and I are doing the Monte Carlo or Bust rally during the summer (2400 miles), we are using it as an opportunity to own cars we couldn't afford to insure when we were 17. Two have them have bought a Renault 5 GT turbo and I have recently purchased a 1999 Impreza turbo 2.0 AWD. For it's age it's in pretty good nick paint work bubbling on arches as expected but has full service history and done 140K. For £800 didn't think I could go wrong, the 4th gear is slightly temperamental when under heavy load but does go in, albeit with a crunch. I'm guessing that is the synchro that has gone which eventually will need a new gearbox. Is that correct?

I've read a few bits online that replacing the oil can help reduce the wear, could anybody advise what kind of oil?

I have also been given the decat part of the exhaust, should I put it on or will it not make much of a difference?

Any bits I should look out for when doing long drives in it? Any advice would be brilliant.

Cheers,

Ash

[Diz]

hey Ash, welcome to the forum.

 

I'm by far not the best to give advice on maintenance except to say these hungry beasties like an oil change on a regular basis. I do my motorbikes myself, but could only PM you info on what the Scooby dealer did at the 100000 mile service on my 2004 WR1. Given the complexity of the engine seemed worth getting everything done right as I look under that bonnet, think wtf and quickly shut it again... could almost double your initial outlay, if you include a coolant change!

[Scooby Pete]

Welcome to the club, in regards to the gearbox it's always worth bearing in mind there are some very good breakers around who can supply good quality used parts. I'm sure some of the more knowledgable members will be along to help out.

[Gambit]

Hi mate welcome to S.O.C 

You could try Molyslip but doubt it will help as you rightly said sounds like the Synchro has worn. mines on its way it give a bit of a crunch into 4th :( you can have them rebuilt but as Pete said cheaper in the long run to get a 2nd hand one. As for the oil it can vary a lot  but would recommend Motul gear 300 75w-90 or give our fellow friends a try at Opie Oils get club discount too :) They can advice maybe with a cheaper or one that will help slip better on worn parts. 

 

And love the idea you are doing with the your friends. Tlag his Son Bips and Adam on here do that sorta thing looks amazing. So please feel free to share any pictures or videos of your adventures. And feel free to join in on the forums, friendly bunch and not all just car talk. :D  

[Jay762]

wotcha and welcome

[ashburton]

Cheers guys much appreciated.

I've found some gearboxs for around £200-250 but guess it's the labour that will almost double that. I think I will run it until the rally in June and if it gets unbearable I will then change it. Any other damage it is likely to cause?

I will be sure to post pics up of the trip! For a quick update Subaru rally stickers, rally overalls and rally caps have been purchased...all the essential things first.

Any advice on whether to use the decat pipe that came with the car?

This might make you laugh but recently been on a lads trip to Poland and met a Russian girl who had done the Moscow to Monte Carlo rally....she did it in a Ferrari F40, oh how the other half live, it wouldn't have been so embarrassing if I hadn't banged on for about 15 mins about my 15 year old Scooby. She may have Top Trumped me but does her father have a carbon fibre bonnet scoop on his Ferrari...NO, NO HE !Removed! DOESNT HAHA.

Thanks once again and I'll keep you posted.

[Tlag]

Hi

Sounds like a great plan. The roads above Monaco are superb, especially in the cars you are taking.

The Col du Turini is the main event. It's very tempting to blast up it as fast as you can but you miss a hell of a lot by doing that. If you have time, do it twice, once quick and once to appreciate the road. It's worth it.

[Gambit]

I'd go decat  :) I would also try when you gear up miss 4th gear go into 5th gear 1st and then back into 4th when casual driving might help prolong the 4th gear. and look forward to seeing the picture sound like you will have a good laugh. 

PMSL at the Russian, but at least you own your car ;)

[ashburton]

Hi guys, thought I'd give you an update of how things are going pre-rally.

Most important thing is the Subaru rally stickers are on, which as we all know adds about 5bhp....ish.

So I've thrown myself into this head first over the past month, I've now replaced a cambelt, radiator, Battery and brakes all around....all under the supervision of a qualified mechanic I hasten to add. I only did it to put my mind at rest so we will make it to Monte Carlo and back. Thoroughly enjoyed learning all about cars and now I finally know how an engine and all the bits work!!

So I come to my next problem....I've noticed that when I go into 3rd, 4th or 5th and give it the beans it seems to hesitate through the rev range, it doesn't seem like the clutch is slipping as it's only gradual and clutch feels fine. I was thinking that maybe it's getting the wrong fuel mixture or there's too much air getting into the mixture?? It has a K&N filter and dump valve so was wondering whether they could be the culprits and need a change of filter? Anybody else had these problems?

Thanks in advance. As soon as I get on to my laptop and not on the phone I will post some pictures of the car. So happy after putting the stickers on, sad I know. Care? Not really haha.

[Gambit]

Hey mate glad to hear you have been getting to know the car a bit more personally. Always a good thing I believe anyway. As for stickers I dont mind them myself most impreza drivers I would say own one because of the wrc and as long as you like them who cares its what owning a car is about personal touches. As for hesitates what fuel you using will be mu 1st question if its 95ron I would say thats the problem more likely.

[ashburton]

Hey, thanks for the quick reply.

Ever since I purchased the car I've used the most expensive petrol, Ultimate BP or Shell V-Power, should I try the normal petrol?

The stickers are just for the rally (I can see why people have them put on professionally...might be a few bubbles in them, oh well looks fine from a distance).

[Gambit]

I have had 2 sets on my car over the years I've had it :D so I can't say anything it's currently naked again now has been for about a year. But the look on kids faces when they see them with the stickers they love it :) 

And I see you replied back on the other post about the 95 ron :) 

[ashburton]

Hi guys, help/advice required urgently.

Was meant to be going on the Monte Carlo or Bust Rally tomorrow but had the shittest day ever today.

We've recently changed radiator, cambelt, air filter, oil and brakes. So thought we were all good to go, he's never run so well until this morning.

Hose came off radiator and the engine, fixed back on and filled up with coolant but it won't bleed itself and keeps overheating and bubbling. Garage is saying head gasket but I'm not sure, no other signs of head gasket problem. It was a pain to bleed the system last time and don't know whether it's just that again. Not really sure what my question is apart from querying if the garage is trying to take advantage of the symptoms.

Any advice/help would be appreciated. Meant to be on a boat tomorrow at 12pm, I'm gutted.

[Gambit]

Get the front ended lifted mate then bleed I've heard this before and Tlag confirmed it to be the best way, I know they are a pain to bleed. And I'm with you doubt the Head Gasket has gone if the hose came off and was fine until then. Hopefully be able to get it sorted and on that boat I want to see the pictures ;)  

[ashburton]

Cheers Gambit, have you got a telephone number I could call you on? Just be good to chat to somebody about it - [email protected].

[Gambit]

Will send you an email in a minute mate. Just bear in mind I'm no mechanic :) Martin at Sheffield Subaru Services would be beter to speak with if he's not to busy and i'm sure he wouldn't mind advising you on the phone. But I will email you my number either way mate. 

[savage bulldogs]

Have a squint at this thread fella it's a similar situation.

http://uk.subaruownersclub.com/forums/topic/6471-new-problem-possible-head-gasket/page-2#entry37875

You'd have hydro carbons in the coolant , which can be detected by a "sniff test " if your headgasket had gone pressurising the water system .

[Gambit]

Cheers savage was just telling Ash on the phone about the thread and about the sniff test. Must have read my mind or tapped my phone ;) 

[ashburton]

Cheers for the chat earlier. Going to try bleeding it again in the morning. Will ask garage to do a sniff test first and see what the outcome is.

Thanks for the link to the other thread, anybody know the outcome? Did his car survive?

[ashburton]

Would bleeding it on a hill be ok? As don't have a ramp or anything. Have a drive way that is on a slope too???

[BoozyDave]

on a slope should be ok, depending what gradient the slope is. get the front end high, and if you can, chock the back wheels and then jack the front up a bit more

 

the hesitation on gear change could be down to the dump valve. try to get a standard recirc valve and see if that makes it better. quick lesson on fueling, the ECU monitors how much air enters the system with the MAF, the ECU adds the correct amount of fuel to that amount of air to give the ideal mix. -  once air enters the system it is 'accounted for', so (with a dump valve fitted) on a gear change the air that has been accounted for get's dumped out of the system, then when in gear and back on the power (just for a split second) the mixture is rich, due to the air leaving the system and mixture being wrong

 

I have run scoobies with and without dump valves and I prefer the smoothness of the standard recirc valve

[ashburton]

Cheers Dave I will do it on the drive then, it has a good slope which should help.

With regards to the other problems I'd had previously the dump valve was actually sticking so by taking it off and cleaning it up it now moves freely and made a massive difference. The other thing that I think caused the hesitation was the shoddy air filter the previous owner had put on, big Bodge job with a cone filter. So I replaced with the original from a salvage yard £30 and worked a treat. I'm just so gutted that after all this hard work (cambelt, brakes, radiator, oil change, filters, etc) and the fact it's never sounded or pulled as smoothly as it has done over the past week, that it's now stuck in a garage with them saying the head gasket has gone. Going to ask for a sniffer test and try and bleed the system on my own, it worked fine last time just took ages.

I will keep you all posted tomorrow!! Fingers crossed please guys.

[BoozyDave]

I doubt the head gasket has gone. hope the sniffer test comes back ok

[savage bulldogs]

I'm fairly sure that the baz had to put another engine in , but I only put the link up to point you in the general direction of what to check .

Keep us posted and best of luck bud

Sent from my GT-I9300 using Tapatalk

[ashburton]

Will give you all a proper update shortly but we've made it on to the boat a little later than expected but on our way. Not head gasket like the cheeky !Removed! at one garage said so took him to SVA imports and they were amazing!! Basically a bugger to bleed.

However....Temp gauge is almost on cold now on motorway, so from one extreme to another. Anybody had problems with this before? Could be dodgy thermostat?

Cheers for all your help and advice guys!!