Siluro

The Cam belt tensioner can be known to make a knocking noise when it has gone bad. A bit like rod knock.

@ RPM150 How did you get on? I would love to hear a nice ending.

Now you have polished off all the UV protection these will turn yellow quicker. You need to re add the UV protection if keeping car for a long time. You can use transparent vinyl wrap to replace this. Spraying with clear coat can reduce lights performance but will work. When the wrap looks bad just replace it no need to polish again.

Car does not use coolant I have been keeping a keen eye on it for the last few weeks. It did drop slightly but that is due to the colder weather as expected. Annoying as it never bubbled for the first year and half of ownership. It now only does it sometimes. Thanks guys.

I am not sure about this but can you get STI Brembos under 17inch wheels? I doubt it but I could be wrong. I have WRX Hawkeye and I upgraded to Brembo (Not sti ones, smaller caliper from Godspeed) and they barely fit inside the barrel of the wheel standard 17inch wheels. There must be no more than 2 mm clearance. I have had a small stone get trapped in there and it scored the inside of the barrel.

It would be tricky I believe to measure hydrocarbons without there being load on the engine (on boost). Ticking over may not produce enough if any hydrocarbons to change the fluid. How about pumping/sucking the air out of the overflow tank into your sniff tester while the car is using boost. You could run a pipe from top of tank (sealed somehow) into passenger side and get a friend to pump/suck the air up through the sniff tester. Overflow tank is next to the radiator. You could also see if the pipe that goes into the overflow tank pushes fluid out when on boost. Extend this pipe into the car and catch it into a tank. If there is a large rush of coolant under boost and the HG has gone then you could catch hydrocarbons then. I am not sure but if the gushes out coolant then there is a problem with the HG or air getting drawn in somewhere (unlikely). The water pump seal could allow air in I suppose under high rpm but be fine with normal driving conditions. If the heads air lifting under boost only for example a ticking over sniff test would probably not see it. I have seen your story over and over again. Sniff test do not always catch a bad HG. Most of these cases I am afraid all turn out to be HG with one common symptom, overheating without reason. Now that you have bought one then it maybe best to try the tester when the engine is under load. Best of luck

Double thanks. I hope you are right.

For my first year with the WRX Adrain Flux where too expensive and advised me to come back after the first year if I have no accidents etc.. I managed to get insurance for less the £700 from a comparison site. After the first year I went back to Adrian Flux and their quote came down to £500 mark. Keith Michaels said the same but I cannot tell you their quote as I could not get through to them by phone and gave up.

I am in the horrible situation where my WRX 2.5 may have blown it's head gasket. I have no symptoms other than bubbling noises in the heater matrix. The noises only started when I had a blonde moment and opened the radiator cap. Car has since had the coolant changed twice once by Subaru badly and once by me (3 times as I ran for a few days on just water). Nothing seems to stop the bubbling noise. Sometimes it does not do it for days but then it comes back. Car never overheats and the coolant does not get pushed out of the overflow tank. The level rises and falls as expected. Coolant looks normal and I have no smoke from exhaust, oil is fine and no mixing with water. I have read many stories of the HG failing so I am ready for the bad news if it has gone. Anyway can anyone recommend a sniff test kit that is below £40. Kits I have seen vary from £10 to >£100. Are these cheap kits worth the bother? https://www.ebay.co.uk/i/273012579567 https://www.amazon.co.uk/RELD-Cylinder-Combusion-Universal-Motorcycles/dp/B07RS3N98V/ref=pd_lutyp_crtyp_simh_1_2/260-6536206-7860643?_encoding=UTF8&pd_rd_i=B07RS3N98V&pd_rd_r=5c62eab5-2d3b-4deb-b2e4-bcca93735b56&pd_rd_w=nCFFZ&pd_rd_wg=bkw0z&pf_rd_p=e1a45040-d2db-41e8-80fa-8f32b208956a&pf_rd_r=N1FJFN7HFBWKF8HX7ZC2&psc=1&refRID=N1FJFN7HFBWKF8HX7ZC2 https://www.ebay.co.uk/p/Bt-3-2x50ml-Combustion-Leak-Tester-Kit-Co2-Head-Gasket-Block-Test-Fluid-2a/11026959824?iid=283484512010&chn=ps&norover=1&mkevt=1&mkrid=710-134428-41853-0&mkcid=2&itemid=283484512010&targetid=594652184600&device=c&mktype=pla&googleloc=1006959&poi=&campaignid=6619152122&mkgroupid=84510981968&rlsatarget=pla-594652184600&abcId=1140496&merchantid=116618883&gclid=CjwKCAjw9L_tBRBXEiwAOWVVCWUKvgqvAn_erkGs3o5yfhgc7OhfBBsRckUiEG6tOP5h7pZP6R_snBoCuf8QAvD_Bw Thanks in advance.

Did it rain overnight before the noise appeared. Disk could have rusted and this makes a noise with your pad compound. The grinding noise only occurs when coming to complete stop, 10 mph or below. I have this issue with PFC pads and my disks. Just take it out for a good blast and all silent again. It comes back on mine but the 30 minute stop start daily commute cause this. I was concerned but after working it out it no longer bothers me, and if it does I just go for a spirited drive. Just a thought.

Thanks. I am sort of going through this. I get bubbling noise in my heater matrix it seems. Not always and seems to be related to how hard i drive it. My car however does not overheat. I use bluetooth dongle to see actual temps and the car does what is supposed to. This only started when i had a blonde moment and opened the rad cap. I gave it to Subaru but they !Removed! it up, caught on dashcam and that is whole other story. I decided to replace the coolant myself. I took rad out, flushed it and replaced nearly all coolant lines with a Samco kit. Replaced rad caps too. Car runs great, no oil lose, no sign of water mixing or loss of coolant. Hawkeye with map 270bhp fly. Only mods are performance panel filter and uprated brakes. Only done 46000 miles 2007 WRX. now used as daily driver. As i said previously I have read so many stories like your but the one thing they have in common is overheating. I hoping it is something else like all the others. Do you have a link to the test you bought?

Yes I have seen many stories like yours. No symptoms but was the HG. What hydrocarbon test do you use, same as the MOT tests or the liquid sniff test? @RPM150 i have my fingers crossed for you.

"could it hopefully be the thermostat?" Does the rad fan kick in? It should kick in approx 97 cool water to high 80s and turn off fan. It will just repeat this cycle if normal. The temp gauge is useless, try not to overheat it as you will blow gaskets or warp head/block.

From the little I know it can be tricky to diagnose. As you have had the rad changed recently I would like to think it is an air lock, which is easy to do on these motors. I would drain the coolant and refill with the front end pointing in the air. Fill from the filler tank near the turbo, fill slowly. Burp system and see if it still overheats. I refilled mine recently and it got an air lock which would allow the engine temps to rise. The temp gauge in the car is too slow, I used a cheap bluetooth dongle and my android phone to keep an eye on temps. I burped it and all is good now. If the above does not work then I would start suspecting the HG. I hear that an exhaust gas analyser sniffing the air in the overflow tank could be the best bet. Sniff tests have prooved to be not reliable based on other threads. GOOD LUCK Just a thought does the heater blow hot air, if not may be a sign of airlock.

Welcome. My first mid life crisis was a seven kit car. I become too scared of it after I stuck it in the hedge at 40 mph. Now Scoobies much safer.

You just cannot help it can you. If I look up any mapper I can find a nightmare story or someone who has an opinion. Racedynamics, Rawl, Scoobyclinic is there anyone that can be trusted. It is a nightmare if you read all the posts about mappers. Must be a !Removed! job sometimes if your asked to map a bad build and something happens on the dyno and it reflects badly on the mapper. @adarmBad luck about the motor. Hope you back up and running soon.

Ian from godspeed has said that the 4 pots are ok and he has used them in rallys (which he won his class) in another thread. He also explained to me that the pad can make a massive difference so the 4 pots can be made to work. All of which makes sense. I did not try any new pads, I just went for the Brembo kit from Godspeed. This was about £1200 with new pistons for rears. It worked for me and looks much better than the stock setup. A set of new pads though would have been <£200. The biggest issue I had was fade on both the WRX with standard brakes and my old classic sport.

It is either an airlock or the head gasket or the heads lifting under boost. If the overflow is overflowing this is one of the signs of head gasket/Heads lifting from what I have seen on the forums. Not saying it is and I hope it is not. Seeing as you have changed the Rad etc hopefully it is trapped air. These things can be a pain to bleed. I would if you have not already drain the coolant and start all over again. Best of Luck.

https://www.scoobynet.com/scoobynet-general-1/1060068-impreza-sti-uk-for-sale.html How about this?Looks the part, low milage and 2006 model could be cheaper road tax by £200 plus nice brake upgrade already done.

Good luck. I would (should have) pay the extra for an STI. 6 speed gearbox is indestructible compared to the WRX 5 speed. 6 speed will take 360 hp all day long. As Stuartie and Rosscosm say the 2 liter is stronger from factory. Converting a WRX into an STI will cost you a lot more than just buying the STI.

Good Glad it was only the water pump. All the other stuff is worth doing anyway so no big deal only on the wallet. What was wrong with the pump exactly out of interest? Leaky seal, impeller worn?

I had a classic 2.0 sport and as Jay said they bite ok but faded really quickly. I now have a 2007 WRX and the 4 pots on these with the pad and disk combo were worse than the classic which had drums on the back. I did not want to try x amount of pads and discs (which could have improved them as I have been told by Ian) so upgraded to the smaller brembo kit from godspeed. After all probably the most important part of any car. These I have not been able to fade on the same runs. I also wanted to keep the standard wheels 17 inch, plus the bigger 2 piece discs and brembos look the part.. The thing about the Subaru I believe is the servo assistance is not that much. Any modern car I have driven is the opposite and seems to be over assisted.

Just a thought a 2007 Hawkeye is £545 road tax, 2006 is £325 (close to) tax, same car just registered date different. How does road tax work with an import 2007 Hawkeye?

I upgraded to some smaller Brembos (same caliper used on the lightweight Alpha 4C) from Godspeed. I do not like the look of their big brake standard caliper conversion personally. I would love some APs but too expensive for a daily road car, school trips, commute, all in town traffic. I also wanted to keep standard 17inch wheels. Not a track car. This first upgrade was worth the 1k i spent, refurbished oem rears with stainless steel pistons and some pfc pads and 2 piece front disks. It has all but removed any fade and gives me much more confidence. As you say the OEM 4 pots are totally inadequate in comparison to my Brembos so your APs must be far better. What is the cost of APs 3K?