Hi Guys!
Thought id introduce myself.
Sheffield lad, and ive recently just bought my first Impreza after probably the worst year of my life (Was supposed to be a nice treat after nearly dying lol)
2007 Impreza WRX Wagon 2.5
Sporting a VF34 Turbo, STI Topmount, 560cc Injectors, Walbro Fuel Pump, Exedy Pink Clutch, ECUTek & Map. Polybushed w/ BC Coilovers, Japspeed Exhaust & Decat. (Supposed 350hp).
As soon as i got the car home; within 2 miles of home, the car overheated. Engine killed immediately & towed home.
Replaced thermostat as it was showing the usual thermostat failure symptoms.
Replaced top rad hose as a leak had then occured on the test drive after replacing stat (I know; you couldn't write it).
After dragging the car home, replacing rad hose, filling up coolant system & burping, the car overheated again. Once i recovered the car i performed a Sniff test on the radiator. Test came back within minutes that there was exhaust gases in the coolant 😞
I paid nearly £4K for the car, 82k miles (Extensive service history with water pump & cambelt at 60K). Generally speaking its a very clean example.
My question is; is this the reason the previous owner was selling it in the first place?
I am weighing up my options & would love some input.
I heard i need to rebuild the whole engine rather than just doing the gaskets? ScoobyClinic Quoted a minimum of £2.5k to do this.
Is the car worth it?
I am also considering pulling the engine out myself, ive removed plenty of engines & done head gaskets on a few previous cars. Could i get away with stripping the heads off, replacing the gaskets & having the heads skimmed?
Any input will be greatly appreciated, i would love to hear your experiences in this situation, what you did & how it all went carrying out the work yourself.
I would also like to add im an Electrical Maintenance Engineer & have always performed my own vehicle work (Inc engine swaps). I guess im just wanting to know if the cars worth it lol!
Few added photos of it (someone may know it)!
Cheers
Nick
