coldcuppatea

Just standard. Hardly do any miles so hopefully won't get a chance for this one to crack.

Does it do it when driving or on idle? I could drive mine quite hard and not see any overheating, but if I left it idling for a few minutes, the temperature would go through the roof. Was the engine rebuilt after the first HG change, or was it just a replacement gasket?

Definitely go get a sniff or compression test. My Spec D seemed to run fine most of the time with random moments of overheating. Bear in mind that the dashboard water temp gauge is rubbish btw. I was able to watch my car overheat quite significantly via OBD before the dashboard needle would move at all. I really hope it's not head gasket failure for you but you want to get it ruled out without guesswork before you do any serious damage to the engine. How many miles on it out of interest? Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I'm pretty sure it's just back box and maybe one other part. I had a feeling that one of the cats is removed as part of it, but the official blurb just says "silencers": Not a great deal for the money when you look at it like that!

I've used them before a few years back when I had a blob WRX and they were always spot on so I'm going to go with my gut feeling that it's all going to be okay. Not much else I can do really!

Sheffield Subaru Service.

Receipt just states "heads skimmed and pressure tested & block sent away for honing". I just let the guy get on with it to be honest. I'm assuming / hoping he knows his stuff!

Happy to say that I've got my car back nearly three months after the head gasket failed. I've done my first 100 miles on running in oil and have just had the first of three oil and filter changes. Here are a few photos of the build... The uprated bits: Plus a new clutch, skimmed flywheel, inlet flaps deleted and full cambelt & pulleys change. And some oily bits: And a really scary bit: So it turns out the car did my a favour by blowing a head gasket as it looks like the oil pick up pipe would have completely fractured, probably destroying the crank and block. I hadn't realised that this is yet another fairly common problem in these engines. So hopefully I now have sorted out most of things that Subaru themselves should have done properly in the first place and can start thinking about some more power. After another 900 miles of boring running in. Trying to decide between a sports cat or a new turbo before I get it mapped.

Thought I might as well post up a thread for my car seeing as events have forced me into spending on it! Last December I bought a 2007 2.5 STI Spec D PPP with 50k miles from an independent dealer in Sheffield. It had a full service history and was in great condition throughout. The only thing I didn't like was the gigantic GB270 spoiler which was not my cup of tea. I was fully aware of the potential head gasket and ringland problems that these suffer from, but I wanted the a hawkeye and I always liked the idea of the subtle Spec D so thought I'd just buy carefully. When I found this car I checked the coolant level which was fine, checked under the oil cap, which was also fine. There was no smoke from the exhaust, no overheating etc so happy that I had found a good one, I bought it. First thing I did, before even getting the car, was to order the original small spoiler. Everyone I know has said I should have kept the big one, but I want a standard looking Spec D, and that spoiler isn't discrete in any way. GB270: Back to standard: Over the next month I covered about 500 miles of mixed driving with no apparent problems. But I found myself constantly worrying about the head gasket and pistons, spoiling my fun a bit. I was checking the oil and coolant every few days when I noticed that the coolant level in the overflow tank had dropped very low. Nothing else seemed amiss so I topped up and carried on. I checked again a few days later and once again, the coolant level had dropped. Getting very worried now, I ran the engine and watched the overflow tank and noticed some bubbles coming up in it. After a couple of minutes this stopped. I did some more reading up and managed to convince myself that it was just an airlock as there was still no over heating. Then, a couple of days later after getting back from a drive, I left the car idling for a couple of minutes and the dash water temperature gauge suddenly shot up to the 3/4 and steam poured from under the bonnet. When I checked, I could see the coolant was right at the top of the bottle and had sprayed out over the radiator. Not good! Once it had cooled down, I could see a very light rainbow sheen on top of the coolant. Seemed like a bad idea to drive the car again so I had it trailered to a Subaru specialist, which is where it still is 2 months later! The car was diagnosed with early stage HGF, and on dismantling the engine, they reckon it's on cylinder two. Here are the photos, but I'll admit that I can't tell anything from that myself! I was originally just going to get the gaskets replaced with uprated versions, but the garage said that its possible that the crank bearings could have been damaged and that it's not uncommon for people to just replace the gaskets only for the bearings to fail and ruin the engine completely a few hundred miles later. So I agreed to a bottom end rebuild with Cosworth gaskets and ACL race bearings. This then got me thinking about the pistons and the potential ringland issues, which I didn't want to develop after shelling out for the rest of the work. My initial idea was to just get them replaced with standard pistons as I wasn't planning on going after more power. However it turns out they're not much cheaper than forged, so I've said I'll have Mahle pistons instead. And while it's all out I've decided I might as well have a new clutch and cam belt change. So that's the sorry tale so far, which will hopefully get better over the next couple of weeks when I get the car back. Once I've run it in, I intend to have it remapped to take advantage of the uprated parts. After all the expense of the rebuild, I'd rather not splash out on things like FMIC, exhausts etc, but if there is anything sensible that I should consider adding at this point, now is a good time to tell me! For now, I just want to get the most I can from the PPP bits along with the now hopefully safer internals. Does anyone know what sort of power would be possible with this in mind?

Wow, and I thought that I had been having problems. Fair play for keeping going with it! Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Not far off being cheaper to do new engine once I include the cost of precautionary bottom end rebuild, but it's low mileage and otherwise fine so does work out better to fix.

Glad to hear it's not head gasket, must be a relief. I'm looking at a chunky bill to sort mine out!

Agree with this! My head gasket has gone and there was no coolant in the oil at all. It was incredibly hard to tell without the sniff test to confirm. I suspected mine had gone for a couple of weeks but the car seemed to run fine. It was only after leaving it idling after a fast run that it suddenly over heated. Don't try and work it out yourself, original poster....just get it into a garage for a test! Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I had one a few years ago and was wondering if they were still available recently, but the prices seem pretty high. I'd have another if I could find one that's not too expensive. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

That does look good. Although my preference is no spoiler at all. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Is it super rare?! Might make me like it a bit more (as long as it's not on my car!). Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Spoiler back to correct one now. I prefer the look and feel a lot less conspicuous. Had a good run through the Peak District late last night with it. Quite surprised as to how different it feels to my last WRX. Much more lairy and prone to the rear sliding on acceleration. In some respects I think the WRX was easier to drive quickly on the road. Great fun though! Newly gelded, next to our little Fiesta ST. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Evening, Thought I'd sign up as I've just bought a 2007 Spec D PPP. It's my third Impreza, after having a couple of Blob WRX PPPs. The car had a gigantic GB270 spoiler on it (see pic from the dealer) but it's not really my thing and kind of defeats the point of a Spec D, so the first thing I have done is replace it with the small spoiler from the standard car. Pretty much everyone I mentioned it to has said it should keep the big one, but I'm just not keen on it. Anyway, that's it...now I am just going to try and enjoy it and attempt not to worry too much about HG or piston ring failure! Pre-spoilerectomy: Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk