05 Subaru STI (Turbo) Engine Rebuild.

[Al]

There is a crack in the Turbo and there is also a head gasket leak. These pictures could reflect problems with the HG. An oil analysis might have been a good investment here.

Yea the thing is run hard.
http://www.b15sentra.net/forums/showthread.php?t=156340

 

[Curious Kid]

Bummer.

The rebuild can be nerving yet fascinating if doing it yourself, at least that's how it was for me (my first of course). That to is also dependent of having another vehicle, car pool, bus route able or if a bike or going on foot is possible for helping to keep things as "close to normal" as possible, as well as space, money/friends for tools, literature/pic's and procedure/torque spec's, and of course time. Be tedious and keep cleanliness in mind, and know when to ask for help/when to say when.

From the look's of things, it seems you're well on your way.

Good luck and take care!

 

[Al]

Originally Posted By: Curious Kid

From the look's of things, it seems you're well on your way.

Good luck and take care!

Oh yea..sorry..it isn't mine.

 

[Curious Kid]

I guess you can tell I also didn't check out the link!

 

[Drew99GT]

He indicated using Mobil 1 and Redline.

I bet that sucker saw a lot of 300 + + + degree oil temps according to how he drove it.

The first thing I'd get for that car is an OIL COOLER!!!!!

 

[thr_wedge]

Originally Posted By: Drew99GT
He indicated using Mobil 1 and Redline.

I bet that sucker saw a lot of 300 + + + degree oil temps according to how he drove it.

The first thing I'd get for that car is an OIL COOLER!!!!!


I read that too. Wonder what his OCIs were? I know that Subaru recently changed to 3750 for all turbo cars and I have been doing about 3250 on my Subaru (also a 2.5L Turbo but with a VF40 turbo) with PP. Makes me seriously consider getting some AUTO-RX for my car soon. I am at 36k miles now.

I like to have fun with my car and can't imagine driving it that hard all the time...don't have the space.

I can't imagine driving a car that hard all the time. But if he did I have to agree that an oil cooler would be well warranted!

53k is also a lot of miles for a 2005.

 

[Towel_Rail]

The guy admits not letting his car (and turbo) cool off before turning off the car. I wouldn't be surprised if that contributed both to the engine sludge and the cracked turbo housing. An EJ25 from 2005 shouldn't be as susceptible to the headgasket problems as earlier EJ25's.

- Scott

 

[Al]

He indicated that the "sludge" was not as bad as it looked on the pic. He has always done syn (lately RedLine). He did mostly 3k mile changes. I know Subie's engine is rock solid. But after seeing this you would want to be wary with oil/changes if you are driving the turbo very hard.

 

[SubLGT]

No doubt the oil feed line to the turbo is also sludged up.

 

[Turbodriven]

Those motors like Motul 300v- use the 5w-40 if it's a daily driver, or the 15-50 if it is modded or gets run hard (which you mentioned it does)....I can assure you even without a cooler it will never look like that with the 300v in.

 

[MrCritical]

Hope you are well versed in engine rebuild. Even so I wouldn't start with the STI but best of luck to you. Let us know how it turns out.

 

[thr_wedge]

Not his car...have to read the link to see the owner comments.

I use 5W30 PP in my car (EJ25) but I also let it warm up AND cool down.

All I can picture is this guy turning on the car, driving at redline for about 30 minutes and then shutting it down immediately after the equivalent of a qualifying run. If that was the case I would say it lasted about 40k miles longer than I expected.

 

[Al]

Another person on this board is thinking about buying a 94 Subaru 2.2 Turbo. What do you think? I say bad idea.

 

[Drew99GT]

I'd only buy a turbo car if I 1) was ready the next day to install a new turbo and refresh the motor, or 2) knew the previous owner and how they cared for it.

 

[thr_wedge]

Originally Posted By: Drew99GT
I'd only buy a turbo car if I 1) was ready the next day to install a new turbo and refresh the motor, or 2) knew the previous owner and how they cared for it.


+1

I would only buy a used turbo car if I was ready for the inevitable turbo/engine failure or if I knew the previous owner. Unfortunately you can't just pull the valve cover off a boxer engine the way you can with an inline or even a lot of V engines.

I don't think that the issue is that it is a Subaru either, I think that it is Turbo'd and you just don't know what the history was. Previous owner could very well have just hammered on it all the time without any consideration for being at correct operating temps.

That said, if the price is right, I might consider but would certainly want to Auto-rx and change out all fluids ASAP. Even then I consider it a risky proposition.

Oh yeah...both of our daily drivers are Turbo cars but they always get warmed up before being hammered on and always get a decent cool down either with a slow 25mph drive through my neighborhood or just left to idle before shutting it down.

 

[bluesubie]

Originally Posted By: Turbodriven
Those motors like Motul 300v- use the 5w-40 if it's a daily driver, or the 15-50 if it is modded or gets run hard (which you mentioned it does)....I can assure you even without a cooler it will never look like that with the 300v in.

This is N. America, where thin girly-man oils are the most popular, regardless of the application.

What viscosity did he use? I'm too lazy to look.

-Dennis

 

[Al]

He uses RedLine Racing oil.
His Turbo is set up to run rich. Here is a pic of the cylinders:

http://www.b15sentra.net/forums/showthread.php?t=156340&page=9

 

[ssmokn]

I have bought used Turbo cars with great results (2.7T Audi allroad, 6 speed -- was a super car while I had it) but looking at this sure makes me happy that I opted to buy a new '07 STI vs. a used one.

I did look at quite a few used STI's but they all looked like they were abused and put away wet (and I can't say I was surprised by that either).

 

[thr_wedge]

well that redline racing oil at 3k intervals would explain the sludged engine.

From Redline's site:

"To reduce the chance of detonation, our race oils contain very few detergents and are not recommended for street use."

 

[SilverGGA]

Did he use Redline street oil or racing oil?