Ok so I picked up an Sti (Finally) and right before i left for offshore I noticed after driving hard it would heat up and coolant would spray on the engine (from an unknown source) but with normal driving around town temp gauge never goes above normal temp. Well I did some looking around on NASIOC and iWSti and worse case is the headgasket and stretch head bolts. If that is the case (I hope not) Im going to have to replace the head gasket. Now Ive heard ARP is the way to go and then heard different stories with the head gasket its self some say OEM some say aftermarket. Now I don't plan to turn this car into a race car I don't plan to make 550 whp in it. I just want a nice clean car with some power. Any suggestion on which head gasket to use and ARP really the best? Currently the car has a FPgreen and supporting mods for that turbo and was tuned with ECUTek. Future plans are fairly basic just a FMIC and EWG and if I have to replace the head gasket im going to go ahead and do the TGV deletes, while im there and then it will be off to the turner to pull off ECUTek and go back to the Cobb Access port. So I maybe looking at 425hp give or take. Now I was told might as well put new pistons and blah blah blah but I dont have that kind of money for a full build, if I did well I would just buy a built block and say screw it come on 600. Any suggestion would be great.
blown headgaskets on sti is rare from what ive seen, but not impossible. i would do a coolant system pressure test to see where the coolant is coming from. it could be a pin hole leak in one of the coolant hoses. if nothing turns up with the coolant pressure test i would recommend a cylinder leakdown test. give me a ring if you need any help. (678-343-1961)
You have to pull the motor to get the heads off. Might as well slap new pistons in there since you will have access to them.
I'm going to start by testing and checking everything before I go head gasket, but I'm just getting prepared for the worst. I would love to do a complete rebuild, but I have to pay someone to do the work, because right now I have no place to do it and I have a very limited supply of tools, So the rebuild would end up costing an arm and a leg. Not to mention I will have to find a place that I would trust to do this kind of work, living in South Mississippi my choices are very very slim.
Why OEM bolts? It seemed from what others are saying is the stock ones then to stretch if that's the case wouldn't new stock ones do the same thing after time?
If the coolant isn't coming for the overflow tank then I seriously doubt you have a head gasket issue.
Well its spraying on the the cam covers and the over flow tank is boiling( I could hear it inside the car) When I get in from offshore im going to Drain flush refill and pressure check the system and hopefully I will have a leak somewhere that only appears as a problem when driving harder then normal. But I would think if it leaked under hard conditions, driving around in stop and go traffic would cause the same getting hot situation.
sounds like headgasket..my car has been doing about the same thing for months and is just getting bad
The stock bolts and gaskets that come stock on the STi are best. Period. Typical SUBARU headgasket failure, most unfortunate. Most likely caused by someone overheating the engine previously. While you have the engine apart, make sure to check (and change when needed) and piston ring gaps. Also make sure the heads are not warped. They are likely straight, but dont overlook it.
Headgaskets aren't very common but do happen. I would check the radiator caps first, those fail very often.
i had the lines crossed from the upper resevoir to the radiator and overflow tank. It didn't overflow for a month or two of normal driving but the first hard pull while tuning it looked like a geyser.
The OP should check this before dooming the headgaskets. I forgot about this one. I've seen a few cars done this way...it will cause overheating eventually.
Ok here comes my dumb question of the hour, English please. I know there is the one closet to the turbo and then the actual radiator. Ill check all that tomorrow if I can figure out what im looking for. I drive the car today to Mobile and back which is about 120 miles round trip and had zero issues. But this cant be a good sign Thats what the inside of my overflow looks like.
Combustion gases in the cooling system AKA headgaskets. Thats what the overflow on ALL of the EJ25D's look like when they've blown their headgaskets.
Not very pretty Let us know if we can help. If you get it done down there and the mechanic has any questions about anything, we will be happy to help.
the guy doing the work used to work for a few dealers in Florida and Alabama. I was going to have a shop do it but im sure the labor alone would be at least 1k
yea, considering the engine has to come out. plus im adding the Turbo inlet, TGV deletes, EWG, and a few other things. Figured the motors coming out might as well do what I can now.