scoobysp Posted January 25, 2012 Posted January 25, 2012 Thinking about buying a hawkeye scooby but was wondering after reading all the issues how common are the faults with head gaskets going etc. Are wrx`s better than the sti or are they pretty much the same when it comes to engine problems ? My blobeye has been superb on the reliability front with so far only a sensor playing up - cost me £54 to sort so again brilliant. Even thought about a hatch but ringland failures and the mention of chocolate pistons doesn`t fill me with much joy.
spect Posted January 25, 2012 Posted January 25, 2012 Not had a problem with mine in the 6 years I have owned it and it is on 47k miles now. It is also pushing out 27% more power and 45% more torque than standard and been like that for a year with no problems. Go 4 it, you will enjoy the extra grunt of the 2.5!
scooby222 Posted January 25, 2012 Posted January 25, 2012 dont think the wrx's have given so much trouble, maybe down to a difference in how theyre driven? but 2.5 sti's are known to be weak - the last person i had this debate with told me how it was thrashed badly modded cars or hatches with the dodgy map that were the only problems, i believe he sold up shortly after that as his standard 3 year old 30k mile hawk sti blew its headgasket under light load...... thats not to say dont buy one but be aware - either get one with warranty or factor in a budget for strengthening/rebuilding if the worst does happen, that way you can have piece of mind and loads of lovely torquey power
davey l wrx Posted January 26, 2012 Posted January 26, 2012 Thats the reason i avoided a new STI or anything with the 2.5L engine fitted. A nice JDM 2.0L will do me and the tax is half the price for the 2.5...... When i asked the local dealer he gave me the 'party line' on badly modded, not designed for that sort of power, etc.
scoobysp Posted January 26, 2012 Author Posted January 26, 2012 What sort of price are we talking about if it does all go wrong ? Don`t thrash my car and give it a lot of mechanical sympathy with a good warm up and down when I do decide to have a bit fun. Any specific places for buying the jdm hawkeye`s - never had any experience in buying an import before.
paul555sti Posted January 26, 2012 Posted January 26, 2012 (edited) Immy ( juggers ) owns scoobynet on Performance center Manchester PCM Sells loads of nice imports! Edited January 26, 2012 by paul555sti
johnmacdonald Posted January 26, 2012 Posted January 26, 2012 (edited) The 2.5 WRX is a fantastically smooth and torquey motor and in PPP form is almost as quick as an STi. Our 2.5 has done only 32,000 miles but has needed the front and rear struts, secondary air pump and one of the air system valves replacing, plus cambelt tensioner. Definitely most costly of the five Imprezas we have owned, but we love it! I understand that it's not a good idea to mod the 2.5 north of 400 BHP... Oh, and I run it on Millers CFS 10W-60 competition oil and treat it to the occasional drink of Millers octane booster. Also, never hammer it until fully warmed - no engine/tarnsmission problems so far. Edited January 26, 2012 by joshuajames
spenno Posted January 26, 2012 Posted January 26, 2012 Not had any problem with mine (touch wood) and I give mine plenty of abuse.
jef Posted January 26, 2012 Posted January 26, 2012 ran my 2.5 with acl bearings and just forged pistons at 420/430 was fantastic and never skipped a beat thanks harvey smith and darren for that. my best scoobie yet
arch Posted January 26, 2012 Posted January 26, 2012 The block will be on borrowed time if you are running any decent levels of boost through them. This one likely outcome.
monsterenergy Posted January 27, 2012 Posted January 27, 2012 (edited) I used to worry about the 2.5L in the hatch. I read the scare stories and "borrowed time" forum posts and they all suggest some sort of inevitability about an engine failure - suppose it's like prophets of doom with their "The End of the World is Nigh" signs. Reliability is part luck of the draw - part engine care. I have mine up to 345bhp with some wee mods and an Andy F remap... the remap has 'safety features' built in so if yer really worried, maybe Andy F can tweak a remap to help ease yer mind. I don't even think about it any more, had the car 18 months and <touch wood> no issues even driving most of the time on S#. I'm now of the mindset that if it happens - it happens... I wouldn't let it put you off getting the car if it's the car you want. If you want reliability - buy a Volkswagon (but be warned... my old Golf had the bloody engine warning light coming on every other week! lol) Or have you considered buying a Hawk or Hatch that's been forged already? Edited January 27, 2012 by monsterenergy
arch Posted January 27, 2012 Posted January 27, 2012 Fitting gucci internals wont help if the support to the cylinders is still week.
spect Posted January 27, 2012 Posted January 27, 2012 Be interesting to know how many 2.0 engine failures there are. I have heard of more of them around these parts than 2.5s. In fact never yet seen a 2.5 going kaput in these parts but know of at least 8 2.0s. It will depend on how you treat it and what you have done to it if you have not done a good job on it. I expect it is the nature of the beast with performance cars and their engines. Mine is still going strong!
arch Posted January 27, 2012 Posted January 27, 2012 Well i just posted one above but as I said that was down to high boost being used on a n engine which was not designed to take it. That was the point I was making high boost and a semi-closed deck block = problems regardless of whether the rods and pistons are uprated.
spenno Posted January 27, 2012 Posted January 27, 2012 Running high boost on any engine thats not designed to take it will end in trouble be it a Scooby engine or any other engine for that matter.
Gee Wr1 Posted January 27, 2012 Posted January 27, 2012 Stick with your blob it has the true scoob engine a nice revvy 2.0l Oh and we all know blobs are the best lookers too
paul555sti Posted January 27, 2012 Posted January 27, 2012 as above What happened to Mystery Machine? Did he stop posting after problems with his car?
man-with-men Posted January 27, 2012 Posted January 27, 2012 Interesting one. Having owned both 2.0 and 2.5: 2.0 Exposed my blob to a lot of abuse boost, power wise Circa 430bhp/420 lbft Nothing happened and the car is still going strong 2.5 RB320 I'm now limited mods wise Need to forge it to go above 400bhp It worries me and certainly holds me back Great engine but IMHO the 2.0 is better
BalliSTIc Posted January 30, 2012 Posted January 30, 2012 Arch, given you have more of a mototrsport background... define "decent" levels of boost would you? Just wondering *chuckle*
scooby222 Posted January 30, 2012 Posted January 30, 2012 What happened to Mystery Machine? Did he stop posting after problems with his car? yea last post was that he was going for a compression test - only one i saw after that was advertising a set of wheels as he'd sold the car.....
redgnu Posted February 29, 2012 Posted February 29, 2012 Hi, Trish here.....back on the forums after a few years away.... I've driven Impreza's for 10 years. Please excuse me butting in. My scoob '07 WRX 2.5 has just lost the 2nd valve and the power loss was significant. Garage has spoken to Subaru engineers who've said that it's a 'known problem' with this model on high-mileage. Mine has 106k on the clock, but is looked after, serviced, etc. It looks as though this thread might have covered this topic at some point. How rife is this problem. please ? Do we have any comeback, with Subaru, if its a 'known problem' ? Any help on this subject would be gratefully received. Thanks, Trish <redgnu>
BalliSTIc Posted February 29, 2012 Posted February 29, 2012 Second valve? Not quite sure what you mean there... 2nd cylinder perhaps? Would make more sense. Usual probs w 2.5s are piston ringland failures and headgasket probs.
BalliSTIc Posted March 6, 2012 Posted March 6, 2012 sorry, yes, 2nd Cylinder Delayed reply by me too! Thought so... what's actually happened though? Lost power on 2nd cylinder... have they done a compression test I take it? Sounds like it's the piston thats gone, most likely ringland failure... sorry to say at that sorta mileage I don't think you'll have a claim I'm afraid. Fixable, yes... but never particularly cheap. Good excuse for a forged engine rebuild though!
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