251 replies to this topic

[R-Y]

Well a few months ago i took the plunge and bought a Forester. Its a silver MY06 XT luxury in awesome condition (well so I thought). Drove from Newcastle to Sydney to pick it up. Looked awesome, drove awesome. Loved it. Except for one thing............................


Drove it home and it starts to over heat!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Not happy Jan.....

Was fine the whole time when I test drove it, I looded at the coolant and all the fluids and all seemed a ok. THe car drove fine the whole trip home from Sydney to Newcaslte, but then when I went to leave the girlfriends to finally come home (10 minute drive) it started to overheat... Hot then normal, hot then normal..

Thought it was just a thermostat, replace, still overheated. Asked the local radiator place to do a TK test on it. Said it didnt need it, it was the radiotor blocked. so i got the radiator and the engine flushed with new coolant and another new thermostat. Still overheated, (with bubbles in the overflow mind you) so finally worked out my fears were spot on, Head gasket failure. The car is currently sitting in a family friends shed about to be pulled apart. I ordered a VRS kit so basically all gaskets will be replaced while the motor is out. Its been a few months since i bought it and its basically just sat there. Seems like such a waste but hopefully will have it back on the road soon.

Model: 2005 MY06 XT Luxury
K's: 120,000
Colour: Silver


The first week I had it...









Mods along the way












And currently looks like this










Current Mods

Asthetics
- Air Freshener (lol)
- Zerosports Triple gauge pod and pillar pod with Oil Pres/Oil Temp/Water Temp/Boost gauges
- Blacked out headlights
- 06 WRX Bucket Seats in Leather


Engine
- Proccess West Intercooler and splitter
- Proccess West CAI
- Turbosmart kompact BOV
- Xforce 3" Turbo back exhaust
- grimspeed 3 port boost solenoid.
- throttlehappy tune (162kw @ all 4)

Suspension/Handling
- Enkei SAA 18 x 7 rims 45 offset painted Black with Kuhmo KU27s 225/45/18
- 03 WRX wagon Struts and springs

Brakes
- WRX 4 pots with 330mm AVO big brake upgrade
- Rear Liberty GT single pot calliper with 290 x 18mm vented discs
- Bendix Ultimate pads

Planned Mods (in order)

- Centre muffler
- Rear Sway Bar with HD mounts and HD endlinks
- New window tint
- 02 STI scoop
- STI tailghts
- Rear Wing

Time is the greatest hurdle in this build

[Morgan]

Congrats on the purchase! Hopefully you can get the overheeating issue sorted as soon as possible.

Can't wait to see it's progress

[R-Y]

Cheers mate, me to.... Wont be able to post pics and sort out the issue till next weekend as well, as Im off to Hamilton Island on a holiday.. Really hope this is something minor...

[aekOne]

Congrats on the purchase mate! Welcome to the foz club

Hopefully the overheating isn't a major issue and an easy fix. Fingers crossed for you mate!

[R-Y]

Just got home from holidays and purchased a Grimmspeed thermostat.. Not even sure if that is the problem yet but i figured its not going to hurt.. Will take it to my mate (mechanic) when I get it and see if he cant diagnose the problem and quickly change it out for me..

Fingers crossed....

[aekOne]

good luck with it mate, hopefully that helps!

[alexGT]

test drive before you bought?

hopefully just thermo stuck or blockage.

[Matt]

Nice buy

OEM thermostat wouldve been a bit better as the grimmspeed lowers the temp too much i reckon

Give it a good proper bleeding after a flush aswell its easy as to do yourself (as i found out today)

[Grant]

Fingers crossed Ryan, let us know how it goes!

[R-Y]

test drive before you bought?

hopefully just thermo stuck or blockage.

yeah I took it for a good test drive before I bought it and it ran fine.. Drove it all the way home from Sydney to Newcastle as well and it didnt skip a beat.. Was only when i got home and went to do a short trip it started to play up

Nice buy

OEM thermostat wouldve been a bit better as the grimmspeed lowers the temp too much i reckon

Give it a good proper bleeding after a flush aswell its easy as to do yourself (as i found out today)

yeah I tossed up about going OEM, will see how it goes...

Fingers crossed Ryan, let us know how it goes!

yeah will do Grant, hope it turns out well.. It honestly feels like Im cursed to own cars that want to overheat..

[Matt]

Grimmspeed make quality gear so it wont be bad thats for sure, just ive been told the oem thermostat is like the oem tming belt ....good quality and does the job well

But regardless hope it sorts it out for you

[R-Y]

And the problem is solved...... Grimmspeed thermostat turned up today and I put it in straight away, no more overheating... Stoked...


But now I have a new dilema, when I took the underlining off to my horror I saw this..



Split CV boot, getting it fixed at a place around the corner from mine.. CBF doing it myself and the guy who works there has looked after me before so Im happy to go back to him..

But here are some happy snaps...









Stock as a rock, not for long though... Cant wait to get going on the modding...

[Xon]

You like silver a bit?

[R-Y]

You like silver a bit?

yes, how could you tell? haha well i couldnt get red or black... Already been done... (cough) Aek, Morgan (cough) chris'

[4rstr]

looking good man. good to see you got the overheating issue sorted. now need for some lowerage asap

[R-Y]

Overheating issue not sorted, chainged the thermo and the coolant and it still overheated.. Took it to a radiator place and asked them to do a TK test on it to check for head gasket failure.. Didnt do the test but they flushed the radiator and the engine and then replaced coolant, changed the thermostat again and then charged me $260 and said its all good.. Took it for a cruise around town to really test it out last night and sure enough... Over heating again.. Bubbles in the overflow this time... Pretty sure the head gasket is gone so now im stuck with 2 cars that need a new head gasket...

Loving life atm.....

[SAV84C]

Overheating issue not sorted, chainged the thermo and the coolant and it still overheated.. Took it to a radiator place and asked them to do a TK test on it to check for head gasket failure.. Didnt do the test but they flushed the radiator and the engine and then replaced coolant, changed the thermostat again and then charged me $260 and said its all good.. Took it for a cruise around town to really test it out last night and sure enough... Over heating again.. Bubbles in the overflow this time... Pretty sure the head gasket is gone so now im stuck with 2 cars that need a new head gasket...

Loving life atm.....

i'd be going back there and getting your money back seeing as they didnt fix it!

[R-Y]

Im contemplating it but i work away during the week which makes it hard to go down and sort it out.. Had to call in a favour and get the old girl to take the car down for me in the first place.. Just wanting to strart enjoying and modifying it.. All in good time i suppose..

[Evil_VZ-T]

How can you take it back? The workshop did all the things you would do to eliminate/rule out factors that may cause a problem.

The fact that its pushing water out isnt a good sign are you sure the cooling system is bled properly?

Did you check the coolant when you picked the car up?

[Evil_VZ-T]

My b4 would bubble out the overflow once i turned it off.. Had done it for 36,000kms... Due to the fact that i couldnt get an airlock out... Only fot hot going full piss at wakefield