Hey everyone. Just bought my first subaru last week, its a 2004 WRX STi. it needs a little work but it should be fun when its done. Have been into Audi/VW's for awhile and still own a couple but the impreza is a completely new animal. Ill try to get pics up soon esp. because im sure Ill need help identifying some stuff. Looking foward to learning alot! Alex
well i bought it from a bankruptcy auction and it needed a good cleaning and the hoodresprayed due to a previous owner hack job respray. Then my father was driving it and it started making alot of noise and started smoking out the exhaust. So i got a chance to look at it, it sounds like the shaft in the turbo broke so i have a ported VF39 on the way. also noticed when i was looking around it has eibach springs, adjustable shocks, wingless/debadged trunk, looks like it has an aftermarket downpipe, it has a boost gage but not sure if thats factory or not. also noticed a button that says water i/c spray or something and theres a tank in the trunk for it, is that factory? also there appears to be a forge diverter valve or something attacted to the tmic. ill try to get pics soon but im just trying to figure out what i have as i know next to nothing about these cars. also maybe someone on the forum is familar with this car? its blue, has about 126k on it. any input would be great!
Smoked turbo usually means oil changes werent performed enough, I would suggest an engine flush/removal of feed screens.
yeah i was planning on dropping the pan to make sure nothing was in there, but good idea on the flush, i think ill do that as well.
i do not, i would assume so, but i plan on doing it anyway since it seems the kits are fairly cheap and it doesnt look like a terrible job. any advice on which kit to buy?
No advice on which kit to buy but when I replaced mine at 120k, I went with an oem belt. I'm now at 206k and no problems. Not sure if Sti's are the same or not.
OEM timing belt is fine. No need to go aftermarket. I second the suggestions of compression check, oil pan drop and check the pick up tube screen, along with an oil system flush out. On top of the oil system flush, run some seafoam through the vaccum lines to de-gunk the heads and valves a bit. If the previous owner let the turbo die due to oil issues, there's probably built up crap in the heads and PCV lines.
im hopin so! So heres an update: Put the turbo in this weekend, drove it 10 miles roughly home with seafoam in the oil then changed the oil. after drivin around for a bit it started makin a funny noise when it would start to make boost, so i brought it to my buddys place right away (since i was close to it) and it sits there now. It seems like maybe oil isnt getting to the turbo (thatd make sense why the old one broke). So maybe a plugged oil line going to the turbo, cracked pick up tube? any sugguestions would be great.. contemplating taking it to RS..
