pip's 2006 forester xt rally wagon

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guess its about time i start a journal ...

Engine Mods- STI longblock (-8,000 miles) Stock redone heads, Exedy clutch and flywheel, Cobb SRI ,Samco hoses, Motul Fluid, Kartboy shifter bushings

exhaust- stock DP n cat to a homemade catback with moroso resantor and mangaflo race muffler

17x7 drag wheels with 215-60-17 yokohama at/s Ebay STB's

Subtle Solutions Front skid plate Rally Armor Mud flaps


when she was new and i worked at plaza tire (hence the name)

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muddin in the front yard

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timing belt problem
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out having fun

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how it sits right now

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skid
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Welcome to California :)

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Welcome. Beware tuning 2.5 litre turbos. Standard pistons are rubbish, failure is common on modified engines/tunes.
 
How many miles on the timing belt before it died?
 
Gidday PXT

Rally said:
How many miles on the timing belt before it died?
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plazaxt said:
It died at 71,000 miles I was pretty bummed that day I also had the oil pickup crack and had to upgrade that before it took out another motor.
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What a bugger, mate :sad:.
Had one die on a work car once. It just stopped dead. No other damage.
Had you modified the valve-piston clearance in any way? Shaved head? Stroked?

Probably why Subaru originally recommended replacement of the camshaft belt at 84 months or 66,000 miles, whichever is the sooner. With any Turbo engined car, I would always be doing this kind of maintenance sooner rather than later.

One of the reasons it was so important to me to get the N/A 2.5L was that the maintenance is always high on turbo-engined cars, even if not driven particularly hard ... My brother's turbo Mazda 626 was the same. High maintenance.
Turbo diesels are different. Diesel engines are designed to be very much stronger than petrol engine donks from the start. 20:1 to 25:1 compression ratios sort of make that mandatory.
 
Yea it was a stock motor i was gonna do it at 90,000 but it didn't make it, I feel ya on the turbo's ( my eclipse needs a tbelt at 60k) but I need my boost
 
plazaxt said:
I was driving and a lil puff of smoke came out and it stalled, it took out the valves n pistons so I found a sti shortblock
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Bugger :cry:

plazaxt said:
It died at 71,000 miles I was pretty bummed that day I also had the oil pickup crack and had to upgrade that before it took out another motor.
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Most modern engines are pretty strict on timing belt replacement intervals. As you read these pages you'll see again & again its stressed not to exceed 100,000kms (60,000miles)

Hopes its all smooth running now...
 
Ratbag said:
Probably why Subaru originally recommended replacement of the camshaft belt at 84 months or 66,000 miles, whichever is the sooner. With any Turbo engined car, I would always be doing this kind of maintenance sooner rather than later.

One of the reasons it was so important to me to get the N/A 2.5L was that the maintenance is always high on turbo-engined cars, even if not driven particularly hard
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Subaru do the timing belts at 125,000km since 2006. I don't know of any extra scheduled maintainance that the XT engine gets over the X and XS and they don't suffer from the head gasket problems that eventually effect all N/A 2.5 models. At 190,000km my 2007 XT has been faultless and uses no oil between 12,500km services which is more than I can say for my brother's 150,000km 2003 X which has had the left head gasket done and uses at least a L of oil between changes.
 
Nachaluva said:
Most modern engines are pretty strict on timing belt replacement intervals. As you read these pages you'll see again & again its stressed not to exceed 100,000kms (60,000miles)
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Toyota changes the timing belts on their V6 like I have in our Camry every 150,000km. They forgot to do it on mine and it wasn't changed until the 292,000km service. Even the service guys were amazed that it had lasted all that time. They did the idler pulleys too but much to my annoyance didn't do the tensioner or the water pump. You'd think that would be automatic by that time. Still, at 328,000km it is running perfectly and still uses no oil between 10,000km services.
 
plazaxt said:
It wasnt the tbelt which failed first it was a idler that froze n took out the belt , that's why I love my rotarys.
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Thats why people here recommend doing the idlers & tensioner with the belt.

Yeah I'm a big fan of rotaries too, only 30+ parts :biggrin:
& a dead straight torque "curve" all the way to the redline, no dipping :biggrin:

guzzla said:
Toyota changes the timing belts on their V6 like I have in our Camry every 150,000km. They forgot to do it on mine and it wasn't changed until the 292,000km service. Even the service guys were amazed that it had lasted all that time. They did the idler pulleys too but much to my annoyance didn't do the tensioner or the water pump. You'd think that would be automatic by that time. Still, at 328,000km it is running perfectly and still uses no oil between 10,000km services.
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Wow, that's amazing...Toyotas are almost as amazing as Subarus lol :monkeydance:
 
All engines- as do all cars- have their strong and weak points. The better engines just have more going for them than against. Toyota definitely make reliable engines, but my own preference has always been against transverse V6's and such like. Changing spark plugs- though not so often these days is a nightmare in most of these applications. Parts are also more expensive, and the engine generally is more than the tyres and suspension can deal with. Rotaries work really well, but also have their limitations- otherwise Mazda would use them in more models.

As for the turbo engines needing more attention than non turbos, this is only partly true. I own one of each. They get serviced at the same intervals. The only difference being that the turbo gets better quality and different viscosity oil. It also gets better tyres and suspension but that is more how it is driven than anything else. That has changed with the 2.5 turbo which has issues with it's weak pistons and dodgy oil pick ups. I know of a number of 2.5's which have died because of the pick ups and the weak pistons.
 
Rally said:
All engines- as do all cars- have their strong and weak points. The better engines just have more going for them than against. Toyota definitely make reliable engines, but my own preference has always been against transverse V6's and such like. Changing spark plugs- though not so often these days is a nightmare in most of these applications. Parts are also more expensive, and the engine generally is more than the tyres and suspension can deal with.
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Yeah, changing the rear 3 plugs requires the removal of the fuel injection I believe but at only every 100K it doesn't happen too often. I don't know about the cost of parts as it has never needed any other than the timing belt and that was cheaper than my Forester's. I love that V6 though - so creamy smooth, quiet and flexible and incredibly economical - about 15% better than my Forester.
 
No doubt- a nice engine. I had a Kluger as a company car- and the engine impressed. Sadly, most of the rest of the car did not. Auto transmission overhauls are very expensive on V6 Toyota's- just getting the box out is a massive effort. Same thing with some VW's and most other transverse V6's. There is so little room to get stuff out and often only the dealer has the tools to do it. Then there is just getting access to things like alternators, starter motors, water pumps and the like. You are right too about the fact this is not that common as the parts are generally long lasting. Which is just as well. Thank God Leyland and other British manufacturers are no longer around!
 
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My first homemade exhaust broke after 5 years of abuse ( didnt have a 3" bender so i had to cut n weld straight 3" i know it was ghetto)
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now with no more rattles and a couple of proper bends i had used my old moroso res. and mangaflow race muffler cause i liked the sound. Total cost was under $300

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