overview
2010 WRX 103,000 miles
always used 5w30 oil, changed every 3k at the dealer (whatever they use)
K&N drop in air filter since 30,000 miles
Running stage 2 since 84,000 miles
-COBB catted downpipe
-COBB OTS stage 2 map
-Spearco TMIC
i drive "spiritedly" pretty much every day. i dont beat on it or abuse it, but i dont drive around like grandma either. full target boost and WOT regularly.
OK, so as I've mentioned previously, I was getting some overheating issues. which after some research and logical deduction, determined to be failed headgasket. So i scheduled up with IAG to get a headgasket replacement and 105k service (timing belt and water pump, etc). I ultimately decided to have them just rebuild the entire bottom end with forged pistons, new bearings, etc. that way i wont have to worry about a broken ring land in the future.
so heres a shot of the failed gasket:
pretty obvious failure. the combustion pressure was pushing into the coolant just as i suspected from the symptoms. luckily, even though the car did slightly overheat, IAG cleared the heads with a clean bill of health and said no resurface or rebuild was necessary. the cylinder walls were also still in excellent condition. no visable damage from the failed HG. you can also see that the failure was ONLY in the water jacket, and did not cause any oil/water mixing. the oil looked fine and clean the day i checked it before taking it up to IAG. no (or very little) coolant was getting into the combustion chamber.
next lets look at how the bearings have held up:
left to right: main bearing, rod bearing upper, rod bearing lower.
as you can see, the main bearings look perfect (they all look like that), and the lower portion of the rod bearings are in good condition as well. however the upper bearing is showing signs of slight detonation. half of all of the rod bearings look like that. im sure the detonation is due to the OTS cobb stage 2 map. IAGs builder assured me that this was NOT an oiling issue at all, as evidenced by the lack of wear on the main bearings or the other half of the rod bearings. Im glad i decided to have IAG just tear it all down, the rod bearings (well the top half) would have eventually worn down.
new motor will have a protune for sure.
everything I'm getting done:
R&R Engine, Disassemble, Blueprint, Reassemble
Bore/Hone block
Manley 99.75mm forged pistons
ACL race main and rod bearings
ARP head studs
Killer-B oil pickup tube
Injector Dynamics 1000cc
Grimmspeed 3-port EBCS
Full-Race header (i had this already, they are reassembling with it)
COBB intake (i had this already, they are reassembling with it)
Mishimoto radiator
105k Service
-Gates racing timing belt
-new water pump, thermostat, gaskets, seals, etc.
Exedy Stage 1 clutch
Pro-tune @ IAG
most of this stuff i was going to do anyway. and i figured i would take this opportunity to knock out all the big stuff while they had the motor apart anyway. itll save me a ton of work (and labor cost) down to road for when/if i decide to add more power mods. and again, the bearings needed it anyway.
