K
k. ote
I took my '04 Canadian-Spec STi on an extremely long trip last month, and I
thought I'd report to the group my experiences. It was relatively
uneventful (but exhilerating) for the most part, except for one major hitch
which put a bit of a crimp in the vacation experience.
Before I left I went through a full 48K checkup: rad flush, etc.
Turns out I needed some new brakes, and some new rotors. The rotors were
about 50% worn through before the "just throw them out" point Subaru
recommends. I was thinking of moving into ceramics, but it turns out that
you need brand-new rotors for those or else they'll squeal like a stuck
pig: the compound doesn't mix well with the glaze the standard OEMs from
Subaru leave behind. Oh well, I guess I'll have to live with all the extra
brake dust for the time being. I can do that.
Rather than pick up new rotors and re-learn the stopping characteristics of
a strange set of (much cheaper) pads, I had a dealership part-way up on my
trip machine the existing rotors and replace the pads with OEM STi pads.
Screw the expense. They took off a bit more than I'd have liked, but told
me they'd be okay until the next pad change at least. Ka-ching.. $1900.
Better than a massive $3000 for a full set of STi rotors, the machining,
installation, etc, I guess.
Then, when I was out in the middle of goddamn *no*where, I stopped to take a
picture of a black bear and got a very curious (but subsconsciously
familiar, from back when my '02 WRX had that head gasket problem) sickly
sweet smell up my nose. At first I thought the bear had some kind of
disease, but after moving up the road a few hundred feet I got that
familiar sinking feeling like I'd missed something really important. I
stopped, and keeping one eye on the bear tooling around in the grass,
popped the hood. HUGE smell. Lots of fried green mess splattered around in
the engine compartment. Like someone with a horrible mucous problem used my
engine to blow their nose.
Looking closer, (tough thing to do) the main, large diameter hose connected
to the radiator had a rubber sleeve on it, and antifreeze was leaking
apparently from inside that sleeve, dripping onto a nearby line, and then
dripping down from there almost directly onto the electric radiator fan,
which was essentially atomising it and spraying it over every internal
component (just about) in the engine compartment every time it activated.
Luckily no warning lights had gone on, and the current temperature gauge was
right around normal. I checked the overflow reservoir and saw it *right*
down near the bottom. Ouch!! But not empty yet!
I let the engine idle for a bit, not under any load, and poured our little
remaining drinking water into it. (Low mineral PPM.) Of course the first
two motorcycles that happened by couldn't spare any of their own drinking
water for me. Grr. All I needed was about 250 mL!!
I limped on to the next stop, taking it easy on the engine, nothing above
2000 RPM, eyes like a hawk on the temperature gauge, and rumours of the
temp gauge being "just another idiot light" that stays put unless something
horrible goes wrong flying around in my head. After all, it was staying
put. Right where it was. No movement. At all. Up, or down.
I bought a bunch of drinking water and filled up the overflow reservoir to
the "full, hot" line while my wife ferociously read through the instruction
manual about coolants and what to use and how to replace the coolant and so
on.
I couldn't reach anything though, because as it turns out the socket wrench
kit I brought with me for just such an occasion was imperial while the nuts
for the intake vent right overtop of where the leak were metric; to top it
off, the nearest imperial sized socket big enough to fit, was also just big
enough to spin on the nuts! ****!
We limped on, and eventually I made it to a payphone (about 300KM.) I called
my wife's dad, who's a great mechanic. He told me a few interesting things:
told me water was okay, check to make sure there's nothing black in the
overflow, don't mix red & green types if I do manage to find some real
antifreeze, drive it easy for now, etc. Thanks, Dad #2!
I also found out that Subaru CARE doesn't give technical support. Doh. To be
expected, I suppose.
So like clockwork, every 60 KM, I'm refilling the overflow with water and
we're getting nauseated by the ripe smell of frying antifreeze on the
hotter engine components. The temperature outside was about 25 C according
to the outside temperature gauge, so to prevent the horrible smell entering
the cabin we left everything (everything!) off and cracked the windows
slightly.
As the evening grew colder and the temperature dipped to 10 C, the overflow
no longer needed to be filled with any more water and it looked like the
car was basically in thermal stasis. Unfortunately it was getting dark, and
if I did get stuck, I would've been screwed hundreds of kilometers from
anyone, and dangerously close to some really nasty wildlife. (Wolverines,
bears, moose, etc.)
Eventually (about 700 KM later) I get to the next town on the map, and it
had a Subaru dealership in it. Into a hotel we went. Let the gouging
begin!! $150/night! I couldn't help but think of Joseph and Mary. Sure, we
weren't giving birth to anyone special, but $150 friggin dollars for a
tiny, cramped little room with no airflow? I was definitely feeling like
some kind of unwilling martyr..
I checked on the Internet later and found the exact same room as ours was
normally $110. "Sorry sir, that's an Internet-only deal." Dammit, Westmark!
And there's an Internet terminal right over there in the lobby..!
The next morning I started the car up and tried to drive it to the
dealership. About five minutes into it, there's the smell, there's a
hissing noise, and I pulled over into a parking lot and popped the hood.
Water was spraying everywhere from the hole, all over the place. Big leak.
The overflow was emtpying steadily, so I shut off the car and reassured my
good friend STi that I'd get the best care for him. It was heartbreaking.
My wife had to console me..
Meanwhile, the antifreeze and water I'd put in the night before was sizzling
and steam was billowing up in front of me. Argh! My buddy! Plus, for
everyone who thinks the STi's engine temp gauge is "just another idiot
light," it turns out you're wrong. It rose slowly and accurately, and came
back down similarly when I shut the engine off. Subaru roadside care sent
me a tow truck and off to the local dealership we trundled.
So what ended up being the problem? At first I thought that all those
goddamned bugs that were clogging up my rad were the problem: the extra
heat was putting new stresses on the radiator hoses and they popped on me.
Then I came to my senses after their mechanic (who himself owned an STi--a
huge confidence-builder) told me that the larger rubber hose was rubbing
against the smaller, hotter metal one and that generated a hole. After all,
the car's a badass rally champ. A few bugs in the rad? Gimme a break..
Anyway, he replaced it (after a lengthy week-long wait for the replacement
hose to be flown in,) thoughtfully washed down the engine, and I drove off,
a happy camper. (Literally.) It took about five or six carwashes with
careful water-spraying later before the smell finally began to leave the
vehicle.
I'm going to have a chat with my dealership about this; I'm now due for
another servicing (thousands of KMs, I told you) and there's going to be
words exchanged. I also have before and after photos.. god bless digital
cameras, I say. ~70 photos prior, and another 70 after of the entire engine
compartment--which is how I noticed that prior to the fix there was a
sleeve on that hose, and subsequent to it there wasn't.
The mechanic who fixed the problem told me that in all the STis they'd sold
(five or six) not a single one had had the problem mine did. Apparently
those people were damn rough on their cars... Wayyyy rougher than I, by his
descriptions. He was baffled. I'm baffled too.
Well, chalk it up to experience: bring a proper socket set next time; make
sure there's lots of water to drink; check all the fluid levels I can;
bring some heat-proof tape.. ah, but really: who can predict these kinds
of problems?
I'm back in civilisation now.. but the bug's bit me. I drove thousands of
kilometers, and now this city I live in feels tiny and cramped. I didn't go
far enough.. Not Far Enough! If I don't need jerry cans to make it to the
next station that can give me 91 octane and some booster, I'm not far
enough!
lol
Best trip I've ever taken, even with the rad hose hiccough. The car was a
dream come true. Next time I'm using my summers though! Screw those mushy
all-season Pirellis..
thought I'd report to the group my experiences. It was relatively
uneventful (but exhilerating) for the most part, except for one major hitch
which put a bit of a crimp in the vacation experience.
Before I left I went through a full 48K checkup: rad flush, etc.
Turns out I needed some new brakes, and some new rotors. The rotors were
about 50% worn through before the "just throw them out" point Subaru
recommends. I was thinking of moving into ceramics, but it turns out that
you need brand-new rotors for those or else they'll squeal like a stuck
pig: the compound doesn't mix well with the glaze the standard OEMs from
Subaru leave behind. Oh well, I guess I'll have to live with all the extra
brake dust for the time being. I can do that.
Rather than pick up new rotors and re-learn the stopping characteristics of
a strange set of (much cheaper) pads, I had a dealership part-way up on my
trip machine the existing rotors and replace the pads with OEM STi pads.
Screw the expense. They took off a bit more than I'd have liked, but told
me they'd be okay until the next pad change at least. Ka-ching.. $1900.
Better than a massive $3000 for a full set of STi rotors, the machining,
installation, etc, I guess.
Then, when I was out in the middle of goddamn *no*where, I stopped to take a
picture of a black bear and got a very curious (but subsconsciously
familiar, from back when my '02 WRX had that head gasket problem) sickly
sweet smell up my nose. At first I thought the bear had some kind of
disease, but after moving up the road a few hundred feet I got that
familiar sinking feeling like I'd missed something really important. I
stopped, and keeping one eye on the bear tooling around in the grass,
popped the hood. HUGE smell. Lots of fried green mess splattered around in
the engine compartment. Like someone with a horrible mucous problem used my
engine to blow their nose.
Looking closer, (tough thing to do) the main, large diameter hose connected
to the radiator had a rubber sleeve on it, and antifreeze was leaking
apparently from inside that sleeve, dripping onto a nearby line, and then
dripping down from there almost directly onto the electric radiator fan,
which was essentially atomising it and spraying it over every internal
component (just about) in the engine compartment every time it activated.
Luckily no warning lights had gone on, and the current temperature gauge was
right around normal. I checked the overflow reservoir and saw it *right*
down near the bottom. Ouch!! But not empty yet!
I let the engine idle for a bit, not under any load, and poured our little
remaining drinking water into it. (Low mineral PPM.) Of course the first
two motorcycles that happened by couldn't spare any of their own drinking
water for me. Grr. All I needed was about 250 mL!!
I limped on to the next stop, taking it easy on the engine, nothing above
2000 RPM, eyes like a hawk on the temperature gauge, and rumours of the
temp gauge being "just another idiot light" that stays put unless something
horrible goes wrong flying around in my head. After all, it was staying
put. Right where it was. No movement. At all. Up, or down.
I bought a bunch of drinking water and filled up the overflow reservoir to
the "full, hot" line while my wife ferociously read through the instruction
manual about coolants and what to use and how to replace the coolant and so
on.
I couldn't reach anything though, because as it turns out the socket wrench
kit I brought with me for just such an occasion was imperial while the nuts
for the intake vent right overtop of where the leak were metric; to top it
off, the nearest imperial sized socket big enough to fit, was also just big
enough to spin on the nuts! ****!
We limped on, and eventually I made it to a payphone (about 300KM.) I called
my wife's dad, who's a great mechanic. He told me a few interesting things:
told me water was okay, check to make sure there's nothing black in the
overflow, don't mix red & green types if I do manage to find some real
antifreeze, drive it easy for now, etc. Thanks, Dad #2!
I also found out that Subaru CARE doesn't give technical support. Doh. To be
expected, I suppose.
So like clockwork, every 60 KM, I'm refilling the overflow with water and
we're getting nauseated by the ripe smell of frying antifreeze on the
hotter engine components. The temperature outside was about 25 C according
to the outside temperature gauge, so to prevent the horrible smell entering
the cabin we left everything (everything!) off and cracked the windows
slightly.
As the evening grew colder and the temperature dipped to 10 C, the overflow
no longer needed to be filled with any more water and it looked like the
car was basically in thermal stasis. Unfortunately it was getting dark, and
if I did get stuck, I would've been screwed hundreds of kilometers from
anyone, and dangerously close to some really nasty wildlife. (Wolverines,
bears, moose, etc.)
Eventually (about 700 KM later) I get to the next town on the map, and it
had a Subaru dealership in it. Into a hotel we went. Let the gouging
begin!! $150/night! I couldn't help but think of Joseph and Mary. Sure, we
weren't giving birth to anyone special, but $150 friggin dollars for a
tiny, cramped little room with no airflow? I was definitely feeling like
some kind of unwilling martyr..
I checked on the Internet later and found the exact same room as ours was
normally $110. "Sorry sir, that's an Internet-only deal." Dammit, Westmark!
And there's an Internet terminal right over there in the lobby..!
The next morning I started the car up and tried to drive it to the
dealership. About five minutes into it, there's the smell, there's a
hissing noise, and I pulled over into a parking lot and popped the hood.
Water was spraying everywhere from the hole, all over the place. Big leak.
The overflow was emtpying steadily, so I shut off the car and reassured my
good friend STi that I'd get the best care for him. It was heartbreaking.
My wife had to console me..
Meanwhile, the antifreeze and water I'd put in the night before was sizzling
and steam was billowing up in front of me. Argh! My buddy! Plus, for
everyone who thinks the STi's engine temp gauge is "just another idiot
light," it turns out you're wrong. It rose slowly and accurately, and came
back down similarly when I shut the engine off. Subaru roadside care sent
me a tow truck and off to the local dealership we trundled.
So what ended up being the problem? At first I thought that all those
goddamned bugs that were clogging up my rad were the problem: the extra
heat was putting new stresses on the radiator hoses and they popped on me.
Then I came to my senses after their mechanic (who himself owned an STi--a
huge confidence-builder) told me that the larger rubber hose was rubbing
against the smaller, hotter metal one and that generated a hole. After all,
the car's a badass rally champ. A few bugs in the rad? Gimme a break..
Anyway, he replaced it (after a lengthy week-long wait for the replacement
hose to be flown in,) thoughtfully washed down the engine, and I drove off,
a happy camper. (Literally.) It took about five or six carwashes with
careful water-spraying later before the smell finally began to leave the
vehicle.
I'm going to have a chat with my dealership about this; I'm now due for
another servicing (thousands of KMs, I told you) and there's going to be
words exchanged. I also have before and after photos.. god bless digital
cameras, I say. ~70 photos prior, and another 70 after of the entire engine
compartment--which is how I noticed that prior to the fix there was a
sleeve on that hose, and subsequent to it there wasn't.
The mechanic who fixed the problem told me that in all the STis they'd sold
(five or six) not a single one had had the problem mine did. Apparently
those people were damn rough on their cars... Wayyyy rougher than I, by his
descriptions. He was baffled. I'm baffled too.
Well, chalk it up to experience: bring a proper socket set next time; make
sure there's lots of water to drink; check all the fluid levels I can;
bring some heat-proof tape.. ah, but really: who can predict these kinds
of problems?
I'm back in civilisation now.. but the bug's bit me. I drove thousands of
kilometers, and now this city I live in feels tiny and cramped. I didn't go
far enough.. Not Far Enough! If I don't need jerry cans to make it to the
next station that can give me 91 octane and some booster, I'm not far
enough!
lol
Best trip I've ever taken, even with the rad hose hiccough. The car was a
dream come true. Next time I'm using my summers though! Screw those mushy
all-season Pirellis..