Serious Engine Problem

[Dazzler]

Hi. I've only owned my WR1 (no 322) for 2 months, and unfortunately I have a big problem with the engine, and would welcome any help or advice on the following. The car itself has only had 1 previous owner from new (a 60 year old chap), has done 20k miles, has full Subaru service history and is in excellent condition. I'd been looking for a good one for quite a while, and this appeared to be the one, especially when we agreed a decent price for it. However, a couple of weeks ago, I took it for a run - let the engine warm up before really putting my foot down as usual - and after about 45 mins, there was some bad hesitation and stuttering, and a lot of smoke coming from the exhaust. I pulled over and turned off the engine straight away - there was also some smoke coming from under the bonnet. A break down truck carried the car to my house, and the following day, another one took it to my local dealer. The result: they have removed the engine and one of the cylinders has 'melted', and it needs a new engine. Thankfully, as it's a 54 reg, the car still has 2 months left on its 3 year warranty. Does anyone know why it happened?? I've been told it could've been dodgy fuel - I always used Shell Optimax or Tesco 99 Octane. A couple of weeks before this happened, I also noticed a hesitation from the engine - this was the first time I'd taken the car over 100mph. It was very brief, but the car seemed slow on acceleration after this, but on the following days/weeks, seemed ok again. Finally, when I get it back, any advice to ensure it doesn't happen again? We spoke to one of the mechanics from the World Rally Team at Goodwood at the weekend and he advised checking the mapping/ECU. I'm not very technical, so would really appreciate any advice anyone has. Many thanks. Darren.

[Gee Wr1]

tesco fuel.

[marky mark]

Possibly fuel, but more likely MAF or Lambda sensor.

Have they checked for error codes on the ECU?

[Ant]

Or the possability that your WR1 ECU never got the wr1 mapping put in it before sale, as such it would be running with mods without a remap, just a thought. Just had another thought did your WR1 have the modified wastegate control pipework fitted as per the recall as when these pipes split you get too much boost which can damage things.

[Scooby_simon]

Or the possability that your WR1 ECU never got the wr1 mapping put in it before sale, as such it would be running with mods without a remap, just a thought. Just had another thought did your WR1 have the modified wastegate control pipework fitted as per the recall as when these pipes split you get too much boost which can damage things.

Ant, as a new owner, how would I find this out if either of these were an issue ?

[Ant]

Your dealer should be able to tell you if the recall was done on the wastegate pipes, not sure if they will be able to tell if it was correctly mapped though,

[Scooby_simon]

Your dealer should be able to tell you if the recall was done on the wastegate pipes, not sure if they will be able to tell if it was correctly mapped though,

Quinby's have confirmed it was done by the last owner / dealers

Just getting it in writing