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How to prevent ringland

71K views 82 replies 18 participants last post by  STI'dude 
#1 ·
I been reading a lot about ring lands failures, but never came across a way to prevent it if possible. Any suggestions? I had a 12 wrx
 
#3 ·
From my understanding, correct me if I'm wrong... The ring land issue is mainly on the the STI's. And it happens on completely stock and can happen on any tune.

IMO if there is no tune, there is a better chance of warranty coverage if it does happen. A tune can have the dealer deny the warranty claim no? One of the reasons why I'm keeping mine stock except for the tints and overlays.

Do your regular maintenance and keep receipts!
 
#5 ·
Well Im not worried about the warranty moreso to say, but I do want a reliable car, seeing as the car I came from was damn near bulletproof.

Stock is boring. You can't back up the stock tune & replace it if you need to see the dealer?

Wht mostly on stis if they have the same motor?
 
#6 ·
It was on an earlier thread... It was discussed... Not sure why more on the sti and less on the wrx. I'm on the iPhone so it makes it somewhat difficult to search on my end and post. When I get on my notebook, if I remember I'll post the link up if I'm able to find it.
 
#10 ·
The EJ257 and EJ255 are NOT the same motor. There are a number of differences: pistons, piston dish, crankshaft, main bearings, oil journals, head volume, quench area, compression, etc.

Who told you they were the same motor?
 
#22 ·
The newer STis have adopted the much-touted hypereteutic pistons; Subaru made a big deal of this before voices in the wilderness cried out, suspecting that a bug was reinvented as a feature.

From my view the new pistons were the right move to make, but not because of their strength. They are intended to reduce emissions, and that's far more important (though I admit if one's car has a blown piston the finer points of clean air design are harder to appreciate...).

Still, more cars run than don't, so more cars pollute than have blown pistons and the overall concept is not unsound.

Now, as to whether something can be done to prevent a failure, I suppose the first thing I'd do is leave the car alone provided the factory map is adequate. The failures seen I don't think could have been prevented on the stock cars; on modded cars maybe they could, maybe not, but the owner is paying anyway.
 
#36 ·
If this hasn't been posted here yet, it should be a sticky as it is on IWSTi.

The Truth Behind The Subaru EJ-Series Engines - Tech-Knowledge - Import Tuner Magazine

EJ engines are not inherently weak at stock power levels as was already said. According to this article, and the tuners represented in it, good power can be made safely so long as you don't treat it like a Civic and bolt parts on without a *good* tune. And if you don't know what you're doing, stay away from open source ECU tuning devices.
 
#45 ·
mangostick said:
They're "safe" if that's what you're getting at. What OTS tunes are not is individual to the car. If you want solid reliable power on a '12 going with a cobb stageII (downpipe and tune) will yield nice results.
Every car will take a one-size-fits-all map differently, the same way with the stock map. I've got datalogs from cars that love the Cobb maps that won't knock for anything, and got logs where the car is pulling 2-3° FBKC on every WOT pull (FBKC events on PT pulls, too, but they're not as scary). As a general rule, Cobb maps are pretty conservative, and safe to run; however, OSFA does not always apply, and datalogs should be done to verify the map is taken well.

mangostick said:
and fyi.. the turbo's ARE the same between the 3G STI and WRX.. the only difference between the VF48 on the STI and the VF52 on the WRX is the the compressor housing. The STI VF48 doesn't have a flange where the VF52 does. Output and efficiency wise they are exactly the same. That is one of very few similarities though. This is why you might see problems on WRX models that you dont see on STI's and vice-verse.
zax said:
Do you have compressor maps to prove this Shawn?
They may or may not be the exact same turbo, but the VF39/43/48/52 all put down similar mean numbers.
 
#49 ·
Just to clarify, I wasn't saying to stay away from OS tuning in general, like Cobb. I was referring to the tools that allow you to monkey with tuning parameters yourself, as doing so without knowing what you're doing could easily cause damage to your engine. Still, I found the article informative. Can't say I won't change my mind, but for now, I'm going to stick with a stock powertrain until the warranty is out. Good luck, whichever route you go! Personally, I love the stock power, but I'm coming to an STi from the Legacy. Every time I drive my Legacy, I'm reminded why I bought the STi. :)
 
#50 ·
zefram47 said:
Just to clarify, I wasn't saying to stay away from OS tuning in general, like Cobb. I was referring to the tools that allow you to monkey with tuning parameters yourself, as doing so without knowing what you're doing could easily cause damage to your engine. Still, I found the article informative. Can't say I won't change my mind, but for now, I'm going to stick with a stock powertrain until the warranty is out. Good luck, whichever route you go! Personally, I love the stock power, but I'm coming to an STi from the Legacy. Every time I drive my Legacy, I'm reminded why I bought the STi. :)
There are OS base maps just like there are Cobb base maps. OS and ATR both allow you to modify maps, so an overzealous laptop monkey can just as easily blow their motor by tinkering when they shouldn't be. The big difference (shy of SD tuning, which isn't applicable on mild setups, and wouldn't likely be implemented by one of said laptop monkeys) is whether you want a proprietary device or a laptop as a flash medium.
 
#53 ·
SubiEj255 said:
Just wondering. Is the ots Cobb tunes classified as a good quality tune?
It's a base map; one-size-fits-all solution to EM. Some cars take the map well, some don't. You won't know until you flash it on your car and datalog. As a general rule, Cobb puts out an alright map.
 
#56 ·
SubiEj255 said:
Ok so I my car don't like it then what? Get a tune for my car?
Contact Cobb and have them fix the problem. You're paying for their support of their product, as well as the IP behind the device/maps. If that doesn't work, look to a third-party for help remedying the situation.

SubiEj255 said:
Also I've been seeing that most of the Cobb OTS maps are for 91 octane. We use 93 here in MD how would this effect the tune?
It would provide a bit of a detonation buffer, as the map will be detuned a bit to run on the lower octane. You wouldn't be the first person to do that as a safety net.
 
#57 ·
Contact Cobb and have them fix the problem. You're paying for their support of their product, as well as the IP behind the device/maps. If that doesn't work, look to a third-party for help remedying the situation.


It would provide a bit of a detonation buffer, as the map will be detuned a bit to run on the lower octane. You wouldn't be the first person to do that as a safety net.
Ok i see, now with a detuned tune I wouldn't be getting the full "effect" of it would I?

:confused:

Cobb has maps for 91 and 93 octane.
Ohhhh I didn't know this. I'm just getting my questions out the way before I get so I kno what I expect. Make sense?
 
#58 ·
SubiEj255 said:
Ok i see, now with a detuned tune I wouldn't be getting the full "effect" of it would I?
The car is held back a bit due to the decreased knock resistance 91 offers vs 93. Running 93, you're still detuned a bit, but you have the knock buffer at hand.

Picture you are playing baseball with your nephews at a family gathering. They're all around 12 years old. Are you going to be throwing 80MPH heaters at them, or will you dial it back a bit to something they could actually hit?
 
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