syndrome1

As above really, I've had it 26 days and it has just been problem after problem it stays in safe mode the cel comes on at random the front passenger wheel bearing collapsed and dammaged the hub and now it's decided to overheat! It's quite wierd really I only noticed when my heaters started to blow cold and I saw the temp guage soaring! I checked it over and it's not loosing coolant the fan is working. I had it ticking over on my driveway and it was fine it stayed at the normal position so I took it out for a spin and all was good, however when I pulled back up the drive the heaters started to cool down and the temp guage began creeping!
Has anyone got any ideas what will be causing this kinda crap to happen or are imprezas just a waste of money? As you may be able to tell I'm a little annoyed after spending 3.5k on what is essentially a ticking timebomb

D4VEW557

sell it if you hate it that much.

had mine on the raod a week before it died but just have to get on with. now its back on the road i'm loving it.

i had a similar cooling fault (not on an impreza mind) and it was the water pump.

RA Dunk

Loosing heat too the fans like that is a sign of the head gasket going, If like you say your loosing no fluid, Then could it not be your thermostat going iffy?

Imprezas arent a waste of money but only paying £3.5 k i would hazzard a guess yours is around 12-15 years old and you rag it daily?, age takes its toll, there not indestructable lol

tweaks

iTrader: (7)

front passenger wheel bearing collapsed and dammaged the hub

did you not hear it like,before it collapsed ??? not the quietest things when there ready for dropping off !!

his-n-her-scoobs

iTrader: (5)

Hate to tell you this chum but Imprezas under £3.5k are for enthusiasts or chavs only.

Over the last 3 years mine have eaten;
Breakdowns
2 engines (and 1 giving notice)
2 gearboxes
3 wheel bearings
2 rads
1 power steering cooling pipe
1 top hose
1 tensioner
1 starter motor

Maintenance
2 cambelts
2 sets of shox
3 sets of tyres
2 clutches
2 sets of plugs
2 AC regas
Loads of oil and filters
Lots of paint

Mods
2 sets 4 pot front calipers and vented rear brakes
2 sets Goodridge brake hoses
2 Prodrive ecu's
2 decats
2 Y pipes
2 Prodrive back boxes
2 four wheel alignments (Prodrive settings)
1 JDM rear screen with wash/wipe
1 instrument cluster

Accidents
1 set of alloys

And God alone knows how much fuel. Just a hint of what is to come if you keep it
If you are looking for a reliable fashion statement then find something more suitable, the Scooby aint it.

s c o o b y

could be an air lock mate in the water somewhere . airlocks do funny things!

Sy5

iTrader: (6)

Mine cost me £2200. 10 years old. Full service History (mainly Subaru). I got mine in August and haven't done anything to it apart from tidy up the bumpers. It is nearing the time now when the money has to start flowing. Cambelt service. Brake Pads. Finish body work. Another £1500 should see me good for the next year/service.

Sound's like you have 2 choices. Sell up and cut your losses or spend and get it sorted. I love mine by the way

Splitpin

The CEL does not come on "at random". If it's on, it's on for a reason, and assuming you have a classic shape car (or, slightly more awkwardly on a newage), there is more than enough information available here and elsewhere for you to find out exactly what is causing it.

Fact burst: Wheel bearings can go on all cars, especially secondhand ones.

As has already been said, rule out an airlock first.

What do you expect us to be able to tell you via the internet? You want issues like this diagnosed properly, you need to take the car to a Subaru dealer or specialist.

Appreciate that your experience so far has been a little frustrating but you can get problems of the sort you're reporting with all sorts of secondhand cars, especially given that for all we know you've bought a vehicle that is over a decade old, and which has probably been driven quite hard in that time. As "h n h" suggests, if you dabble in the bottom end of the market you're going to end up with a car with some history and miles under it.

What do you expect us to say? For all we know you might have bought a complete nail, or you might have bought a car which is in fundamentally good condition but that has a couple of minor niggles needing to be sorted. There is absolutely no way for us to know which of those extremes (or points in between) you're on.

If you want to buy a car that is totally trouble-free (whether an Impreza or any other sort), buy a brand new one. If you want constructive help solving the issues you're experiencing, then you'd do well to start with diagnosing the CEL. Might also not be a bad idea to put your car in front of a specialist for a proper once-over.

syndrome1

Apologies for the rant guys it's just annoyed me I like the way it drives and all and the noise haha! It has a full Subaru service history etc i don't use it every day and I certaintly don't rag it! Could it be the heater matrix? It's a odd problem tbh I just don't understand why it's not loosing water. How do I get rid of an airlock? Is ther a bleed screw

his-n-her-scoobs

iTrader: (5)

OK, now we've got that off our collective chests have a look here Scoobypedia | Trusted knowledge for everything Subaru | Knowledge / Reading ECU Fault Codes for how to read the ecu fault codes.

After that have the cooling system sniff tested to check your headgaskets are not the cause of the airlocking, and then use the search button to find out how to refill the cooling system to avoid airlocks.

By the way, mine are used every day and are driven hard, so they can be excused for breaking LOL

Glowplug

iTrader: (8)

Just FYI;
My Scooby is fcukin brilliant 16yo, spent nothing on it really and she doesn't give me a bit of trouble

I know, not what the OP wanted to hear, but hay ho



PS Did i mention, I LOVE MY FECKING SCOOB

SPEN555

Did you not test drive it before you bought?

IMO buying a £3.5k scoob you need at least £5k sat aside to cover any big repair bills.

s c o o b y

when i replaced my rad a couple of months ago on my 99 2000 turbo i just filled it back up left the cap off for a few minutes and all the air came out . but if the air lock is in the little radiator behind the dash it will be hard to get out. but it could also be a dodgy thermostat sometimes working sometimes not i have had these problems in the past on other cars you need to change that first then go from there.

Brett_555_Sti

iTrader: (18)

Everyboby has problems, this link will help:

https://www.scoobynet.com/general-te...nt-change.html

syndrome1

Of course I test drove it before I bought it and all was good the wheel bearing is a give I suppose like was said above they can go on any car! I really hope it's not the head gasket(s)! It's just alot to go wrong in 26 days lol! With regards to the ecl it's the knock sensor causing it. If it was the head gasket what else would I be experiencing?

s70rjw

iTrader: (2)

Did you have the car inspected or did you chance it?
I don't believe all these faults miraculously developed after the seller had off loaded it...
How old is the car, by the way?

RA Dunk

Loss of fluid from your header tank, loss of fluid will cause the heating to go cold because theres not enough fluid circulating the system, if your header tanks ok then you should be safe enough, dodgy thermostat, air lock, water pump

nathanholmes05

mines a old 94 early stl had it 4 months swapped engine twice x threaded one starter bolt (doh) and now its snapped inside but hey ho if you wanted something ultra reliable there's plenty of toyotas out there!

The thing with scoobies you either pay for professionals or you get your hands dirty (becoming all knowledgeable in the process)

There are many on here with the scars to prove it, like hisnhers says you're either a chav or an enthusiast so get yer ruddy hands dirty

first check for airlock, start engine from cold with rad cap off and plenty of water on hand to top it up, just keep brimming it, turn heater on hot full and keep constant check on water level with someone else checking temp gauge and heater performance, should reach halfway point after about 5 minutes, DO NOT worry about over filling the water BUT DONT get too close to the filler as if it has airlocks it will spit boiling water at you!

Refit filler cap properly and let run for another 5mins or so, turn off, let cool down (1hour) restart car and just run it on your driveway till warm again with heater on hot full check carpets around heater matrix area for obvious leaks. If you are still getting problem and cannot see leaks from engine particularly underneath in the headgasket area then next thing to look at would be thermostat.

Apologies for the long winded response but most people i know dont know how to check for an air lock, this is how I have been told and have used it many a time. good luck dude

renny

iTrader: (2)

Sorry,what exactly are you trying to say here!




































You like your car?

Ciaran

iTrader: (16)

To be fair I have had 2 wheel bearings go in the last couple of months. The first one made a racket and it was perfectly clear it needed changed. The second one made not a single noise. I was just driving along turned slightly and it felt strange so weaved slightly and bang the wheel bearing fell into several bits and i had to be recovered home. So not all wheel bearings are clear they are going to fail.

As for a starter motor bolt snapping i can sympathise with that as i did it as well and have ended up tapping out the actual bell housing part as it is engine out to get the old bolt out.

Glowplug

iTrader: (8)

Hell yeah

syndrome1

Man I feel daft all it was was the header tank cap seal had gone belly up and was allowing the coolant to go back on itself and out of the overflow! £2.50 and it's back to it's cool self! It's kinda like being with a high maintenence bird all she wanted was money spending on her

TonyBurns

iTrader: (3)

Next time get the car inspected before you buy or buy it and have cash for a major service and some bills, no 3.5k car will be perfect, especially a subaru, alot are ragged and will break due to lack of maintenance etc.

Tony

STI_Baly

iTrader: (23)

Lol, glad its solved.

greatgonzo

iTrader: (1)

Bloody hell guys you lot should lighten up a bit on this bloke sounds like his had a run of bad luck.
Glad its sorted syndrome1 its always nice when you can fix something for £2.50 especially when people are saying it could be your head gasket

his-n-her-scoobs

iTrader: (5)

True, but you get a more sympathetic reaction if you ask for help, not slagging off the car of the forum as "just a waste of money" and titling it "I hate my Impreza" don't you think?

Big Pete

WE LOVE OUR SCOOBY!

syndrome1

By titling it th way I did it got immediate responses tho diddnt it? I get like this every time I have a problem with a car lol I think it's annoyed me because 3.5k is the most I've ever paid for a car and it's also the newest I've owned (w Reg) and so far cost me the most to put right bad luck I guess

bigbl

i have posted a fair few problems on this forum too mate,you get a few idiots quoting your problem with the "what do you expect" answers but in general,most of us are helpful,after all,most of us will experience problems at one time or another and that's what this part of the forum is for,there is no reason why £3.5k wont buy you a decent scoob,all cars give you problems in general,use the search tool,most problems have been covered by now and look drastic,but are a simple fix.glad you got it sorted in the end

nathanholmes05

See its all about gettin yer hands dirty, £2.50 bargain, a garage might have charged you a lot more. If you get a problem scoobynet or google it, there are answers to everything, its not just **** !!