Ok well the update is I have the car back with the same problem. I'll start from the start incase people can't be bothered scrolling back to read all the posts.

First I have an oil leak, I was advised it was rocker covers, took my car to garage, job done.
I was advised it'll smell abit for next few days or so as excess oil will still be burning away etc, fair enough.

2 weeks later I'm still losing oil, smell is still there, took car the garage, advised its now the cam seal, booked it in. When doing this job they called me to advise me that my cam belt and water pump could really do with being changed, also one of the rocker covers were still leaking. So I agreed for the work to be done. Picked the car up and was advised again, car will be abit smelly and might get abit of smoke coming from bonnet because of the work done, but it's fine don't panic.

Next day I was due to drive about 2 hours to get to where I needed to go. Roughly 1 hour into my destination, a lot of smoke is coming from under the bonnet and the temperature gauge in the car is quite high, I pull over immediately. Shut the engine off and pop the hood.
Called for my road side assistance, they turned up about an hour later, they diagnosed it being the top radiator hose not being tightened up it was hanging lose, due to it being lose it had been rubbing on the fan belt so caused a hole in the hose. So I rang the garage to explain what has happened, I told them my road side is bringing the car back to them so they can sort this. They agreed that they will replace the pipe as it was there fault it hadn't been tightened after they did the work onit the day before.

Anyways I get the car back later that night, they actually dropped it off to my house because it was late and I had my son.

Over the next few days I didn't use the car, I car share going to work so I didn't need it. After those few days I traveled to the gym, only to find my fan was on when I got to the gym ? Strange but I waited afew minutes for it to shut off which it didn't so I just turned the engine off anyways after checking the temperature gauge was all good.

This kept happening on all my journeys, so I rang the garage to tell them the situation, they said bring it in. I took it back, they "tested" the car and said all was good, mechanic couldn't get the fan to kick in. So I asked what do you mean ? They said driving it and the fan wouldn't come on ? I said you do realise you won't hear the fan in the car, it has a loud exhaust. They seemed abit shocked. Anyways they then said you do know the fan is suppose to come on sometimes ? I said yes I understand that but not when it's raining outside and it's freezing. So in the end we agreed they would change a switch.

It went in yesterday, they had to keep it over night with not being able to get the job done in time, so I picked the car up today, they informed me they changed a switch, they drove 5 miles and fan came on and went off after about 30 seconds..

Anyways next thing I know they give me a bill of about £121 for changing the switch.. I said I don't want to pay because my car was fine until your mechanics have done whatever they have done, in the end the manager agreed to take labour charge off and just charge me for the switch. I agreed but said I wasn't expecting to pay so don't have money on me, I will sign an IOU or something to say I'll pay for the switch, but I said what if it isn't the switch and you gonna charge me again for something else next week ? The manager told me that it was 100% the switch, they have diagnosed and tested it, it's definitely the switch. They won't charge me for anything else if it still happens because that is there diagnostics. I said right ok, fair enough.

I get home after the 10mile journey home.. Fan is on, waited 4 minutes, stayed on, rang the garage and spoke to receptionist, she said she will call me back. So in all waited 6 minutes and fan was still on with engine temp gauge sitting fine. So I turned engine off.

Maybe an hour later the manager calls me back and has now asked for the car to come back again, I said I'm busy over weekend working etc so earliest I can get car to you is Tuesday. That's fine but we also need to keep it for a couple of days. They are giving me a courtesy car for those few days.

That's is everything I think. Sorry it's long but I'm getting annoyed now

Reading through your post #31, it seems like the fan problem occurred after the top hose came off, dumped the coolant and the engine overheated.
Worst case scenario in my opinion would point to head gasket(s) failure.

I'm assuming the garage has checked/done :
Pressure checked the cooling system including pressure cap for leaks.
Cylinder leakage test to see if cylinder pressure is leaking into cooling system internally.
Hydrocarbon Sniff test on cooling system while warming the engine up.
Run engine up to temp,check the stat is opening and coolant is circulating correctly.
The wiring harness which runs along the bottom of the radiator hasn't come adrift and melted against the exhaust manifold/headers (can cause random electrical/fan issues).

IIRC, the stat should be fully open at around 91 degC and the fan cuts in around 96 degC - the actual coolant temp can be checked with a infrared temperature gun.

Hope you manage to get it sorted

Mick

Still could be an airlock but how does the heater perform.

Afew people have asked about the heaters, I assume you mean turn the heater to hot setting and if it blows hot air then it's all good ? Which means no air lock and head gasket is fine ?

The heaters do work, I set the setting to hot and hot air does come out

Mick - I would assume the garage would check any of these before they try to change any parts, however I would have to guess not. :-(

Headgasket
 

Definetley sounds as headgaskets have fried and the garage is completely INCOMPETENT :cry: even if heaters blow hot it does not mean the headgaskets are OK unfortunately and you'll be damn lucky if it's anything else mate sorry

I'm not doubting your knowledge Zany, I'm no expert in this department I'm a computer nerd. However that is the first time I've heard someone say that

Have they even done a sniff test?

No they haven't, they said heaters are working so it's nothing serious..

After owning over 30 impreza's over a 12 year period I have experienced quite a bit.

they spent money on a switch, but havent bothered even testing for hydrocarbons in the coolant . . . . .

This all sounds vey expensive.

Its possible they airlocked the system the 2nd time they had it when doing the water pump change which caused the top radiator hose to blow off.

Definately need to check those head gaskets.

I can't believe ANY garage doesn't have a sniff test kit? It takes like 5 mins to check and very little cost for the chemical to test!
Diagnosing a HG using the car heater is laughable!!!
Maybe now worth naming the garage so that other people can avoid?

Could it be the coolant temp sensor causing fans to come on early? Faulty sensor giving bad readings?

Not yet bro issue hasn't been resolved and they have taken his car back aswell so not really all bad just sheer incompetence you never know hopefully they'll give it to a specialist and get it sorted for him and surprise us!! So no naming and shaming just yet I reckon

Lol ZANY,spoil sport :D
Fair comment tho,might be a bit to early to name&shame.

[QUOTE=ossett2k2;11765865]I can't believe ANY garage doesn't have a sniff test kit? It takes like 5 mins to check and very little cost for the chemical to test!
Diagnosing a HG using the car heater is laughable!!!
Maybe now worth naming the garage so that other people can avoid?

Could it be the coolant temp sensor causing fans to come on early? Faulty sensor giving bad readings?[/QUOTE]

typically the car struggles to start when hot or cold if the CTS is faulty,
the dash gauge isnt a guide as the ecu gets it`s information from the same sensor but from another pair/sensor within it, think like the boss hold 2 x sensors in one.

It`s one of the first things I check if a car comes in with a temp related starting/running issue, can easily be seen thus checked in most diagnostic software, it doesn't always bring an error code on either.

as you say why they don't carry a sniff test kit is very strange, even a backstreet garage like myself carries such basic tools :thumb:

Can I buy a sniff test kit ? Relatively cheap ? I'll test it myself just for piece of mind if it's not to expensive

I hear what your saying @JDM Stig
I recently found out the oem temp gauge is rubbish,I had a bottom hose fail and the gauge read normal,luckily I had my laptop plugged in so when temps reached 105* I thought I best pull over,temps reached 110* and the gauge still read normal!
Now bought a aftermarket gauge as the oem one is so unreliable!

even the cheapo kits are £50, the Draper kit I got was about £110 iirc.

Have you lowered when the Fans kick in, when I remap I always drop the temp for the fans to help, Impreza`s always seem hot lol

Don't think I can? Have a classic running ESL and don't think that's an option to drop temps for the fans?

Oh dear........who ARE these lunatics?:cuckoo:

Have you checked the rubber seals for perishing on the header tank and radiator caps?

Mine had both perished and was causing temp fluctuations which I thought was the onset of HG failure.

Certainly worth checking, but dont the cars tend to actually over heat when these are iffy ?

Just dropped the car off back at the garage, they said its booked in for 2 days so they can get to the bottom of this.
Hopefully get my car back before the 2 days though ;-(

did you ask what they had in mind ?

Yeah, they had an idea it was thermostat...

Sounds like they don't know what they are doing. Thermostats fail safe, ie: 99.9% stick OPEN, which means the car never reaches working temperature, let alone needs fans on all the time.

Just had a phone call, they have ordered a new thermostat, it's gets delivered tomorrow morning. They will get it straight on and give it a road test then let me know what's going on

so they knew your car was coming in, told you what they wanted to try and didnt bother ordering the parts, nowt like fuc king someone about . . .