hi all.

can anyone advise on this please before i consider buying this car by the weekend. thankyou.
buying a subaru impreza turbo n reg wagon automatic.

i recently viewed the car and all seems well ,starts ok etc. but the thing that is putting me off was when i opened the bonnet there was brown water stains aroud the expansion tank bottle on the right side and to the left side of the car, does this suggest head gasket issue? expansion bottle brown liquid colour, just old rusty water? i asked the owner and the car does not overheat! its going in for a mot tomorrow.
can anyone help me please as i dont want to make a mistake on buying a poorly scooby.

thanks to all.
stu.:

 

How did the seller explain the rusty water in the engine bay? When was the coolant last changed? If in doubt, walk away...Does it have any service history? Rusty water in the expansion tank hints of poor maintainance to me. Best of luck. Bob

 

this is common. the header tank or cap could be leaking hence the water stans. the rusty brown water is not idicative of head gasket failure or indeed a problem. Its probly just dirty old coolant. In fact my fresh pink coolant looks brown in the tank but as soon as you drain some out its bright pink.

 

if the water is all rusty i would walk away something is corroding whether its the radiator or engine or header tank i mean if i saw my coolant going that colour i would have investigated it before selling