Hi Folks i'm new to this site, ive recently bought a My1994 wrx wagon, my 3rd scoob, after owning a 1993 and 2002 version with no problems, i decided to buy another

any way coming down the silp road after a 10 mile drive to work the car just cut out dead. i turned the ignition back on and and the temp was up to max, i then noticed some steam/white smoke coming out on my bonnet vent i got out could smell burning, any ways after 10 mins i turned the engine over and it started, very rough sounding and i spotted the problem water was pissing out of a hose behind/underneath the intercooler. (coolant) Iturned it off and towed it to the garage where i work. (The car had a brand new radiator 4 months ago and a new header tank 7 months ago), what damage could of occured? is this a simple fix ?or could it be a new headgasket? piston rings etc
i have owned it 2 days it felt really good and ticked over quietly.
The oil is clean and the car has full uk service history for the last 3 years and a shod load of japanese history. with 121k miles on clock got it cheap as it needed a bonnet and wing respray, and now perhaps and engine lol
any advice would be appreaciated, UPDATE from yetesrday a mechanic has now had a look and very negative attitude he replaced the hose and had it running but it was misfiring, and then whe the temp stabalised it started to fire on all 4? he aslo says i have bought a dog, again very negative got it cheap (with the intention of righting a few wrongs) attitude there seems to be an airlock or blockage in the system? there is aslo an oil leak from the back of the engine now, havent had the thermostat off yet, Any advice or previous experiences??? should i just get rid, or spend time and money and get it running right ??
i have a feeling this is gonna be a nightmare

 

What did the mechanic do to determine a misfire? Has he worked on subaru's before?

If it was a simple hose split and now an airlock, it wouldn't have anything to do with a misfire, as far as im aware.

If he's adamant its got an airlock tell him to fill the coolant in through the hose from the header tank to the turbo (at the tank end) and disconnect the small hose from the top of the rad to the header tank (at the rad end). When coolant comes out from the top of the rad, replace hoses and top up the header tank. That will eliminate any airlocks.

Once you have fixed the coolant problem - then take a look at the misfire. Try unplugging the coil packs one by one to determine what one isnt firing. Check the coil
packs for cracks and check the plugs too.

 

i dont know exactly what he did i wasnt in work, i know he fixed the split hose and refilled the coolant etc he started it and it ran but then he said it started misfiring spluttering etc, he since began as i mentioned negativley doggiing the car down, he has worked on subarus before also a lot of performance bikes so i thought he'd be suited to do it. he hasnt done anything on it since apart from start taking it to bits well pissed off with em, as i work there i had a hissy fit and told em to sort it, there was also mention of the engines is F###ed, personally i dont think it is,(just think he's got in for the car) it certainly wasnt before, I managed to have the pleasure of driving around 150 miles in it before the problem occured and it felt as it should etc etc.

I will tell him to try what you suggested hopefully get it running and i'll get it to a specialist, thanks for the advice

 

Sounds like air lock and the coolant sensor is probably causing it idle lumpy....may even be worth replacing coolant sensor.

Oh and this so called mechanic sounds very negative i say, take it to someone else who wants to fix it.

 

Just to update nothing has been done as yet with the car, although we have discovered the oil leak is from the rear seal, so it looks like probably be going down the engine rebuild route, on the plus side i only get chraged for the parts and the labour to put them on not take them off, also i get labour for about £25 per hour, the Negative side is i'd rather have gone to a specialist buy time and convinience etc means it will be done at work, the mechanic who will now be working on it has owned and also rebuilt scoob engines, also likes his jap cars so not all bad.

Also while its there i have decided to get the bodywork done keeping the same colour just want the dents and failed paint covering so going to see about a full car respray but just like an over spray on the existing paint any suggestions on weather that is the best way to go?

also back to the engine how long and how much would i be looking at for the rebuild? just curious to see what you think and what similiar experiences you've had? bearing in mind the low labour rate etc, the reason i ask is i wont have a price off them until midweek?