hi all,
im new to this and this is the first forum iv joined.
i brought my first impreza wrx wagon (import)1994 standard, last friday 6th, after test drive noticed a leak from the top hose, couldnt find anything else wrong with it, no smoke oil was clean ect ect.. so i brought it.
next day on the saturday took it to a jap specielist to get a new top hose, he took it off and said that i would need a new rad as someone had over tightened it and broke the small pipe coming from the rad, so orderd new rad an top hose. he put the hose back on and toped up with coolent and i drove home. yesterday i came out to check the coolent level before driving back to garage to get the repairs done only to find the was nothing in there, so i filled it up with water put the cap on and drove a few miles to the garage, on the way i could hear garguling sounds and water working its way round somewhere. i pulled up switch the engine off, sorted what i needed to with the fella and was told to park it up in a bay. now when i went to start it it was trying to turn over but did not sound right at all sounded like swooshing an bubbling gargling so i stoped tryed it again an same thing,tryed it a third time and it stoped turning over an i was just getting a single tick when i turn the key. i went in and ask for him to have a quick look, straight away he said starter motor, but im not so sure but not no mechanic.
im lost, he said he would get the starter motor sent of and reconditiond for £100 or £200 for a new one. so have left it there.

could i have done something wrong by doing what i did with the water? could it of sezied? also car was on a slope drive with engine faceing up hill (not sure if this matters)
any help info would be much appreceated. thanks in advanced.

 

You need to burp the system as they are prone to airlocks. From empty you need to slowly fill and leave the rad cap off as this is where the air will release. Once the engine is up to temp the thermostat will open and the level will drop. When this happens you will need to add more coolant and keep squeezing the top hose to force the air out of it. Also when doing this to put the fan on inside the car.

 

Battery?

 

thanks for the reply.
he put a volt meter on an was reading over 12.4 and put a booster pack on it and it just clicks once when you turn the key??

 

Hit the starter with a hammer

 

he said he will bleed the system when he does the rad and coolent,
i take it this is the same thing?
just a bit miffed as to why it wont start.
thanks for you reply.

 

i would but the car is at the garage. and would of thought he would of tryed that himself. could there be any chance of water getting in the engine an it sezied?

 

THe engine will need to be running to do this though

 

If you are loosing coolant at that rate it's possible it was the head gaskets at fault, now enough water has leaked into the bores such that it's hydro locked and therefore will not turn over. Best to remove the plugs and try spinning it over again.

 

thanks,
i drove the car back 200 miles on friday night and the temp gage didnt go over half way, and checked the dip stick in the morning and all seemed fine.
but the sounds it was making then not starting does seem to go with what your saying.

 

does anyone know if hydro lock could still be a possable issue?

 

Dude, How would WE know?

Have you removed the plugs and spun it? Have you done anything except ask on here?

From what you're saying, yes, it could be, but the headgaskets would have to be absolutely fcuked for THAT much water to enter the cylinders, and you say it doesn't lose water, or go over half on the temperature gauge.

Get it to a REPUTABLE specialist, NOT your mate, NOT a back street garage, and ask them to diagnose.

These cars are NOT cheap to run. If you try and run them/repair them/service them on the cheap, you will end up with a wreck. Trust me.

 

Sounds like you have an airlock, and to boot the battery/starter is faulty.

I doubt very much that the engine has siezed at all.

By the way, you didn't BROUGHT it from anyone - you BOUGHT it from someone ......

 

But surely he would have brought it home after he bought it.

 

No mate, that would have sezied the engine