Scnooby

Sorry I've zombied this thread. Just wanted to add that the gaskets had definately gone, resulting in a head skim and new gaskets (roughly £1100). There's still some bubbles coming through to the upper coolant reservoir, but nothing like the rate they were coming in at. Thanks for the advice received on the forum - hope the final answer is useful to someone else in future.

Hi all, First post so please play nice Just picked up my first Impreza and I'm in the process of servicing it and general fettling while trying to work out exactly what needs doing. I have no real basis for this other than an increasingly iffy feeling about the trader I bought the car from (started post purchase). I decided to pop out the filler cap from the coolant reservoir on top of the turbo (I'd not thought to check it in pre-purchase inspection, having checked the one on the rad) and there's some dried beige stuff inside the neck, though the fluid itself looks fine. I've also noticed a noise like flowing water coming from the left side of the engine bay when sitting in the car. Its only there at low revs (can't believe I didn't notice this before buying). If I fire it up having topped up the turbo reservoir I can see bubbles in the coolant tank, and having replaced the cap, theres a small bubble coming up in the expansion tank next every ten seconds or so. I've already changed the oil and that looked absolutely perfect - no mayo, just dark oil. The temp guage is normal throughout a 2 hour blat. So, have I been an absolute spacker and bought a blown head gasket (and if so, anyone know how crushingly expensive a replacement will be?), or do I have an airlock and just need to drain and refil the cooling system? Any advice will be much apreciated as I'm starting to get worried... Cheers.