urabus retserof Posted November 16, 2004 Share Posted November 16, 2004 Well I took the 2000 Forester L back to the dealer, after having it pressure checked 2 weeks ago ( no leak found ), and it was still leaking. Loh and behold, the press. check failed this time and they have found a loose clamp was the culprit. BS There has never been any sign of external leaking since I bought the car. They must think I'm an idiot. You can't drain the overflow tank twice in a month, and not see signs of a leak. I wish those darn plugs weren't in such a crappy spot, so that I could do a visual to check for internal head gasket leak. Any ideas? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gbhrps Posted November 18, 2004 Share Posted November 18, 2004 I reread your post twice....and I'm still not 100% sure what you're driving at. Are you saying that your overflow tank needs to be refilled twice a month, and yet the dealership says that during their first investigation that there is no problem, and the 2nd time around that they found a loose clamp and you don't believe them? If they did a pressure test and nothing bubbled up into the radiator indicating an internal leak, what do you expect them to do? Why don't you believe them? They've got nothing to hide. Your car is over the standard warranty period and they aren't responsible for your repairs. I don't think they were suggesting that you are an idiot. They can only diagnose what what shows up at the time of the test. If you feel you may have an internal headgasket leak...have them pull the heads, or take the car to another dealership. But watch your temperature guage closely until you're satisfied that you no longer have a problem. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
urabus retserof Posted November 18, 2004 Author Share Posted November 18, 2004 You better read it again. 5 year warranty, it's still covered. They checked it 2 wks ago, found no leak . They check it again, they say they found leak. There is no sign of leak. There has never been any sign of coolant dripping, on the ground, or in the engine area. The clamp that they said was leaking, was spotless. Where did the fluid go? This all happened within a month. Before that, the level was fine. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Setright Posted November 18, 2004 Share Posted November 18, 2004 If you are losing coolant internally, then you would experience some very rough running. Starting in the morning would be a real hassle, as the coolant in the combustion chamber would have to be evaporate out. A leak in the other direction, would leave traces of coolant on the overflow tank, since that is were it would leave the system. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gbhrps Posted November 19, 2004 Share Posted November 19, 2004 Perhaps you should reread your first post again...because I just reread it for the 3rd time and nowhere in it do you say that you purchased a five year extended warranty...which would have changed my comments on your problem substantially. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
coloradosubarules Posted November 19, 2004 Share Posted November 19, 2004 Notice any excess moisture from your exhaust pipe? Possible you have a leak in your overfolw tank that sprays on your engine and evaps? Maybe the neighborhood animals have installed one of those hoses like my hampster had on it's cage so it could drink from your overflow tank and then run away and die? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
urabus retserof Posted November 19, 2004 Author Share Posted November 19, 2004 Perhaps you should reread your first post again...because I just reread it for the 3rd time and nowhere in it do you say that you purchased a five year extended warranty...which would have changed my comments on your problem substantially.A 5 yr drivetrain warranty is standard on this car. Feel free to change away. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
urabus retserof Posted November 19, 2004 Author Share Posted November 19, 2004 Notice any excess moisture from your exhaust pipe? Possible you have a leak in your overfolw tank that sprays on your engine and evaps? Maybe the neighborhood animals have installed one of those hoses like my hampster had on it's cage so it could drink from your overflow tank and then run away and die? No, I've got mine wired to fry the little buggers, if they get close. Nothing noticeable in the exhaust gas. As for the engine evap, there would still be a noticeable residue. Two of their mechs looked at it, and 1st found nothing, 2nd says clamp was loose( It was spotless, no it wasn't cleaned up ). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
urabus retserof Posted November 19, 2004 Author Share Posted November 19, 2004 If you are losing coolant internally, then you would experience some very rough running. Starting in the morning would be a real hassle, as the coolant in the combustion chamber would have to be evaporate out. A leak in the other direction, would leave traces of coolant on the overflow tank, since that is were it would leave the system. Yeah, and there should be a lot of steam on start-up to. I don't know why there are no tell-tale signs, except the level keeps going down. Is it possible that it only leaks when eng is running, but not enough to create the white plume?:-\ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brus brother Posted November 19, 2004 Share Posted November 19, 2004 Now isn't the 2000 prone to EXTERNAL HG leaks? I am beginning to suspect something similar in my 00 Legacy GT, but the techs did a visual and said that when they go, they GO! Is it possible that a small leak is under certain conditions allowing a small stream of coolant to evaporate off on the hot engine, leaving no residue. I know that with my trany leak, they added an ultraviolet dye to the fluid and then after a while, inspected the area with a UV light. This might be a solution if you wish to eliminate the possibility of ANY external leaks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cookie Posted November 19, 2004 Share Posted November 19, 2004 99 Forester. I had the gaskets changed before Subaru came out with adding the goop to fix it. It was very hard to see where the leak was as it evaporated as soon as you started the engine. The only symptom was the level went down a small amount. I check my cars every week so it never got down much. I would not even have suspected the head gasket and crawled under the car with a light to spot it if I had not heard about the possibility on this board. A loose clamp can do this too and be very hard to find until it finally stains around the clamp. Pressure testers are great for the clamps and hoses but the head gaskets tend to leak with temp changes so I doubt that it could be found that way. If this is a Subie dealer they should be quite familiar with where to look for a head gasket leak. I am now running with the latest head gaskets and Subaru's sealer in a belt and braces approach. The coolant level has not changed in a year, so far so good. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Setright Posted November 19, 2004 Share Posted November 19, 2004 Brus Brother is right, get some UV dye in the coolant. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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