Hi there. Noob to this forum, but I have done several searches, and can't find the same symptoms as what we are having, hence the post. I purchased a 1996 Legacy LSi from a friend of a friend. No problems known at the time of purchase. I took the vehicle in for an oil change, as I always do on new vehicles, and when I pulled in, popped the hood, it was reported that it was "raining" coolant...and there was a 'clicking' noise coming from the top radiator hose.
After the oil change, including all fluids checked and refilled if necessary, I was worried about the vehicle, and called a friend who works on all of his vehicles, including Subs he has owned. We looked at it for about 20 minutes, and couldn't find anything wrong right away. As we were about ready to close everything up, we noticed steam coming up from around the radiator, got underneath, and determined that there was a leak, but were unable to determine exactly where from. We decided to order a new radiator and replace it this weekend.
Before replacing the radiator this weekend, I decided that I would just verify that we were, indeed, leaking. Ran the vehicle for about thirty minutes, and nothing. It was dry as could be. About this time I was but also because it wasn't leaking.
So I decided to return the hoses, and other items purchased, but keep the radiator in the event we would need it. Today, I drove for about 20 minutes, parked for 60 minutes, drove for another 20-30 (highway speeds), parked for 75 minutes, drove for another 20-30 minutes (highway speeds), opened the engine compartment to finish the replacing of the washer fluid pump, and the clicking noise started, followed by some coolant leaking. By this point, I'm absolutely :-\ .
I looked in the overflow tank, and it was pretty low. I added some water to it, and a bit more coolant leaked out, and that was it. I now can't get it to reproduce the same symptoms. So the question is this...two ideas have been thrown around.
1) The radiator, or radiator hoses, have some leaks in them, so replace the entire unit just to be safe (and keep it easy).
2) The water pump has a leak in it.
Since I'm new to repairing vehicles, and to diagnosing these things, and since I can't seem to find anyone else who has had a "clicking" noise from the top radiator hose, I thought I would ask you all for some ideas.
Any thoughts would be greatly appreciated!