I have a question since I was following info on a newer Outback maybe it held more but anyways I decided to buy antifreeze and mix distilled water myself.. How much coolant does a 97 Outback hold anyways? I did not get close near 2 gals like on outback.org

 

And since it seems advance auto seems to have a sale on a 50/50 mix draining the system looks like I'd still need two bottles right?

 

I think the system is something like 6.5 quarts?

Just about every Subaru is approx. 1.5 to 1.75 gallons. Thus a single bottle of concentrate will do the job.

 

If you want to use premix or the new Subaru blue stuff then you will need two bottles and there will be a little left.

 

GD

There's always some fluid left in the system after draining. So don't expect to get the spec amount back in.

 

If you've flushed the system with water, then the undrained fluid will be water. In that case, calculate how much concentrated coolant you need, and add that first. Then top up with water. That way you'll end up with the correct mix.

Got it thanks, how rare is it to have one of the plastic end tanks to crack open? The radiator. Is as old as the car

Plastic tanks are the failure point. If it overheats they seem to fail faster.

Hmm the overheat might of did it At least it happened before I took a long trip. I really wanted the Koyo radiator but I could not wait the long shipping times..

 

Anyone know what the bolt size is for the radiator fans? I only have just one holding in the passenger side one because all the others snapped off on the other one.. I don't want to guess.. And while i'm on that you know the wire harness for the radiator plugs and all the runs behind the fans? Well it seems like the last owner broke the clips that it plugs into, so it just hangs down and I have nothing to support the center part of it.

Yep - not that unusual. I've seen at least three radiators do that - where the plastic cracks somewhere on the tank - it often is nowhere near the seams either. Just old plastic I guess.

 

GD

Yeah I was a little puzzled where it cracked but yeah old age

Last time I was at the dealer I asked about the price of a gallon of coolant. Subaru blue lists at $9.98. That's way cheaper than any auto parts store brand around here. Wish I had known that months ago.

I pour half the bottle into an empty gallon jug and fill both back up with water. Use just over a gallon and a half and the rest gets put in the trunk for future use if needed.

Autozone has premixed for $5.99 a gallon but that's a sale price... anyways radiator fan bolts are m6 1.00