well, today, after a lil bit of freeway driving, bout 20 min or so, i pulled into a parking lot to grab a bite to eat, and come back to see a puddle under my car. First thoughts, "hmm...poor guy that was here before me must have been leaking coolant." but, at closer inspection, it was me. sooo, i pop the hood to find that my overflow bottle was absolutley full to the brim, wich was were i was leaking from. In feeling my upper radiator hose i found it was very soft, no presure to it. Drove it real nice and soft for the rest of the way home, and in checking it at home, i wasn't leaking any more, but the coolant level hadn't mooved in the reseviour, pressure was back in the hoses though also. i've felt no diffrence in the power of the car, temp gauge is right were it should be, not to hot. but i did get a lil bit of a burning coolant smell inside, nothing increadibly new, but stronger than usual.

 

Sooo, i've got a couple suspicions, but figured i'd ask if any one has had a similar problem so i can try and by pass the trouble shooting stage here. my thoughts...thermostat? too much cooling sys pressure.....head gaskets! ooo i hope not....(this car still has stock heads and head gaskets at only 89k miles, normal time to do head gaskets on a turbo is....?)

 

well, thanks alot

Dan

When was the last time the cap was replaced? And if recently, are you sure it was tight? Did you take the cap off at when you looked for the leak?

Here's what I'm thinking, the cap is either bad or wasn't tight, so when the system got some pressure it pushed pasted it, where of course it goes to the recovery tank. Then if you check the radiator it's self, you may not have noticed it was a little loose, and actually tightened it for the drive home. Which why everything was normal when you got home. I've done this before a number of times.

 

On a side note, every time I wash the Brat, it rains. No matter what time of year, or whot the forcast. It's weird.

Well, just a suggestion from past experience from owning Turbos. If at any time theres a hint of a leak, check every hose on that sucker. If it feels weak, replace it. I found a bad rad output neck once, the thing was almost completely collapsed from the clamp (previous owner). Run it till its at operating temp, then when your under the hood grab the trottle linkage and give a few tugs. Look for squirting coolant from hoses, specifically the turbo cooling hoses.

Do you have "Autozone" stores in your area? They have a tool loan program and one of the tools you can borrow is a coolant system pressure tester. A great way to find the more hidden leaks.

no no no, i know exactly where its leaking from. It's leaking from the coolant resevour bottle, it gets too full and starts to leak out of that.

 

this morning after driving the car for a lil while, on an almost empty resevouir (i poured some out) and a full radiator ( i filled it up) i ended up with the same scenario. and, to my disapointment, i found bubbles in the resevoir, looked like a carbonated drink bubbling like it was, you know the little bubbles that rise through the drink.

 

I'm not likin this, i'm thinkin my head gaskets are finaly toastied, just looking for a lil bit of verification.

 

Thanks

Dan

That's what it sounds like to me. A faulty HG could pressurize the cooling system like that, so even though the engine isn't overheating, the cooling system is so pressurized it boils over the resevoir tank.

 

Keep a sharp eye on your temp gauge that, from what I could tell yesterday, the temp was fine the whole time.

 

Also, lets give credit where credit is due... it was ME that noticed the puddle under your car

I had a bad thermostat that was causing a similar problem.........but the temp gauge was also showing very hot.

 

Dont be too quick to jump on the bad head gasket bandwagon....

 

1. Make sure the coolant is actually flowing.......check if both your upper and lower hoses are hot.....and is the radiator hot? if not then it could be your thermostat or water pump.

 

2. warm up the vehicle without the radiator cap and check for bubbles. (or take it to a mechanic that can detect exhaust gases coming from the radiator)

 

Just a few ideas.......I dont have all the answers but keep lookin'

yes yes, jay, it was you, and thanks, i probably would have just disregarded it as some one else, but yea.

 

I can't run the car w/o the rad cap, its like old faithful, it just spews.

 

Thanks again

Dan

If it does a geyser when you hit the gas then I retract everything I said earlier and agree its probably a head gasket. Good luck with it.

Over on the New Gen Forum, this is a popular topic. And all the signs that you are having leads up to only one thing, unfortunatly. A blown HG

well, thats no good, any one got na extra car for me to drive? :-p Thanks for the conformation guys!

Tex...got some extra time this week?

judging from how your car behaved on the drive down to seattle and then back.... the car is still drivable for weeks... if not months! :-P I didn't see the temp rise at all.

Note to Dan:

 

stop cleaning your subaru

 

they like being durty! hehehe