This was a shock to me, was driving on the highway, car was running smoothly then I noticed the temperature gauge was inching up toward danger zone.  I could hear a hissing sound coming from the middle of the engine; I stopped at an auto parts place they were clueless.  From what I have learned water leaks seem to be confined to the radiator and hoses going to and from the engine.  Are there any smaller water lines around the engine? I am driving the vehicle back in 7 or so mile stretches as I was 70 miles away from residence when the problem occurred.  No fun to have to continually pull over and re fill the radiator and have the steam coming out of the other side as I removed the rubber screw from the other top side of the radiator.

Ok. You have heater hoses behind the engine then you have coolant lines running through the intake.

 

Are you losing the water onto the block or out of the reservoir?

The water was hissing on to the engine, like the leak was hitting the engine, and I saw the dripping directly down from the back of the engine.

There are 1 or 2 small coolant hoses under the throttle body, about the thickness of a finger.

Could be a split hose going to the throttle body as vasy said, or a crack or hole rusted in the metal bypass tube that runs along the top of the block on the drivers side. The heater return hose connects to it at the back. Removing the big air box on the throttle body can give you more room to see in that area.

 

Could also be a split in the o-ring for the crossover pipe under the manifold.

Thanks a lot for the probable causes.  I will limp back to my parking space later and then see if I can find a mechanic to fix it then.  I guess it doesn't take much to turn a great running vehicle into a cripple.  2.2 '96 engine in 99 Outback Legacy.

 

So really few options as no one is going to help you fix something like this that makes the vehicle, undriveable, and I don't know any other vehicle that is as prone to engine threatening problems as the old generation Subarus.  I just hope the head gasket is not blown.  I either had to call AAA to have the vehicle towed, which would easily run into the hundreds or be at the mercy of one of their recommended mechanics and have to find my way back 70 miles away or take my chances with my own attempts to keep the engine in the safe range.  

Edited June 14, 201510 yr by ThosL

I don't know any other vehicle that is as prone to engine threatening problems as the old generation Subarus.

I can name about a dozen easy.

Really doesn't matter what kind of car it is, any large coolant leak that goes unnoticed or unchecked is going to write a death cerficate for the engine. Subarus are most certainly not an exception.

Edited June 14, 201510 yr by Fairtax4me

No car is an exception. Actually some Ford and Honda V6 engines were well known, even more so than Subaru, for blowing head gaskets.

 

Another possibility is the o-rings under the the coolant pipe under the intake.

 

But I am guessing it's a heater hose which has nothing to do with the engine itself and should have been checked/replaced with the swap along with the throttle body hoses.

No car is an exception. Actually some Ford and Honda V6 engines were well known, even more so than Subaru, for blowing head gaskets.

 

Another possibility is the o-rings under the the coolant pipe under the intake.

 

But I am guessing it's a heater hose which has nothing to do with the engine itself and should have been checked/replaced with the swap along with the throttle body hoses.

Even air cooled cars like the Corvair were prone to overheating and blowing head gaskets.

The other vehicles I had were V8 GM pick-ups, never had engine problems. 

 

As they say an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.  

 

Most of the work I have had on the car they haven't done much in the way of preventative maintenance.  

The other vehicles I had were V8 GM pick-ups, never had engine problems. 

 

As they say an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.  

 

Most of the work I have had on the car they haven't done much in the way of preventative maintenance.  

The GM engines in pickups were prone to head gasket failures.  The company that I worked for bought a lot of them and just about all of them had a head gasket failure within 2 years.

 

One problem with new designed engines is that the manufacture doesn't put them on a torture rack of stop and go, start and get hot and then shut them off to repeat it.  They hardly ever let the engine cool down and see what the expansion and contractions of the block will do.  This is a problem with all of the manufactures.

2001 Silverado 5.3 v8,   No engine problems ever,, 175k miles.    (knock on wood)

2001 Silverado 5.3 v8,   No engine problems ever,, 175k miles.    (knock on wood)

 

The long blocks on the LS series where great. Let me know when you get knock sensor codes! 

I found the thin hose on top of the engine had the leak, very hard to get to unless you had super thin fingers to change it.  

I was able to do those two hoses myself; another leak has developed from around the water pump which was replaced last fall.  I spoke with F and S the Subaru experts locally and they said that is not a do it yourself hose replacement.  Apparently the hose comes from around the engine down to the water pump.

It is indeed a DIY repair.

2 10mm bolts on top of the head and the hose clamps that go to the throttle body and water pump.

You will probably have to loosen the dip stick bolt as you have to wiggle the pipe in and out.

 

O.

OK, thanks.  I will follow up and let you know how it goes as this must be done apparently with the drip, drip drip when driving.  Too bad those hoses weren't replaced when the water pump was done.

Is the steel line leaking?

The elbow hose that's down by the pump is a somewhat common leak point.

If it's the steel pipe you have to pull the intake manifold off to get that pipe out.

How do I diagnose which it is?  I just bought a couple feet of 5/16 rubber fuel line to do the job if it is the rubber line.

 

If it is the rubber line what are the steps to remove and replace it?  It looks pretty well hidden.

download the fsm. It's invaluable.

 

O.

I'll go back out there and see if I can see where the leak is coming from.  Having had the two hoses over the engine blow out probably the rubber one to the water pump is now going.

Usually pretty easy to tell if its the hose at the pump. It's not hard to get to from underneath. 1 clamp at each end and you can pull it off.

Edited September 15, 201510 yr by Fairtax4me

Leak was from the thermostat hose junction; I pulled the thermostat out due to overheating and left the rubber gasket in.

wut?

And by the way the car runs much better without the thermostat; no overheating, leaking is minimal, can drive at 65 without problems.  Bubbling in the radiator overflow is still happening though not that bad.