I picked up a Pretty Sweet 2002 L.L. Bean edition OBW for $1600. It needed some work, and I have her running (and Stopping!) pretty well now. But when I stop after a drive you can smell Coolant. It doesn't leak much, and I can't really tell where it's coming from. But with 265K Miles on her, my 1st thought is the water pump. I add about a Quart of Coolant every 300 miles / Tank of Fuel. Any other ideas besides Water Pump?

 

Assuming it is the WP, has anyone changed one on an H6 before? Any tips, tricks, advice?

With a known coolant leak, I would be checking it a lot more often than that. A quart low is pretty dangerous. I have no experience with the 6s. But it is typically death to headgaskets to overheat while low on coolant.

Usually there will be a build up of gunk where the leak is, if it is so slow there is no liquid evidence.

there's an oil cooler - check those lines.

 

not pushing too much into the overflow is it?

Water pump is driven by the timing chain. It's a big job (and not common).

 

 

There are many other possible suspects, though. Rubber, and steel lines running across in front of the oil pan to the oil cooler. Similar running back along the bottom of the driver's side head to the heater core.

Check for green crunge on the bottoms of the head gaskets.

Head gasket. Check for wetness around overflow.

 

Subaru water pump failure is almost unheard of and almost certainly not the issue. There's a water pump weep hole at the bottom of the timing cover, check it.

 

You don't get much easier than a known leak. Just look for and find the leak.

On the EZ30 engine, the water pump is inside the front metal timing cover.  They are nearly indestructible, are run by the crankshaft and cannot leak outside the engine unless the front and rear timing covers come unsealed.

 

Look to something outside of the engine itself.  Hoses, connectors, etc.  There are a bunch of them that could be leaking, and only under pressure.

 

Emily

On the EZ30 engine, the water pump is inside the front metal timing cover.  They are nearly indestructible, are run by the crankshaft and cannot leak outside the engine unless the front and rear timing covers come unsealed.

 

Look to something outside of the engine itself.  Hoses, connectors, etc.  There are a bunch of them that could be leaking, and only under pressure.

 

Emily

 

There is a weep hole in the bottom of the main timing 'rear' cover, which if the shaft seal leaks, could drip externally. This I guess was to put an air-gap in between the coolant and the oil.

i have a 2001 Outback LLBEAN, it's got 225K miles. This sound like what i just went through. My head gasket was damaged and the exhaust was leaking into the coolant system and over pressuring the coolant system. Which in turn made the coolant overflow into the overflow bottle and never return to the engine.  so after a while the coolant system would run out of coolant and overheat.

 

fill your radiator up all the way (with water if you have to) and drain your overflow bottle all the way. drive it around and let it sit and idle for a while. check the overflow bottle to see it it's full. If it is, let your car sit and cool for a long while, if the overflow bottle is still full than you probably have a headgasket blown. After the engine cools remove the radiator cap, pay attension to see if it's under pressure when you remove it.

 

My repair was $2600, running great now though.

 

 

You can get by for a while by getting a transfer pump and transfering your coolant from your overflow bottle back into your radiator once it cools, so you don't have to keep buying coolant as oftern.

 

Even if you have to get the head gasket replaced it sounds like you would have a great car though. I love my LLbean outback.

If mine had less rust and didn't need all the brakes and 4 struts and 4 springs and every suspension bushing replaced I'd fix my head gasket too- as in put in a used motor.