So tonight my plastic part at the top separated from the aluminum! New Radiator on the way. It happened close to my house so no overheating of my freshly rebuilt engine!

Good thing you were close to home ! New rebuild and all !

Replace the upper and lower hoses if you didn't replace them with the engine.

Also a good idea to get a new radiator cap. Most new radiators don't come with a new cap for some reason.

Had the radiator on a 2003 Outback separate (and also blow the upper radiator hose) due to a damaged radiator cap.

 

Failing head gasket had contaminated the coolant with oil - which caused the rubber pad in the radiator cap to swell to a noticeably larger diameter than the metal piston it covered.  Apparently the cap got put on with the rubber pad swollen enough to seal the outlet to the overflow tank and the result was enough pressure to pry apart the radiator and explode the upper hose.

 

Bottom line - make sure the radiator cap's rubber pad hasn't gotten swollen, especially if you've had head gasket issues...  It should be the same size as the piston it covers.

i dont know if your car hasthis hose but i had i think a 98 legacy that i hadnt driven much for a while i was on unemployment, and the second day i drove a long ways to a new job it overheated in the morning. AAA towed it to my local shop and they said it was the radiator, but i literally drove it across the street after they replaced it for 300 bucks and it was already overheating again. it was the short l-shape hose right in the center front of the engine, maybe lower center i forget. most people dont know its there till it deteriorates.

Edited December 16, 20169 yr by 1997reduxe

There are several small hoses on these engines.   Look up the cooling system diagram in a FSM.   They should all be replaced at about the same time you replace a radiator hose due to age, to continue reliability and avoid overheating due to low coolant, which is death for head gaskets.