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Automotive Question

H

Howard H.

Well-known Member

Hi All -

I could use some "country advice" on what I'm missing on my daughter's school car. Its a 2005 Subaru Impreza.

She was in a slight fender bender several months ago and I put a new radiator in and got it running. The problem is - over a period of weeks - all of sudden, the engine will start heating I've got to add coolant.

The weird part is that it runs rock-solid "normal" for several weeks until it decides to go hot. The AC is cold - and even on the hottest days - the engine won't heat until it decides to pull that trick.

I put a new thermostat and new radiator cap in the other day and thought it was cured for the past 3 weeks until it did it again today. The overflow tank was full - and it seemed to be sucking back into the engine after it cooled off - but I still had to add about 3/4s of a gallon after it cooled all the way off.

Can a tiny air leak on the overflow/suction tube cause it to lose coolant over time? The engine seems fine - no missing, no white smoke, oil stays clear, etc...



Thanks for any ideas on what I'm missing,
Howard
 
Subarus of that vintage have a habit of needing head gaskets.

Overheating usually does not happen until coolant level goes below a critical level. The engine is probably using some coolant all the time. when it gets too low, it overheats. Overheating aggravates a head gasket problem. Aluminum engines of today's cars do not tolerate overheating well.

I would look it over good for any leaks. Then, take the spark plugs out. They should all look a nice light tan. If one is cleaner than the rest, it tells you where coolant is going.

Given that it takes a couple of weeks to get low enough to cause overheating tells that the coolant loss is slow. Too slow to show up as white smoke or oil contamination.
 
The 2.5L Subaru engines of that era had headgasket issues. The new headgaskets have that problem corrected. I'm not sure if there was a official recall on them but it would be worth a look.
 
Did you pressure test it?

If not, fill it with coolant, pressure it up, watch for a leak.

Sounds like a slow leak. If it does good for a few days its probably getting low when it heats.

If nothing shows, pull the plugs, let it sit overnight with pressure, spin it through and watch for coolant in a cylinder.
 
You may have air trapped in the system. It will tend to force coolant out as it expands, and eventually there won't be any coolant in contact with the thermostat. Then a bunch of coolant will blow out and the engine will overheat.

It's difficult to get all the air out of many newer cars. Some have bleeders in the system to allow you to let the air out. Some cars require you to pull a vacuum on the cooling system before refilling.
HF purge and refill kit
 
I had a water pump leak. My truck was doing what you say is happening to your car. The water pump was leaking, but only happened when it was running, and very hard to see. Stan
 
Ditto on the Subaru head gasket issue. Not sure if that is what you have going on , but have heard that on a lot of them.
 
Where the gas pedal is located there is a cylinder on the other side of the fire wall. That cylinder has been a notorious leaker. Subaru replaced head gaskets for quite a while. The Subaru engine does not (at first) leak combustion gasses. But every time it heats, the odds are going in that direction. The leak is to the outside of the head to block, and is consistent with your description. Subaru Parts department, or NAPA has stop leak products that actually are a dealer service requirement for that engine!! So put in Bars Leak (it is a small coolant system, so read the directions on the label. It does work. Jim
 
Yep, it sure will seal the leak. The heater core and radiator as well.

There is NO WAY that stuff will EVER find its way into my radiator. EVER!

Any idea how many heater cores I had to replace for customers over the years from that stuff? The worst part is that even after you replace the heater core, it will continue to plug up from that stuff. No thanks!
 
Oh well the Subaru Service Department in 4 dealerships are all wrong. It keeps it on the road, and I never had a heater or radiator issue. Jim
 
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