Coolant leak repair?

Tiny
JUNIEYANEZ
  • MEMBER
  • 2005 SUBARU OUTBACK
  • 6 CYL
  • TURBO
  • 4WD
  • AUTOMATIC
  • 200,000 MILES
Yesterday I found that my coolant was gone, filled it up but car started overheating right away and shaking when I pressed the gas. Got it towed to my house and the next morning filled up the coolant again, took it for a five minute drive, there was little bit of smoke under the hood but temperature gauge was still in the middle of hot and cold, in the five minutes I drove it. It had also swallowed up about a quarter of the coolant, looked under the car and there was no leak under the coolant tank, but spewing on the passenger side (left side) of the under the hood. I wasn’t able to get a good visual, whatever is causing the leak was below the engine or to low down for me to get a good look. Left the car running idle, very little to no smoke in the ten minutes it was running on my driveway, it actually only really smoked up after I turned the car off. But coolant spewed out like crazy. Heater didn’t really warm up either. Checked the color of my oil to make sure coolant hadn’t mixed in and it was fine. My oil is still dark brown and regular, any ideas as to what part of my cooling system could be causing this? I’m thinking maybe a hose? The first night it overheated I suspected it was a stuck closed thermostat because coolant wouldn’t leak but the car overheated, the situation completely changed the next morning, suddenly a leak! Also noted that when the car was off I didn’t see any coolant spewing out. I know Subaru’s are infamous for head gasket failures, but it really could be any part of the system, please help!
Sunday, November 10th, 2019 AT 3:31 PM

22 Replies

Tiny
SCGRANTURISMO
  • MECHANIC
  • 4,897 POSTS
Hello,

This sounds to me like one of your vehicle's heater hoses has either been cut or one of the clamps might have failed. There should be two heater hoses that will be going to the fire wall of your vehicle's engine compartment. These are the heater hoses, one inlet and one outlet. Here is a link below explaining what could possibly be going wrong below:

https://www.2carpros.com/articles/car-is-leaking-coolant

Inspect the hoses and clamps for damage and get back to us with what you are able to find out.

Thanks,
Alex
2CarPros
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Monday, November 11th, 2019 AT 12:30 AM
Tiny
JUNIEYANEZ
  • MEMBER
  • 10 POSTS
Here’s a closer look under the car where it seems to be leaking (passenger side):
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Monday, November 11th, 2019 AT 12:04 PM
Tiny
SCGRANTURISMO
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Hello,

Okay, so it looks like it is leaking from the hose by the oil filter. You are going to have to drain the coolant from the cooling system, usually there is a petcock on the bottom of the radiator that you can unscrew to drain the coolant, if not, then loosen the lower radiator hose and with a bucket underneath, drain the coolant that way. Remove the suspect hose and inspect it. It would be a good idea just to replace the hose with a new one and new hose clamps, I recommend good quality worm gear hose clamps. Screw petcock back into the radiator, or re-install the lower radiator hose. Refill the cooling system with the coolant and check for leaks. Please get back to us with how everything turns out.

Thanks,
Alex
2CarPros
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Monday, November 11th, 2019 AT 5:21 PM
Tiny
JUNIEYANEZ
  • MEMBER
  • 10 POSTS
So I found a hose to replace it with, it seemed to work but now have another problem on my hands. The car has been running fine for two days since I replaced the hose but now when I press the gas pedal, I sometimes hear a rattling noise from the drivers side in front of the car. No coolant leaking, oil level is fine. There’s a smell in my car as well, I can’t really describe it. It’s accelerating just fine but there is a noise. Could this be a problem with my exhaust system?
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Friday, November 15th, 2019 AT 4:09 PM
Tiny
SCGRANTURISMO
  • MECHANIC
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Hello again,

Probably, but could you please re ask the question for archival reasons. Anyone else who has an exhaust problem will not be able to find the thread if it's answered in this thread.

Thanks,
Alex
2CarPros
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Friday, November 15th, 2019 AT 10:58 PM
Tiny
UNKNOWNKCP
  • MEMBER
  • 1 POST
  • 2002 SUBARU OUTBACK
  • 3.0L
  • 6 CYL
  • AWD
  • AUTOMATIC
  • 220,000 MILES
H6 vdc model.

Recent overheat issue. Discovered lower hose had a hole in it and leaked coolant out. Also noticed the radiator cap was broken. I am not sure if pieces of the radiator cap are stuck in the radiator.

I grabbed generic parts lower hose and screw clamps. Replaced the lower hose, but did not reinstall the thermostat. Filled with distilled water 1.5 gallons almost. I did not put thermostat back in to see if the thermostat was stuck and tried to run the motor without the radiator cap.

Cold motor start result: Radiator cap was off and I started the cold motor. I had a leak at both ends of the hose and the almost 1.5 gallons of water started to fountain/volcano out of the open radiator with no cap.

1. Does that mean my water pump is still good, since I got fluid blowing out the radiator(cap was off)? There is no leak at the weep hole/water pump.

2. Since the water was literally blowing out of the top of the radiator(with no radiator cap and cold engine) does that mean the fluid was backing up at the top and there pieces of radiator cap lodged in the radiator?
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Thursday, March 11th, 2021 AT 5:56 PM (Merged)
Tiny
STEVE W.
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Water coming out like that means you have bad heads gaskets. Very common issue on a Subaru engine that has been run hot, they go bad during normal use as well but overheating makes them fail much faster. Check out this guide

https://www.2carpros.com/articles/head-gasket-blown-test

Not a real hard job if you know Subaru's and have the tools. Lot's of videos about that job online if you want to see what is involved.
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Thursday, March 11th, 2021 AT 5:56 PM (Merged)
Tiny
DAKOTABOY2002
  • MEMBER
  • 19 POSTS
  • 2001 SUBARU OUTBACK
  • 4 CYL
  • 2WD
  • AUTOMATIC
  • 197,000 MILES
Hello, it’s been awhile but I have a Subaru Outback Legacy question. So the coolant has been disappearing from the reservoir at the rate of me having to fill it about once a week/200 miles driven. I have not found any leaks and did the cardboard under the entire engine and no drips/leaks. Hoses appear to be on tight with no coolant loss. Car just started to overheat after freeway driving but it goes back down to normal when back on street driving. I’m suspecting the head gasket is blown? Oil looks good still so I’m stumped, yet I know that these vehicles had issues with head gaskets. Any advice/recommendations are appreciated.
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Thursday, March 11th, 2021 AT 5:56 PM (Merged)
Tiny
HARRY P
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I'd try two things. First, I'd borrow a pressure tester from the parts shop's loan-a-tool program and pump up the pressure and wait a while. If there's a leak, it will show up. Basically, when the engine is cool, you'll take the radiator cap off and hook up the pressure tester. Pump it up to somewhere between 14 and 18 psi and wait.

Here's our guide on that process: https://www.2carpros.com/articles/radiator-pressure-test

The second thing I'd do is the head gasket test. I'd do this second because it does cost a little bit to get what's needed, but it leaves no doubt as to whether or not a head gasket has failed or not. With this test, you're going to put some fluid into a bottle, and then suck some some of the air out of the cooling system while the engine idles. If there are any exhaust gases in there (a sign of a blown head gasket), the fluid will turn colors. Here's our more specific guide on that process:

https://www.2carpros.com/articles/head-gasket-blown-test

Try those and report your findings here. Hint: if neither test turns anything up, you probably just need a new radiator cap.
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Thursday, March 11th, 2021 AT 5:56 PM (Merged)
Tiny
DAKOTABOY2002
  • MEMBER
  • 19 POSTS
So no leaks anywhere with the pressure tester, no head gasket failure either. I replaced the radiator cap since I figured that was a cheap fix. So far so good with that. Started running the car with the heater on to ensure that hot air is being moved out from engine. A little background as well, the gf drives the car mostly and drives it at 80-95 mph on the freeway obviously since it’s an older car with high mileage it’s not meant to be that way I assume. Any other suggestions in case it starts to overheat again?
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Thursday, March 11th, 2021 AT 5:56 PM (Merged)
Tiny
STEVE W.
  • MECHANIC
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Partially clogged radiator could be causing it to run hot enough to push coolant out. Start it up and let it get warm. Now use the back of your hand or a non contact thermometer to check for spots on the radiator that are cooler than others. Cooler = blockage. Under the normal driving it cools enough, under the high speed driving it doesn't cool fast enough.
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Thursday, March 11th, 2021 AT 5:56 PM (Merged)
Tiny
HARRY P
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Ditto what Steve said. I'd also suggest to make sure that the cooling fan is running as it's supposed to. Hopefully this is a moot point and the car is fixed though. Good luck!
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Thursday, March 11th, 2021 AT 5:56 PM (Merged)
Tiny
JCPOPPE
  • MEMBER
  • 8 POSTS
  • 2000 SUBARU OUTBACK
  • 4 CYL
  • AWD
  • AUTOMATIC
  • 196,000 MILES
I noticed the other day that my legacy outback was leaking coolant but not overheating untill it leaked too much out to keep it cool. Its not coming from the block or the thermostat both radiator hoses are hot and it only leaks when I turn it off. Any ideas? Thanks
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Thursday, March 11th, 2021 AT 5:56 PM (Merged)
Tiny
KHLOW2008
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Hi jcpoppe,

If the leaks is coming from the recovery tank, then it could be a faulty radiator cap.

Another possibility is that the cooling is inefficient and that could be due to the cooling fans. With AC turned on, check if the cooling fans are turning on.

To test if there are leaks in the system, get a pressure test done. Quite often when the water pump is beginning to fail, it would leak minimally and might not be noticeable.
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Thursday, March 11th, 2021 AT 5:56 PM (Merged)
Tiny
JCPOPPE
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I already know the fans work and it doesnt leak unless I turn it off. Every time it leaks it sucks everything out of the overflow bottle
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Thursday, March 11th, 2021 AT 5:56 PM (Merged)
Tiny
KHLOW2008
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Most likely you have a bad radiator cap. When cap goes bad, the are not able to hold the pressure of the cooling system and when this happens, coolant is forced into to recovery tank. When vehicle cools down, coolant from recovery tank would be sucked into the radiator.
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Thursday, March 11th, 2021 AT 5:56 PM (Merged)
Tiny
JCPOPPE
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I dont think its the radiator cap because I watch the car leak as soon as I turn it off with the hood up and it is not coming from the cap or overfill bottle
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Thursday, March 11th, 2021 AT 5:56 PM (Merged)
Tiny
KHLOW2008
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If that is the case, you have a leak somewhere and a visual inspection would be the next thing to do. You might need a pressure test.

If it is from radiator area, check the radiator top tank. They tend to crack and only will leak when there is pressure.
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Thursday, March 11th, 2021 AT 5:56 PM (Merged)
Tiny
JJC
  • MEMBER
  • 3 POSTS
  • 1996 SUBARU OUTBACK
  • 4 CYL
  • AWD
  • AUTOMATIC
  • 185,000 MILES
I have 96 Subaru Outback with a 2.5 l, SFI engine. When the outside temp is above 30 deg the engine does not over heat, but when the temp drops below 20 deg the engine will overheat. This started happening after a radiator hose blew and I replaced the hoses, radiator cap and thermostat. What could be causing this to happening?
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Thursday, March 11th, 2021 AT 5:57 PM (Merged)
Tiny
JACOBANDNICKOLAS
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Did you replace the coolang with a 50/50 mix of coolant and water?
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Thursday, March 11th, 2021 AT 5:57 PM (Merged)

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