DC493 Posted February 23, 2011 Share Posted February 23, 2011 So I have a 1993 Subaru Loyale 1.8l non turbo 2wd. It for some time (2months) has had a coolant leak, pretty sure it's the head gasket. It goes through coolant like there is no tomorrow but when I check the coolant hardly any is missing. Just last night as I was driving home it started to heat up so I drove to the nearest gas station and by that time it was above the HOT. I let it sit for sometime started it up and it still continued to heat up. Any reason why this is happening? I'm confused and feel like I'm missing something. I've checked all hoses and am out of ideas on what might be going wrong. Thanks in advance. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Deener Posted February 23, 2011 Share Posted February 23, 2011 Where are you checking the level from? The overflow/plastic reserve or from the rad cap itself? You need to check under the rad cap - it should be full. Fill it up (never put cold water into a hot block) and clean up and dry the engine. Start it up and watch for water/fluid leaking. Any excessive white exhaust? Another easy thing to do is test and even replace the thermostat (they say here to use dealer only t-stats). Inspect the little hoses under the thermostat housing, as well as the heater hoses, and any clamp that travels the coolant path. If your radiator is clogged, it will heat up quickly especially going up hills. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DC493 Posted February 23, 2011 Author Share Posted February 23, 2011 I'm checking the plastic reserve. There is no white exhaust at all. I have not checked the thermostat hoses. It might be clogged cause thats when it started heating up bad, How can I unclog it? so I need to remove the radiator completely?? -493 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Deener Posted February 23, 2011 Share Posted February 23, 2011 When I had a clogged rad, I just went and got a new one because mine wasn't just clogged, it was rotten too. I only paid about 100 from performance radiator for a new one. I can't reccommend a good way to unclog it, but someone else here might have something to try. most importantly and before you think you have a clogged rad, when the car is cool, fill up the coolant in the radiator and the reservoir then locate where your leak is and seal it (replace the hose and/or clamp). There is a chance that you could have an air bubble too. Does your heat work? If not, thats another air bubble symptom. Search this forum for BURP and you should find the procedure to get rid of the air. Diagnose it before you run out and buy parts. Do you know where the water pump is? Find it and look for signs of leakage there too. It should be right up front of the engine with a metal pipe coming out of it that goes directly to a big hose off of the radiator on the drivers side. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
idosubaru Posted February 23, 2011 Share Posted February 23, 2011 It goes through coolant like there is no tomorrow but when I check the coolant hardly any is missing. two conflicting statements, help us to make sense of this? if hardly any coolant is missing, how is it "going through coolant like there is no tomorrow"? help us distinguish what you're trying to say. if it's going through coolant, as your one comment suggest, then you need to find out where. if it's just overheating and blowing coolant out as it boils then it could be anything. clogged radiator, bad tstat, leaking, bad water pump, head gasket, etc. you mentioned headgasket, what makes you think that? are the cooling fans coming on? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ricearu Posted February 23, 2011 Share Posted February 23, 2011 don't worry about the plastic tank for now. it should be in between the lines. remove the radiator cap (ENGINE STONE COLD) and look in there for coolant. fill it, burping (squeezing) the air from the upper and lower radiator hoses as you fill it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MilesFox Posted February 23, 2011 Share Posted February 23, 2011 check the small coolant hoses behind the throttle and under the intake. to replace coolant, you have to add coolant to the radiator cap, not the overflow. the overflow bottle only serves to contain boiled over coolant versus letting it spill on the ground. with all the reading about 2.5 headgasket, people are assuming their ea81 and ea82 engines are sprouting external headgasket leaks, wgen in most or all cases, is never the case, since it is not the same type of failure as the 2.5, but rather an overlooked hose under or behind the intake. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blackhawk2k7 Posted February 23, 2011 Share Posted February 23, 2011 Where are you checking the level from? The overflow/plastic reserve or from the rad cap itself? You need to check under the rad cap - it should be full. Fill it up (never put cold water into a hot block) and clean up and dry the engine. Start it up and watch for water/fluid leaking. Any excessive white exhaust? Another easy thing to do is test and even replace the thermostat (they say here to use dealer only t-stats). Inspect the little hoses under the thermostat housing, as well as the heater hoses, and any clamp that travels the coolant path. If your radiator is clogged, it will heat up quickly especially going up hills. I second that last excerpt by Deener, if you have already checked all of the hoses and fittings that interact with the path of the flow of coolant, take a look inside your radiator by taking off the cap, if there is excessive residue that is floating at the top of the water just in that area, have your radiator cleaned by a professional. Or just buy another one, but do remember, your tap water at your house may or may not be causing this issue that is causing the buildup in your radiator, so after cleaning/buying a radiator, run your car on a 50/50 Anti-freeze;Deionized water, and you will not have another problem like this again (granted you change it on a periodical basis). Due to 1) it flushing out the gunk from the engine itself, then 2) Deionized water will not corrode the aluminum radiator in your car near as bad as ordinary water from a faucet would do. This is a long term solution however. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DC493 Posted February 24, 2011 Author Share Posted February 24, 2011 two conflicting statements, help us to make sense of this? if hardly any coolant is missing, how is it "going through coolant like there is no tomorrow"? help us distinguish what you're trying to say. if it's going through coolant, as your one comment suggest, then you need to find out where. if it's just overheating and blowing coolant out as it boils then it could be anything. clogged radiator, bad tstat, leaking, bad water pump, head gasket, etc. you mentioned headgasket, what makes you think that? are the cooling fans coming on? I say head gasket because when I get under the car it looks like its coming from the head, and plus the over heating. It is rather weird, when I let the car sit for a couple hours it drips and sooner there is a decent bit of coolant under the car. I fill up the reserve and it gets drained fairly quick, but it does not drain fast when I put it directly in the radiator. To top it off today I filled both with water (to see exactly where the leak is coming from) and its leeks anti freeze, just assuming thats whats left from the last fill up. Its not clogged cause going up hills it does not heat up. I think it might be my tsat..:-\ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ricearu Posted February 24, 2011 Share Posted February 24, 2011 tstat is on the passenger side. get it from the dealer. the aftermarket ones are JUNK. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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