'95 Legacy lost all coolant due to bad bypass hose.

[Stelcom66]

My son called to tell me his '95 Legacy overheated and the engine was 'smoking'. He added some antifreeze and drove it to a local repair shop nearby. Didn't suspect head gaskets as there weren't any signs of that and it's a 2.2L. The mechanic told me the bypass hose was blown out. It was replaced and we picked the car up last night, but no one was around to point out where exactly that hose is. I'll take a look next time the car is at my place to see if I can see anything that looks new, I wonder where that hose is? I just hope he didn't drive it long enough to do any damage. Maybe it's time to replace other hoses.

[coolskaterkid]

I think they are referring to the small hose that comes off the side of the water pump and hooks to, i think the hard line for heat.

[Fairtax4me]

Yes, the small hose off the side of the water pump.

 

Hopefully he didnt drive it for long after the hose blew. That hose is near the lowest point of the system and almost all of the coolant would dump out in a matter of seconds.

[Stelcom66]

Ok thanks - took a quick look this morning but didn't look in that area. Fortunately the engine seems ok, he sure was lucky. If it remains ok there's another credit to the

2.2L engine with 174k miles.

 

Fairtax4me... looks like you have a very similar car. My son's is an automatic transmission, my choice would be a manual as in my Forester. Like my former '92 Legacy that was automatic, this time of year when it's cold it'll be a while before the torque converter locks up at highway speeds. I assume that doesn't happen until a certain operating temperature is reached.

[johnceggleston]

 

this time of year when it's cold it'll be a while before the torque

converter locks up at highway speeds. I assume that doesn't happen until

a certain operating temperature is reached.

there is a trans fluid cooler element in the radiator,

which acts as a fluid heater when very cold out.

so by the time the defroster is blowing hot air, the trans should be fully heated.

if not sooner.

[Fairtax4me]

When its very cold out it can take several minutes (I've had it take up to 10 minutes in the automatics I've owned) for the lock-up to engage. It is based on fluid temperature, though I'm not sure of the exact temperature.

At highway speeds, this should only take 2-5 minutes, depending on just how cold it is.