engine knock and anti freeze smell

[forester479]

Will be taking my 03 forester in to have it looked at. The two things I think need to be looked at are it knocks like crazy, seems more than before or I'm just paying close attention, I'm not sure. It knocks when I'm accelarating, going up hills or just stepping on the gas at cruising speed. I guess you could interpret that as pretty much all the time . The other is once it is warmed up I get a pretty strong antifreeze smell when I get out and walk past the front. I checked the level and it doesn't seem to be dropping, I don't have any clue what it is.

 

Any input as to what either may be or what I should mention to the service dept??

 

thanks

 

Mike

[swc7916]

Head gasket. It happened to me.

[danz75]

Head gasket. It happened to me.

 

I have the same anti-freeze smell after driving awhile. I've looked in the coolant overflow bottle but did not see any oil or bubbling in it. How would I check for a potential headgasket failure situation without taking it to the dealer? I still have a few months warranty left and would like to address it if this is indeed the problem.

 

Thanks

[swc7916]

I have the same anti-freeze smell after driving awhile. I've looked in the coolant overflow bottle but did not see any oil or bubbling in it. How would I check for a potential headgasket failure situation without taking it to the dealer? I still have a few months warranty left and would like to address it if this is indeed the problem.

 

Thanks

 

Take it to the dealer. They fixed mine at no cost to me and the car was out of warantee (2001 Outback).

[forester479]

Took the car into the dealer and the water pump was bad at 20,400 miles, I guess that happens once in a while. They didn't have one in stock so they kept it overnight and fixed it the next day when the part came in. There still is a very slight coolant smell but it seems to be going away, maybe leftover that had leaked out??

 

When I got home I popped the hood to take a look and the coolant reservoir was empty. I called them up and they told me it is supposed to be empty. I looked in the manual and the manual says the coolant level should be between the low and full marks on the side of the reservoir. If it's below the low mark, which it was since it was empty, you are supposed to add coolant to the radiator and the reservoir. I filled it myself rather than taking the time to drive back to the dealer. I had to add about a half a quart which didn't seem like too much but it should have been filled correctly in the first place.

 

They said they couldn't find anything with the engine ping, I'm not sure they even check it out. The service writer said it could have been something to do with the water pump. I told them you can hear it the most when stepping lightly on the gas @ about 25mph, it's pretty noticeable at that speed. I'll be taking it back to have that checked out.

 

So much for a "premier service dealer" the service writer couldn't even find the time to call me back a couple days later when I had a question. Supposed to get a survey in the mail to fill out on how well they took care of me and my car. Not too impressed with the service dept. so far.

[BlueSoob]

Ahh its probs like this that made me sell my 03 Forester. How many miles did you say it had on it? Mine blew a HG at about 32k. I was just sitting and idling. I didn't have the antifreeze smell before hand but

 

WATCH OUT!!!

 

Make them FIX it.

 

They put a sort of.. "Stop Leak" in mine to fix the crack. I smelled antifreeze after that when the car warmed up. They told me it was just the blasted antifreeze burning off.

I didn't feel much like putting up with the dealer's antics after I had taken it back for warrenty work to 3 different dealerships, on the average of every 5000 miles. I had 80k on it when I sold it. I wasn't looking forward to another 80k of inconveniences.

 

Just be careful when you take it in.. you can fix the problem or you can FIX THE PROBLEM.