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Subaru Forester (up to 2005) - READ ONLY

18028 messages,  Last post on Nov 02, 2006 at 7:19 AM

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Messages Page 1796 of 1804

#17946 of 18028 2002 Forester S: Engine overheating, coolant leak, etc by martijnh

Sep 20, 2006 (3:47 pm)

Hello all,
 
I'm a proud papa of a 2 Subaru household. Our 02 Forester S (my wife's, almost 60k miles. All service performed on time at dealer) all of a sudden started running hot. Temp gauge never went into the red, but went over the middle mark where it should stay. Wife said
'temperature spiked and would settle down'. I checked out the car at home, and this is what I found out (I'm a little handy with cars, but radiators confuse me):
- Overflow reservoir is completely empty
- When I removed the radiator cap, I see no fluid
- In the 'tray' directly below the radiator I can see green liquid (radiator fluid)
- I see a little bit of fluid seeping/dripping along a 'hook-eye' on the right front of the car.
- Engine compartment smell like radiator fluid
 
Doing a search on 'Forester', 'Coolant', etc. returns a lot of results (incl. info on recalls). We love this car and want it to get better. Some of you here must have gone through something similar and I would appreciate insight into your experience and what you learned.
 
I live in the SF Bay Area (equal distance to Redwood City and Livermore dealerships). Any tips on where to get this fixed?
 
 
 
Thanks,
Martijn

#17947 of 18028 Re: 2002 Forester S: Engine overheating, coolant leak, etc [martijnh] by terry92270

Sep 20, 2006 (4:10 pm)

Replying to: martijnh (Sep 20, 2006 3:47 pm)
I am assuming you just didn't top off with only water, but kept the 50/50 mix of coolant and water...
 
Ask around, call around....a radiator shop would usually be your best bet. I am almost certain, from experience, that its a leak. It is always a toss-up as to paying for a new/re conditioned one as opposed to the time and labor to repair. If you know a reputable mechanic/shop, ask them who they send their business to.

#17948 of 18028 Re: 2002 Forester S: Engine overheating, coolant leak, etc [terry92270] by once_for_all

Sep 20, 2006 (8:41 pm)

Replying to: terry92270 (Sep 20, 2006 4:10 pm)
it is most likely a leaky hose. They do crack and swell over time, especially if they get petroleum products spilled on them.
 
It should be easy enough to find. For plain old diagnostics, don't hesitate to fill it up with water, including half the overflow container. Start the engine and use a good flash light to try and locate it. You may need to drop the plastic engine guard (the one with the oil filter door). It may not start leaking until it gets up to temperature. Watch out for the fans turning on automatically.
 
It is a bit early to have to replace everything, just the bad hose should solve the problem.
 
You will need to drain and replace with the correct fluid.
 
The worst case is that it is a leaky water pump. About as bad would be a hole in the radiator.
 
In any case if it is leaking a lot (more than a casual drip) you should probably have it towed to the shop rather than risk overheating.
 
It sounds though like a job within a DIY category.
 
Have fun,
 
John

#17949 of 18028 Re: 2002 Forester S: Engine overheating, coolant leak, etc [once_for_all] by terry92270

Sep 20, 2006 (8:58 pm)

Replying to: once_for_all (Sep 20, 2006 8:41 pm)
Quite possibly a bad hose, John, but since he was so detailed about inspecting it, I assumed he would have caught that.
 
The coolant/water in the tray is exactly what I encountered with the pinhole leaks......

#17950 of 18028 Recirc mode not available with window defrost? (Forester X 2006) by kate5000

Sep 21, 2006 (9:11 am)

I just found out today that if I turn the air fan knob to the position where it blows to the windshield, then recirc mode (that I always keep on) goes off.
 
I love recirc. If it's not in recirc I smell fumes being sucked in. I also like sometime to have air blown to the windshield. I wonder if there is any way to trick recirc to stay ON when a air is set to blow onto the windshield.
 
BTW, that was not a problem in my Forester 2001. Recirc was totally independent of the fan knob position.

#17951 of 18028 Re: 2002 Forester S: Engine overheating, coolant leak, etc [martijnh] by stevecar

Sep 21, 2006 (9:55 am)

Replying to: martijnh (Sep 20, 2006 3:47 pm)
I have a 2001 that had a head gasket recall. I'm not that mechanically inclined, but if the gaskets went bad and were leaking, wouldn't that have caused this? I live on the east coast, so I could not recommend dealers for you, but maybe this was part of that recall.

#17952 of 18028 Re: 2002 Forester S: Engine overheating, coolant leak, etc [terry92270] by once_for_all

Sep 21, 2006 (11:17 am)

Replying to: terry92270 (Sep 20, 2006 8:58 pm)
The coolant/water in the tray is exactly what I encountered with the pinhole leaks......
 
You aren't saying pinhole leaks in the engine? You must be refering to the radiator? yes I have seen that, but not on a plastic radiator. Usually pin holes come from corrosion on metal radiators.
 
It isn't always easy to find the leak. Sometimes they come and go depending on the pressure in the system.
 
Joh

#17953 of 18028 Re: Recirc mode not available with window defrost? (Forester X 2006) [kate5000] by subearu

Sep 21, 2006 (12:40 pm)

Replying to: kate5000 (Sep 21, 2006 9:11 am)
recirc won't work on most modern vehicles including '00+ Subies when in defrost mode. This is to prevent the windows from fogging up. The owner manual even has a blurb about it.
 
-Brian

#17954 of 18028 Re: Recirc mode not available with window defrost? (Forester X 2006) [kate5000] by terry92270

Sep 21, 2006 (12:48 pm)

Replying to: kate5000 (Sep 21, 2006 9:11 am)
There has actually been discussions in scientific forums about the DANGER of always using the Recirculate setting a majority of the time....
 
First, Recirculate really isn't. The manufacturers have always used a mix. It is usually 20% outside air, and 80% recirculated. Scientists and Doctors have long had concerns about a car with more than one person using that setting as the CO2 levels rise. If there were a small leak in the engine wall, or the like, that would make the situation worse.
 
Experts recommended using the Recirculate setting for short periods of initial cool-down, or on the hottest of days (110*+) only. Believe me, the indoor pollution you are breathing is much worse than the occasional smell of fumes you might get!

#17955 of 18028 Re: Recirc mode not available with window defrost? (Forester X 2006) [subearu] by kate5000

Sep 21, 2006 (12:49 pm)

Replying to: subearu (Sep 21, 2006 12:40 pm)
Yikes. I use A/C in recirc mode to de-fog the windows. A/C in recirc mode makes the air dry not dump. Grrrr....

Messages Page 1796 of 1804

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