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Should your engine be loosing coolant over a long period of time?

silviaz

By silviaz,
in General Automotive Discussion

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silviaz Experienced

silviaz

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On my Subaru boxer engine, I had for the first time the gauge go to the high temperature a while back because i ran out of coolant I never checked it in 3 years and after 3 years it ran out lol. I had other people tell me they top of their coolant in their cars (not Subaru's) just wondering if this is normal? I guess it's always been this way. I don't see any visible leaks, possible early head gasket failure? I topped it up to the max line now, cause I think i did lose some again.

Would I have also done damage to the head gasket if I drove the car for a few minutes with it being or high temperature? (near the red)

GTSBoy Grand Master

GTSBoy

Posted
Posted

Many cars will push a little bit more coolant out to the overflow bottle every now and then, and will lose it if the overflow overfills. Then when it cools it will pull in some of the original overflow volume, leaving you with less. If this happens a few times, it will look like it is being lost in the engine, when it's not really.

Some engines will lose some through seal leaks, drips, etc.

Subarus will usually lose it because they are shitboxes in which a blown headgasket is a matter of when, not if.

  • Haha 1
silviaz Experienced

silviaz

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14 minutes ago, GTSBoy said:

Many cars will push a little bit more coolant out to the overflow bottle every now and then, and will lose it if the overflow overfills. Then when it cools it will pull in some of the original overflow volume, leaving you with less. If this happens a few times, it will look like it is being lost in the engine, when it's not really.

Some engines will lose some through seal leaks, drips, etc.

Subarus will usually lose it because they are shitboxes in which a blown headgasket is a matter of when, not if.

I thought subaru fixed their head gasket problems? Mine is a 2001 model. Do you think I did damage having my temperature gauge near the red? I don't think it was for more than a couple of minutes.

GTSBoy Grand Master

GTSBoy

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Nah. Subies are famous for head gaskets from the first until the last. ~2010 Forester and anything else with that woeful EJ253 or whatever the hell they call it. 130000 km + or - and they will start to weep at the gasket. Don't fix it within 15000km and it will shit the bed.

silviaz Experienced

silviaz

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30 minutes ago, GTSBoy said:

Nah. Subies are famous for head gaskets from the first until the last. ~2010 Forester and anything else with that woeful EJ253 or whatever the hell they call it. 130000 km + or - and they will start to weep at the gasket. Don't fix it within 15000km and it will shit the bed.

lol.

Rusty Nuts Experienced

Rusty Nuts

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4 hours ago, silviaz said:

Mine is a 2001 model

Then it has an SLS head gasket, if it was turbo it would have the MLS gasket. Back in the day retro fitting turbo gaskets would fix the problem. The cheapest and good quality H/G for Subaru is a MLS by platinum

silviaz Experienced

silviaz

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Just now, Rusty Nuts said:

Then it has an SLS head gasket, if it was turbo it would have the MLS gasket. Back in the day retro fitting turbo gaskets would fix the problem. The cheapest and good quality H/G for Subaru is a MLS by platinum

Ah ok interesting to know. Car is very solid no mechanical issues, just was worried about this. Do have the common faulty oxygen sensor thing but hasn't affected the car at all.

silviaz Experienced

silviaz

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18 hours ago, Rusty Nuts said:

Both of my daughter's Subaru's throw o2 sensor codes, I clear the fault and it goes away for six months or so.

I cleaned it ages ago it stopped popping up for a while but pops up every now and again.

  • 1 month later...
MoMnDadGTR Mentor

MoMnDadGTR

Posted
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On 26/10/2020 at 2:14 AM, silviaz said:

I cleaned it ages ago it stopped popping up for a while but pops up every now and again.

throw a new 02 sensor on it and bin the old one. i did this and a new set of coil packs plugs, crank sensor n maf on my 05 sti first time the thing has gone 2 oil changes without a check engine light ffs. i must say the ej25 is a total snake of intertwined garbage and like to leak from valve covers etc, but around my neck of the woods great cars for our shit roads and crazy cold weather. very driveable fun cars for shit kicking. ive run 10w40 ams high zinc oil since day one and im at 175,000 miles head gaskets are fine never had an issue. the head gaskets are known for going cause most kids wack them off the limiter all day and dont know how to drive them or maintain the shit boxes.

trel Mentor

trel

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12 minutes ago, MoMnDadGTR said:

throw a new 02 sensor on it and bin the old one. i did this and a new set of coil packs plugs, crank sensor n maf on my 05 sti first time the thing has gone 2 oil changes without a check engine light ffs. i must say the ej25 is a total snake of intertwined garbage and like to leak from valve covers etc, but around my neck of the woods great cars for our shit roads and crazy cold weather. very driveable fun cars for shit kicking. ive run 10w40 ams high zinc oil since day one and im at 175,000 miles head gaskets are fine never had an issue. the head gaskets are known for going cause most kids wack them off the limiter all day and dont know how to drive them or maintain the shit boxes.

Probably because of the cold Canadian weather it has survived. Mildura VIC yesterday reached 45 degrees celcius and it's not even summer yet!!

MoMnDadGTR Mentor

MoMnDadGTR

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Posted
7 hours ago, trel said:

Probably because of the cold Canadian weather it has survived. Mildura VIC yesterday reached 45 degrees celcius and it's not even summer yet!!

mate you nailed it on the hammer I think the cool crisp air does help them out, as long as you don't cold start them all the time and plug the bitch in when she gets below zero...the overflow caps are also crap on these cars and they can loose coolant out the overflow slowly overtime.

TurboTapin Proficient

TurboTapin

Posted
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On 10/25/2020 at 9:03 AM, Rusty Nuts said:

Both of my daughter's Subaru's throw o2 sensor codes, I clear the fault and it goes away for six months or so.

I'm presuming they're step daughters if you let them drive Subaru's. 

Rusty Nuts Experienced

Rusty Nuts

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Posted
2 hours ago, TurboTapin said:

I'm presuming they're step daughters if you let them drive Subaru's.

I don't have my head up my arse, so after six subaru's properly serviced, NO head gasket failures, I treat my daughter's Subaru's the same way, both properly serviced, and neither driven like they are stolen. I worked for Subaru Australia as a Service Advisor for many years and was part of the works service team for the Southern Cross Rallies. Sooooo go ahead educate me about Subaru's. Eh.

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TurboTapin Proficient

TurboTapin

Posted
Posted (edited)
9 minutes ago, Rusty Nuts said:

I don't have my head up my arse, so after six subaru's properly serviced, NO head gasket failures, I treat my daughter's Subaru's the same way, both properly serviced, and neither driven like they are stolen. I worked for Subaru Australia as a Service Advisor for many years and was part of the works service team for the Southern Cross Rallies. Sooooo go ahead educate me about Subaru's. Eh.

Oki doke, I was just trying to be funny. Nothing else. Cheers.  

Edited by TurboTapin
niZmO_Man Grand Master

niZmO_Man

Posted
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On 01/12/2020 at 10:11 AM, TurboTapin said:

I'm presuming they're step daughters if you let them drive Subaru's. 

Off topic: Might be a regional thing, but I never got this step- and redhead/ginger stick/shit that people throw.

TurboTapin Proficient

TurboTapin

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Posted
19 hours ago, niZmO_Man said:

Off topic: Might be a regional thing, but I never got this step- and redhead/ginger stick/shit that people throw.

Huh? What do step children and red heads have in common? Sorry I'm not following. I'm an Irish/scot runt and I've never heard the term ginger stick before. 

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