Lost almost all my coolant overnight (Plugged heater core it seems?)

[silviaz]

Hey all,

Here it goes again, lol. As some of you might have known from my last post I did lose a tiny bit of coolant every few months, and it's been like that for years (probably since I bought the car) but I noticed last week that I heard water slushing in my dashboard, then noticed I had no heat when I turned it on (but sometimes it would come on), then yesterday out of nowhere the temperature gauge went about half way between operating temperature and the red zone, I noticed before hand that my radiator had no coolant and the hose was cold I'm pretty sure (reservoir was full).

 

Sounds like my heater core, is clogged, but as soon as the aircon produced hot air the temperature went down then back up again because the heating stopped working, so makes me think it's the heater core. But I noticed this morning when I woke up almost all my coolant was gone, went to check the leak underneath and it seemed to be above the thermostat somewhere (didn't seem like the thermostat was leaking or the head gasket but it was above the thermostat area.

The car is a 2001 Impreza (no surprise there of coolant issues, haha) Can a clogged heater core cause me to lose that much coolant? Surely it's not the head gasket, there is no bubbles in reservoir, milkshake or anything like that. I opened up the timing cover a bit to see if there was water and if the timing belt was wet but it was all dry as a bone.

[Ben C34]

Not clogged, you have trapped air and need to bleed the system properly. 

 

Find and fix the leak also dude.

[silviaz]

1 minute ago, Ben C34 said:

Not clogged, you have trapped air and need to bleed the system properly. 

 

Find and fix the leak also dude.

From what I understand for coolant I need to put it to the highest point or use the bleeder valve? Will try to find it, was quite difficult to see. I never had bubbles in my cooling system no idea how it developed it.

[GTSBoy]

Typical Subaru head gasket failure from inside of block out through bottom corner onto road. It's f**ked.

[silviaz]

3 hours ago, GTSBoy said:

Typical Subaru head gasket failure from inside of block out through bottom corner onto road. It's f**ked.

I hope not lol. it was somewhat on the corner, but didn't seem it was near the head gasket. Tomorrow I'm gonna take some coolant out of the resoviour as it's a bit above full and put in the radiator see if I get any bubbles, try to bleed the sytem as ben suggested

[Rusty Nuts]

4 hours ago, GTSBoy said:

Typical Subaru head gasket failure from inside of block out through bottom corner onto road. It's f**ked.

Its the early symptom of a compression leak to coolant jacket. Your head gasket, probably only one side, has failed. They have shit heater cores which leak under these circumstances, Also Subaru since the early seventies have decided that the heater core is the most important part of the car, they put a heater core on the production line and build the Subaru around it. Good luck.

[silviaz]

1 hour ago, Rusty Nuts said:

Its the early symptom of a compression leak to coolant jacket. Your head gasket, probably only one side, has failed. They have shit heater cores which leak under these circumstances, Also Subaru since the early seventies have decided that the heater core is the most important part of the car, they put a heater core on the production line and build the Subaru around it. Good luck.

Ah fml, I really hope it's not the case haha. I just saw this video , and the leak is pretty much the same area. 

 an

[Rusty Nuts]

Good Luck bud, I hope its the pump.

[Rusty Nuts]

Just one other thing, its a common mod to bypass some of the heater water (Google it), it takes pressure off the core which can become blocked, I did it to both my daughters Subaru's as a preventative measure.

Just add the double tee with a short piece of 5/8 hose between it, gives faster warm up, ensures flow to the thermostat, and seems to keep them cooler in traffic. The pic below is a Subaru probs not yours, but Subaru mark their hoses. I got the Tee's from Bunnings, cheap as chup's,Bro across the water.

Edited June 9, 2021 by Rusty Nuts
additional information

[silviaz]

On 6/9/2021 at 11:00 AM, Rusty Nuts said:

Just one other thing, its a common mod to bypass some of the heater water (Google it), it takes pressure off the core which can become blocked, I did it to both my daughters Subaru's as a preventative measure.

Just add the double tee with a short piece of 5/8 hose between it, gives faster warm up, ensures flow to the thermostat, and seems to keep them cooler in traffic. The pic below is a Subaru probs not yours, but Subaru mark their hoses. I got the Tee's from Bunnings, cheap as chup's,Bro across the water.

Hey mate thanks for that. I was going to originally unplug my heater core, but then I realized I had no coolant in the radiator and that is probably why I have no heating. I drove it like that for a week and the temperature gauge didn't go up so hoping I didn't cause any damage lol.

[silviaz]

On 6/9/2021 at 11:00 AM, Rusty Nuts said:

Just one other thing, its a common mod to bypass some of the heater water (Google it), it takes pressure off the core which can become blocked, I did it to both my daughters Subaru's as a preventative measure.

Just add the double tee with a short piece of 5/8 hose between it, gives faster warm up, ensures flow to the thermostat, and seems to keep them cooler in traffic. The pic below is a Subaru probs not yours, but Subaru mark their hoses. I got the Tee's from Bunnings, cheap as chup's,Bro across the water.

I got someone to double check it, looks like the water pump is quited f**ked lol. Leaking all the time, gotta drive it down to a shop 5km away, hopefully don't lose all my coolant on the way.

[silviaz]

On 6/9/2021 at 11:00 AM, Rusty Nuts said:

Just one other thing, its a common mod to bypass some of the heater water (Google it), it takes pressure off the core which can become blocked, I did it to both my daughters Subaru's as a preventative measure.

Just add the double tee with a short piece of 5/8 hose between it, gives faster warm up, ensures flow to the thermostat, and seems to keep them cooler in traffic. The pic below is a Subaru probs not yours, but Subaru mark their hoses. I got the Tee's from Bunnings, cheap as chup's,Bro across the water.

I saw the process it seems pretty easy actual to change the belt and all the idlers and even to take off the harmonic balancer though for this damn car finding the workshop manual seems impossible and i found one but it doesn't talk about the torque settings on the pulleys. 

[Rusty Nuts]

5 hours ago, silviaz said:

saw the process it seems pretty easy actual to change the belt and all the idlers and even to take off the harmonic balancer though for this damn car finding the workshop manual seems impossible and i found one but it doesn't talk about the torque settings on the pulleys. 

This is the factory procedure;

13.Crank Pulley

A: REMOVAL

1) Remove the V-belts. <Ref. to ME(H4SO)-36,

REMOVAL, V-belt.>

2) Remove the crank pulley bolt. To lock the crankshaft,

use Shop Tool 499977100 CRANK PULLEY WRENCH

3) Remove the crank pulley.

 

B: INSTALLATION

1) Install the crank pulley.

2) Install the pulley bolt.

To lock the crankshaft, use Shop Tool 499977100 CRANK PULLEY WRENCH

(1) Clean the crankshaft thread using compressed air.

(2) Apply engine oil to the crank pulley bolt seat and thread.

(3) Tighten the bolts temporarily with tightening torque of 44 N·m  or   33 ft-lb).

(4) Tighten the crank pulley bolts. Tightening torque: 180 N·m   or  132.8 ft-lb)

 

3) Check that the tightening angle of the clamp pulley bolt is a minimum of 65°,  Perform the following procedures when less than 65°.

(1) Replace the crank pulley bolts and clean them. Crank pulley bolt: 12369AA011

(2) Clean the crankshaft thread using compressed air.

(3) Apply engine oil to the crank pulley bolt seat and thread.

(4) Tighten the bolts temporarily with a tightening torque of 44 N·m (4.5 kgf-m, 33 ft-lb).

(5) Tighten the crank pulley bolt an additional 65° to 75°.

 

[silviaz]

12 hours ago, Rusty Nuts said:

This is the factory procedure;

13.Crank Pulley

A: REMOVAL

1) Remove the V-belts. <Ref. to ME(H4SO)-36,

REMOVAL, V-belt.>

2) Remove the crank pulley bolt. To lock the crankshaft,

use Shop Tool 499977100 CRANK PULLEY WRENCH

3) Remove the crank pulley.

 

B: INSTALLATION

1) Install the crank pulley.

2) Install the pulley bolt.

To lock the crankshaft, use Shop Tool 499977100 CRANK PULLEY WRENCH

(1) Clean the crankshaft thread using compressed air.

(2) Apply engine oil to the crank pulley bolt seat and thread.

(3) Tighten the bolts temporarily with tightening torque of 44 N·m  or   33 ft-lb).

(4) Tighten the crank pulley bolts. Tightening torque: 180 N·m   or  132.8 ft-lb)

 

3) Check that the tightening angle of the clamp pulley bolt is a minimum of 65°,  Perform the following procedures when less than 65°.

(1) Replace the crank pulley bolts and clean them. Crank pulley bolt: 12369AA011

(2) Clean the crankshaft thread using compressed air.

(3) Apply engine oil to the crank pulley bolt seat and thread.

(4) Tighten the bolts temporarily with a tightening torque of 44 N·m (4.5 kgf-m, 33 ft-lb).

(5) Tighten the crank pulley bolt an additional 65° to 75°.

 

Thanks man. Is that for the 2001 subaru impreza rx 2.0ltr automatic? 

[Rusty Nuts]

Its what I have used for Four Cylinder Subaru's for years. Some Guys I worked with just go directly to 150 ft-lb as this definitely gets the angle past 65 degrees. Up to you bud, heaps of luck.

[silviaz]

3 hours ago, Rusty Nuts said:

Its what I have used for Four Cylinder Subaru's for years. Some Guys I worked with just go directly to 150 ft-lb as this definitely gets the angle past 65 degrees. Up to you bud, heaps of luck.

Thanks as always. I think I might get a shop to do it, I've got a knack for ruining things I touch, haha. 

[silviaz]

On 6/13/2021 at 11:39 AM, Rusty Nuts said:

Its what I have used for Four Cylinder Subaru's for years. Some Guys I worked with just go directly to 150 ft-lb as this definitely gets the angle past 65 degrees. Up to you bud, heaps of luck.

Got my water pump and other stuff changed today i noticed the coolant resoviour was above the max line about an inch now it dropped twice and is an inch below the line. oh boy here we go haha, costed me a pretty penny to. Will keep this thread updated. I just hope that was air bleeding out of the system.

[Ben C34]

10 hours ago, silviaz said:

Got my water pump and other stuff changed today i noticed the coolant resoviour was above the max line about an inch now it dropped twice and is an inch below the line. oh boy here we go haha, costed me a pretty penny to. Will keep this thread updated. I just hope that was air bleeding out of the system.

You are meant to bleed the air yourself. Not just randomly hope it happens.

[silviaz]

2 minutes ago, Ben C34 said:

You are meant to bleed the air yourself. Not just randomly hope it happens.

The mechanic did it or he should have at least i did see he was adding coolant when i arrived to the shop. The leak is gone though. Will keep an eye on it. There are no air bubbles in the radiator cap or resoviour.

Edited June 20, 2021 by silviaz

[Rusty Nuts]

On 6/19/2021 at 11:59 PM, silviaz said:

Got my water pump and other stuff changed today i noticed the coolant resoviour was above the max line about an inch now it dropped twice and is an inch below the line. oh boy here we go haha, costed me a pretty penny to. Will keep this thread updated. I just hope that was air bleeding out of the system.

Thats pretty normal actually. What you have to watch for, Check your coolant reservoir after a run and the car is hot, if the level is high or overflowing, you have a compression leak from HG.