Coolant leak
 

Hi guys,

Depending on the outcome of tomorrow I may or may not keep my Impreza.

Over the last year and a half I have had it iv'e spent quite a lot of money resolving gearbox issues and other things, not that I have minded I love the car to bits however the latest thing to go might be the last.
Just wanted some opinions as you guys will have far more experience of this than myself.

I was all set to do an 80 mile drive on Friday evening, engine oil topped up and ok, coolant fine, new tyres etc etc.
Set off and about 20 miles into the journey I noticed that the oil light had come on, not on as when you turn they key and its bright red, like a dim glow.
The engine temp was normal it had not moved from its usual position.
( I have a 2007 Hawkeye WRX btw)
I wasn't bombing it as the road I was on is notorious for several speed traps, but I also then noticed a ploom white smoke going past the drivers side of the car, if I hadn't looked in the wing mirror I would not have seen it.
I immediately pulled over and the white smoke was coming from the engine bay. I opened the engine bay up and was engulfed in white smoke.
I called the breakdown out and advised them of the issue.
When the breakdown guy arrived he checked the oil and said this was fine and refilled the coolant into the radiator and asked me to rev the car to about 2krpm. As soon as the white smoke began to reappear he reckoned it was a blown hose.
He removed the plastic air intake and checked the top left radiator hose, there was a hole in it. However it looks like somehow this hole had been caused by the hose catching the front fan. You could see where the fan had cut into the hose. I would never have seen this :(
Anyway, he repaired the hose with a temporary repair and put it back.
He topped up the radiator again and asked me to start the car and leave it idle for about 10-15 mins to clear away all the coolant that had soaked my engine bay.
We kept an eye on the radiator filler hole for any bubbles and there was nothing topping it up when it dropped. He then asked me to rev the engine again, I noticed now that the engine temp was inbetween half way and 3/4, I let the mechanic know this and he said something about the car being stationary, didn't really make sense.
Anyway, whilst reving the engine water began to spurt out of the rad filler hole, the guy filled it with water and said it might have been an airlock, anyway when I revved it again the same thing happened.
"He then said looks like youve got a failed head gasket, but I cant be sure"
and that he didnt have any more time to spent looking at the fault as he only came out rather than call a flatbed to take me home because he thought he could fix it.
I also asked him about the oil light and he reckoned it was just a switch?
I messaged a guy with a car garage I know and he said he would look at it tomorrow, so ill sort that in the morning.
I guess my question is, have a ****ed it? lol there is no water and coolant mix but I understand that exhaust gasses can escape through the head gasket too? am I right in thinking this?
Is this a sign that I have a failed head gasket? is there anything else it could be?
From the point where I noticed the problem to stopping was about 30 seconds, luckily there was a parking point on the road I was travelling on.

Cheers guys

Steve

Good luck and hope the outcome is good.

whenever the engine temps go above halfway and you're not smashing it - its a bad sign im afraid..


source : my own experience. blown a few head gaskets in my time (im an idiot)

Well I am still here :D somehow lol


So my head gasket did go, but the garage I went to is booked for quite some time in advance, so what we have done is replaced the top radiator hose and used gaskey sealant.
I know that this can cause its own fare share of issues but it has resolved the issue for the time being. Bear in my it was the fan catching on the hose that caused these issues in the first place.
I'm also not going to leave it like this as I know that this fix will not last forever, but for £120 all in its been a bit of luck really its worked.
I drove it today for the first time since letting the engine cool properly and its held water, no signs of over heatng or water loss.
It stinks of burnt coolant mind then you walk away from the car, but this is because the whole engine bay got soaked, I'll get some degreaser and sort this, smells like ass its horrible!
The dim oil light if anyone is interested, is indicitive of a sensor under the alternator getting wet, which makes sense in my case. Some people have said by removing the alternator, disconnecting the sensor and drying it usually resolves the issue. So, I'm really glad that isnt yet another issue on top.
I'm going to book a week off work in the next few months and have the head gasket properly repaired or I will forever have in the back of my mind that I might have issues again somewhere down the line. Luckily the coolant isnt mixing with the oil so thats something else also.


Something I have also noticed, I went on eBay and looked for the top raditor hose, I found some including used ones that have like a double skin ironically over where mine became caught, does anyone know if this is intentional to prevent this? and also I read somewhere that all the hoses should be changed around 30,000 miles. I've just hit 70,000 so maybe this is something I should do, however I am considering getting a different car next year, probably still a Subaru but this car is a little too much of a diva for me at the moment :D

Someone has refit the hose backwards/incorrectly previously, very common,
The standard Subaru hose does have a rather thin 2nd rubber skin, but it wouldnt stop much,
How did the garage determine the HG was gone, the weird temp after the water leak may just be because the system was refilled incorrectly, and it had a air lock.

The honest answer is that I don't know.
I can only assume that is was when the car was started and the throttle was applied the coolant spat out of the radiator filler. This was done with the cap off. This was the reasoning for the thought of HGF.
It could well be possible that I was very lucky and haven't actually blown the gasket and by the garage doing what they have done, they have actually bled the system properly and the sealant has don't nothing at all apart from got the garage to thoroughly burp the system.
It'll still loom over me as I can't be sure.
I could always take it to a specialist and have it properly diagnosed but I'd assume that nothing would be found if the sealant has fixed something or I just get it done regardless.
there are some other little annoyances I'd like resolving like the creak from the clutch so thats always an option I guess.

If I had a second car I could spend the time looking into it, I have actually been considering a second car just incase.

If interested, consider searching your domestic market for a source offering "Combustion Leak Test Kits".

These are usually cylindrical devices that you partially fill with a liquid dye and then hold in place over the rad cap opening while the engine is running. If combustion gas is finding its way into the coolant, the liquid dye indicates this through a colour change.

A couple of examples available in NA.

http://www.blocktester.com/

http://www.uview.com/index.cfm?DSP=P...oling&id=45700

An Instruction Sheet for the latter unit.

http://www.uview.com/site/ywd_uview/..._comb-leak.pdf