HELP!! Slow leak in the cooling system

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HELP!! Slow leak in the cooling system

Postby robcolts » Sun Feb 17, 2019 11:14 pm

Hi all Liberty drivers

I have been experiencing a slow leak in the cooling system of my Gen V LGT for about 18 months.

The cooling system has been pressure tested, and about 6 months ago at my 100K service I had all radiator hoses possible changed (some that were impossible) and the water pump was replaced - all OEM. Definitely no sign of oil in the coolant or vice versa.

Some research on the internet indicated some older Subaru’s had problems with a radiator drain petcock valves causing slow leaks. Does anyone know if the GenV has such a valve or similar?

Could it be a very very slow head gasket pin hole leak?

Any ideas out there would be appreciated here please?

Cheers
Rob
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Re: HELP!! Slow leak in the cooling system

Postby bigBADbenny » Sat Jun 22, 2019 4:12 pm

Have you calculated exactly how much coolant you’re using?
It should leave a telltale blue condensate where it’s leaking, otherwise use a compatible uv dye and uv torch to spot the leaks...
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Re: HELP!! Slow leak in the cooling system

Postby RX25SE » Sat Jun 22, 2019 4:41 pm

Over time, small external leaks become visible as they often leave behind coloured stains from the dye. You will need to visually inspect all possible places leaks can form, such as joints at hoses, gaskets and seals plus radiator and heater cores. Inpect for external headgasket leaks carefully.

If you can't find any external leaks then suspect an internal leak, such as failed headgasket. Not uncommon for an internal leak to leave nothing in the oil.
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Re: HELP!! Slow leak in the cooling system

Postby bigBADbenny » Sun Jun 23, 2019 9:12 am

If its like a gen4 (it is, btw) the rad bung is easy to get to with the car slightly raised.
Drivers side, I used a tall bucket in a wide basin and caught all the recently replaced coolant.

9D64D43F-BDF0-4821-BFCA-A054A0E8746F.png
9D64D43F-BDF0-4821-BFCA-A054A0E8746F.png (172.91 KiB) Viewed 4698 times


The bung itself is kinda just over finger tight, with soft rubber gasket.

45128KA000 O RING RADIATOR
45124AC000 # OBD #AIR PLUG

From a 2010 gen5 GT vin search on Partsouq...
https://partsouq.com/en/catalog/genuine ... V3AG009235

https://partsouq.com/en/catalog/genuine ... V3AG009235
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Re: HELP!! Slow leak in the cooling system

Postby JB25 » Sun Jun 23, 2019 11:46 pm

I had a slow leak on mine recently, turned out that the hose running to the expansion tank from the radiator expansion cap was leaking slowly at the fitting on the radiator.
I changed the radiator on the car only a few weeks after I bought it (damned thing cracked on the top tank), but it didn't start leaking until about a year after it was done.
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Re: HELP!! Slow leak in the cooling system

Postby bigBADbenny » Mon Jun 24, 2019 8:41 am

Had that one too, the moment any coolant hoses are bulging, it’s replacement time, and use quality, eg oetiker, screw clamps...
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