I was driving my car home last night and all was well then my temperature gauge started to rise. It went all the way to the top. I turned on my heater and it went down for a moment but then climbed back up. My ac and heater both work while driving. The heater did not seem to work well at idle. I was close to home so I babied it home and parked it for the night. The fans were running when I parked it. This morning it seemed to have leaked a lot overnight. I added some water to the overflow tank but was in such a rush I didn't check the rest of the system. My car warmed up just fine this morning but went hot within two miles of driving so it it parked again. I am waiting for it to cool down before I touch it. I can't see where the leak is coming from but it has leaked a fair amount.

Any advice?

 

How many miles do you have? If its high, you may want to check your head gasket (dont know how to check it, but its definitely a possibility). Check for bubbles and dark color in your overflow tank.

 

I have 84k on my 02.

 

ive got like 87 on my 02 and havnt had any problems like that

 

I have not had any issues till now. That is why I am here for advice...

 

what does your coolant level look like?

 

Was to overflow tank full? When My Subie over heated, all of the coolant was pumped into the overflow tank and then that overflowed and there was coolant everywhere... Sounds like a Head Gasket issue though... if it's not that then there is a leak somewhere...

If it's just a leak, Would you want a bumper sticker to patch it?

 

i don't know where the leak is, i can't find it but it is leaking to the ground from both left and right sides of th skid plate.

The overflow tank was empty. I filled the system and radiator again and started the car and let it run for a few more min and filled and it is not leaking bad now but still dripping but the under side of my car is coated with coolant.

 

replace your radiator cap, and refill the system.

 

The cap was on tight, I did refill the system and I am going to drive around the block at lunch and see how it does. If not it is getting parked yet again.

 

Daniel, sounds like a tell tale sign of a head gasket. If you want, bring it by I can probably verify it for you.

 

well that just blows... if you could take a look that would be helpful. I will pm you.

 

ok update as my car is sitting there. I filled the coolant reservor as it was low. It seems to be holding and not dripping anymore. I have not put anything into the overflow tank and it is still bone dry. I am waiting to see if the coolant reservor holds it for now then will add some to the overflow tank and see if that starts leaking. I hope it is just a hose or clamp or something.

 

i read somewhere that you can quickly try to check the head gasket by doing the following:

when the engine is cold, take off the radiator cap and turn on the engine. warm up the car for a bit and then rev up the motor, and look for signs of bubbling in the coolant. if there is bubbling that is an indication of the head gasket being bad

you should look for other stuff before blaming it on the head gasket. maybe take off your skid plate and put the car on ramps and try to pinpoint the source of the leaks. it could be your radiator end tanks are leaking and need the radiator needs to be replaced, or a clamp may have come off.

check out the cheap/easy stuff before looking for the harder/more expensive stuff (like the hg)

 

The reason i said to replace your radiator cap is because the cap could not be sealing which doesn't let the cooling system come up to pressure, which lowers the boiling point of your coolant water mix. The tightness of the radiator cap wouldn't have anything to do with it because it is either locked in place or loose, no real inbetween. Some cooling system problems can be solved by replacing the radiator cap. No sense in pulling your motor to replace the head gasket when it could just be a like a $10 radiator cap not sealing. Your system isn't leaking now because all of your coolant boiled out of the overflow tank. Once the coolant cooled down it was sucked back into the radiator. Start with your radiator cap then test for a blown head gasket.