Subaru - Legacy :: 1997 - Smell Of Warm Coolant From Engine Compartment After Prolonged Driving
Jun 23, 2012
Acquired a 1997 Subaru Legacy a few weeks ago. Drive it for a prolonged time in the heat, at speed, and you can smell warm coolant from the engine compartment. And the temperature gauge hovers in the middle of the dial, no matter what.
My wife explained the smell away by guessing she'd spilled coolant when she topped it up. But it's been weeks since she did that. Also - this sucker drinks coolant. I'm guessing every 2-3 days I'm adding another gallon.
It occurs to me that ... maybe .. a leak on top of a pipe so the coolant doesn't drip out, but the loss of pressure (from the hole) causes the fluid to boil and flash out? This might explain the 'higher than I'd like to see' operating temperature.
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What would cause the vechile to die randomly, while driving? have check all ground wires, coolant, spark plugs, air filter, and changed fuel filter. no check engine lights come on.
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I have the same problem noted on last weekend's show with another Subaru owner. My car has a burning type smell (burning rubber or burning oil) only when driving uphill on a mountain road. I'm not sure the answer given on the show is correct about the rubber under the carpet smelling because of the catalytic converter. The smell comes through the venting system.
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I have an 03 Passat Wagon, 2.8L V6. My wife is getting ready for a big drive tomorrow, about 13 hours. Right now after reaching the operating temperature and then shutting off the coolant is boiling. The temp gauge never goes beyond 190 so it is not overheating but it is getting really warm in the engine compartment.
History: I noticed a couple of days ago that the expansion tank was badly discolored and had some corrosion inside. I know it was because I inadvertently mixed the green stuff with it about 2 months ago. I know it was stupid, but that was before I realized how stupid. Yesterday I drained the coolant and flushed it about 4 times. I couldn't flush it completely because I couldn't get at the drain next to the transmission fluid pan. I just drained it from the front outlet.
I refilled the system by disconnecting the expansion tank and holding it up until fluid came out of the hole on the hose going into the firewall. Then I was going to bleed it from the bleeder screw in the rear coolant pipe (as listed in Haynes manual) but could not find it. I even have the photo in the book to guide me and it is not there. Since I couldn't find it I skipped to the bleeder valve by the serpentine belt. I bleed that and hooked it all back up.
Now my fluid boils. I know it isn't the expansion tank cap because I took the one from my Jetta and put it in and it does the same thing. I put the cap from the Passat in the Jetta and it doesn't cause that coolant to boil. After driving today for a half hour the engine compartment felt superheated. Even the fenders were hot to the touch. It is almost 90 outside but it still felt unusually hot in the engine compartment. I would like for my wife to drive this on her road trip instead of the Jetta, but I can't let her do that with this problem.
I think I must not have bleed the system very well. The heater works and the temp gauge never goes above 190.
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Have a 1997 Subaru Legacy 2.2 liter. Having stalling issues after 20-25 minutes of driving. Will restart but gets shorter and ashorter intervals between stalls and then stalls right after start every time until in has sat a while and cools down. Changer ECU.
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I recently purchased a 2005 Elantra GLS. It is super clean and runs great. The dealer replaced the original radiator and hoses because they said the original radiator had a hole in it. After driving the car, the engine compartment has a coolant smell. No smell in the cabin. I looked everywhere but don't see any signs of a leak. There is no smoke coming from the exhaust and the oil is clean. Coolant levels in the over flow tank and radiator are good. The car is only driven short distances (maybe 100 miles per week). What could be causing the coolant smell in the engine compartment?
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When I turn the key all the way over, I hear only one click, and no engine sound. Playing with park or neutral positions do nothing. Battery and connections are good. I am getting a raw fuel smell out of the tail pipe after it finally starts. The check engine light intermittently comes on, by now it is mostly on.
My guesses are: fuel pump/relay problems, starter/connection problems.
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Our 1994 Suburu Legacy runs on Petrol or LPG. For some unknown reason, there is a strong petrol smell in the car. When this happens, the car will eventually stop and the engine stops. There is power, but the engine will not start. Several minutes and many attempts later later, it starts. What may be happening?
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So after hitting a deer in my car a few weeks ago I fixed it and drove it around town a little bit and it ran fine. But 15 mins onto the highway the next day it overheated. It was out of oil, which I had checked a couple days before when I fixed it. so after it had cooled down I filled it up with Coolant and oil and started driving it home. the roads where bad and I wanted to go easy on the engine so I took it at about 25-30 MPH. as I was driving it would slowly overheat, but I could get it to start cooling down but dropping it into neutral and just letting it idle while I coasted. I had to get off the frontage road and take the highway the last couple miles before town so I turned the engine off and let the fan run for about 20 mins, and started off again, the weird thing was when I got on the highway I was doing about 55Mph and the engine didn't try to overheat at all, but as soon as I got back in town and started doing 25 again it started overheating again. another thing that is happening is that the car will blow air through the heating system but won't heat it. I realize that was long but I'm really at a loss. I replaced the head gaskets less than a year ago so it's not from worn gaskets.
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All lights/radio etc. come on but my car won't start at all. There's a leak in the engine (see photo) and I'm wondering if this is the problem...or an additional problem and if it's something I could fix on my own.
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My 2010 Subaru Legacy has been leaking oil since the last oil change, and also smelling like burning oil. I took it back to the mechanics, and they told me something about oil pooling from previous oil changes into the splash pan, soaking into the foam in or around the splash pan, and the foam got so saturated that it is now dripping oil. The good news: no new leak, only a residual leak.They cleaned it up, replaced the foam, and topped me off-no charge.
My questions: Does this sound right/common? Or are my mechanics sloppy to be saturating foam in or around the splash pan? And is the burning oil smell related to all this splashing and pooling oil? This is the third oil change related issue I've had with them. First they didn't fill my oil to the appropriate fill line (I believe they over-filled
Then the next time they did not tighten my oil cap enough, which caused oil to spill and burn, and they couldn't diagnose the issue (I took it in complaining of the smell of something burning-almost like plastic burning, and they looked at me like I was crazy, and told me they couldn't smell anything burning. Getting it fixed took a chance encounter with a different mechanic, and he knew what it was by smell! Now I do, too).
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what could be causing a terrible odor when the fan is used to heat or cool my 1998 subaru legacy wagon? note: this occurs only when the outside air vent is open.
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I have a 2004 Subaru Legacy Wagon with around 90,000 miles on it. I purchased the car in 2008 with about 26,000 miles on it. Starting two years ago, whenever the air temperature is below 15-20 degrees, my car will develop a smell of antifreeze in the cabin when I start it and let it warm up for a minute or two. It did not do it for the first winters I owned it. I have not been able to detect the smell outside of the vehicle, and I have not been able to detect the smell in the summer months, even if the car is left idling for several minutes. The White Whale (my cars name according to my wife) was worked on by my local mechanic (where the car was purchased) last winter. They considered and replaced the thermostat, a leaking (or at least they thought it was possibly leaking) hose, and then finally after consulting over the phone with the Subaru dealer that is a little over 45 miles from my house, decided that the problem was likely the head gasket.
So at around 65,000 miles I had the head gasket replaced by the Subaru dealer. Problem is, they replaced it in March, and the temps were high enough that I couldn't really tell if the fix had fixed the original problem or not. It had seemed that the smell was at least less intense, but hard to tell. So, here we are in the midst of January, yesterday the car started beautifully (which is one reason that I love this car) after sitting outside all night at -11 degrees Fahrenheit with wind chills down to below -30. Last winter, in these conditions, the smell would be so strong that I would get nauseated driving the entire 15 minutes to work.
This winter, since the repair, the smell seems limited to only the first idling time. After that, the cabin seems to get cleared out with fresh air, and the smell dissipates. There have never been any check engine lights, the oil and coolant levels have never been a problem, the temperature is never higher than just above the mid-line on the gauge which has stayed the same all throughout the time I've owned it, and performance has been completely unaffected by the smell, other than my performance as a driver when trying to navigate in a car that reeks of antifreeze. Also, I have never noticed what some describe as a haze or liquid building up on the windshield when a heater core goes out and my mechanics, both dealership and local, assured me that this was not the problem.
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Hitting a diagnostic dead end here - car wants to overheat/drink coolant on hot days when inevitably the A/C is on. A/C fan never comes on. Car was in a front-ender accident about 18 months ago, could be related, unclear. The A/C condenser was damaged then, but I replaced it, recharged the system, and the A/C now blows nice and cold. I've swapped the fans and the same fan works fine when plugged into the other side. I've swapped the fuses.
I've taken a working relay (as the other fan stops when I pull the relay out) and rotated that relay thru the other 3 sockets with the engine and A/C on. Still no movement. So I'm a bit stumped puzzled as to what to consider next, and then a part of me started to wonder if the fan is the red herring, and might I have a radiator issue which is the real culprit. I don't see any leaks. I had the thermostat fail about 1-2 months after the accident but a shop replaced it and this overheating issue really only flared this summer. This is a 99 Subaru Legacy SUS Sedan, the 30th Anniversary edition, with 189K+ miles, so minimal expenditure is the game plan.
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So this car is having overheating problems -- it's a 2001, Subaru outback legacy wagon, 125,000 miles on it, automatic. I was driving it an hour on the highway, pulled off an exit, it overheated and stalled. Got it into a gas station only to find the coolant cap on the reserve had blown off and coolant went everywhere. So i put new coolant and water in and got it to go 20 minutes only to overheat again.
Drove it back home blowing the heater and seemed to somewhat remain at 1/2 to 3/4 mark on the temp gauge. Then i took it to shop-- they said probably an air bubble that worked its way out?! and they basically did nothing. Drove it again an hour this weekend, same thing happened--drove it back with the heater on. Brought it to ANOTHER shop that first off thinks its the timing belt. The person i bought it from had head gaskets, timing belt, water pump and thermostat all replaced. The only thing they were told to do was flush the radiator which they did not do.
SO...what do i do? I'm taking it to yet another place and don't want to be ripped off -- Change the radiator cap? Could it be one of the parts blew again? They were replaced last year. Should i flush the radiator-- what would that do really? Could it be an electrical/fuse problem with the fans?
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I have a legacy. Notice some slippage between 2nd and 3rd and 3rd and 4th. Also noticing an extreme burning smell when vehicle first gets started (for about 15 min) it's gagging it's so strong and pours in through defrost but can be smelled standing outside car also. Finally I parked in friends garage and notice some dark weird colored fluid on ground when I backed out, I dont know if it's oil or transmission fluid.
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Just bought a 2013 Subaru legacy sport. Within a week the car stopped 5 times while I was driving. There were no dash lights and all gauges were on zero. Had to restart the car each time. I Had it towed back to the dealership. They had the car 4 days and said they drove it 25 miles highway and stop and go. They said the car never just stopped while they were driving and they are giving it back to me tomorrow. I am afraid to drive this car. I will be driving highway to get home.
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I hear a thumping sound in the rear of my '97 Legacy wagon (Brighton model). The sound occurs when the car moves. Once the car has been running for several minutes the sound goes away. What is the cause and fix?
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No white smoke, no water in the oil. I think the antifreeze is not circulating. thermostat? plugged radiator? faulty water pump? air blocked? I have had heat in the car when the gauge is on "H" and then cool air when in the same place. Have loosened the radiator cap and the engine appeared to cool off quickly then when it got up on "H" again opening the radiator cap just to relieve pressure did nothing.
The next time i let it idle and it started to come down, then accelerated to 2000 rpm and it cooled quickly. The next time repeated this same type of thing and did no good. Next time the gauge said "H" i kept moving and the heater blew hot air for 4 miles then it blew cold air?Start with a thermostat? Try bleeding the heater? replace radiator? take a compression test?
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My AWD 1996 Subaru Legacy Station Wagon suddenly loses power while I'm driving......
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There is a knocking, hesitation in the wheel rotation? transaxle?
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