On Jan 4, 3:22*pm, 1 Lucky Texan > wrote:
> On Jan 4, 2:23*am, AD > wrote:
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> > On Dec 30 2011, 3:04*pm, wrenden > wrote:
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> > > Hey there,
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> > > I've been car sitting my daughter's 99 *legacy. *Never had one these
> > > thingies so know nil about them. *I popped the hood to snoop around
> > > and found the rad recovery tank had only 2" of fluid *in there so I
> > > added some distilled water. *Did I do a bad thing? *Thanks
>
> > Check the antifreeze density after a while and see if it's acceptable
> > to the temperature ranges you see in your area.
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> > My understanding is that too much water in the coolant could
> > lead to corrosion if it won't cause a blow radiator due to the coolant
> > freezing at the least opportune time.
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> > Better yet, if the coolant was not changed in a year and a half just
> > replace the whole ****ing thing wholesale. It was time anyway.
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> Yep - good post.
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> There are about 4 issues here, 2 are 'peculiar' to Subaru;
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> 1. As said, a 'splash' of water (deionized or distilled please) in a
> Soob cooling system is not much different than in another car. It may
> dilute the additives and lead to corrosion, as it dilutes the glycol
> and reduces the freeze protection and maybe the cooling capacity.
>
> 2. The overall condition of the radiator, hoses, headgaskets, heater
> core, radiator cap, etc. Those issues are not much different than
> other cars.
>
> 3. Subaru systems CAN be tricky to purge air from when refilling or
> after any coolant loss or overheating event.
>

Yeah, good old Carl, thorough as usual.
While on the subject of letting the air in (wearing a silly grin while
stealing the thread)
I've had some fun moments with my A4 lately.
My background consists of a 1993 ford taurus and a bunch of jap bikes
and cars, nothing
german before this A4.

Sooo, I see what I thought was the "overflow" tank
is filled to the brim (engine hot). The thing has low and high marks,
maybe 3/4th of an inch apart.

This gets me worried, I unscrew the "overflow" tank cap to let
some "extra" coolant out -> it;'s freaking boiling!

I should have taken notice there is no usual metal pressure relief cap
i've got accustomed on the japs (taurus had one too i think, Yamaha in
SHO involvement maybe?
mine was pleibean nonSHO variety)

Well, I did take notice of the usual metal cap absence but did not
give it a second thought.

Anyhow, another day: I see the same thing with the tank "overfilled".
I unscrew -> more coolant oozes out.
Sooo, a few days back I get into the car start it and after a while
the low coolant warning on the dash
complete with the annoying chime comes in: now I;m LOW on coolant.

Notice to myself: do not touch thy "overflow" tank screw in cap on a
german
while the engine is hot: the coolant readings might not be correct
due to the overflow tank being PRESSURIZED! That and I gotta finish
reading
that user manual (another silly grin).

Anyhow, that was kind of amusing since no engine damage was done as
far as I can tell.

> 4. Subarus DO NOT operate well with typical aftermarket thermostats.
> Get one from a dealer. *(supposedly there is now a Xactstat unit from
> Stant. I haven't read any reviews though - caveat emptor) Also, get
> the 'conditioner' from the dealer while you're there. It's cheap and
> can help with external leaks.

But but but you get an extra 1 hp when you install an aftermarket
thermostat.
It's like helping the car to warm up like faster or something :^)))))
Sorry, just can't resist.

Cold air intakes anyone?

WRX types used to roam this NG, but are probably in the wastelands
of web forums now

That or maybe i;'m confused by rec.autos.subaru that's been dead for
about 7-8 years now.