Measuring Antifreeze Protection

I'm not 100% sure yet what this Subaru "conditioner" really is, but it sounds like a sealer more than anything else, along the lines of "Alumaseal" and similar products. If that's so, then it won't do anything to extend the life of the antifreeze.

Unless your car comes with a "long life" type of coolant, it's generally advised to change your coolant every year or two. With the kind of miles on your car, when's the last time it was changed? BTW, I understand the "conditioner" will have to be added again when you change coolant, further leading me to think it's just a sealer.

There's a very good possibility your coolant smell is from a tiny, non-problematic, weepage leak at the bottom of a head. If you're not losing a noticeable amount of coolant, it's probably harmless. You can spray off the bottom of the engine with a garden hose, then keep an eye on things to see this type of leak. It's pretty common on Subies.

Rick

Buy a coolant hydrometer for a few bucks and do it yourself.

Al

Rick Courtright wrote in news: snipped-for-privacy@iname.com:

I have changed the antifreeze every 25,000 miles, so it is getting close to another change. Does Subaru make the additive available so that you don't have to go to the dealer now for a change?

I'll hope that the coolant seepage is not problematic and keep an eye on it.

Thanks, Dave

Hi,

I'm not sure, but if you do a search of the NG under "head gasket" and "coolant," ISTR someone gave a Subaru part number somewhere. If I'm not "remembering" something that wasn't there, I'd think your dealer parts dept should be able to get you the additive to put in yourself.

And, for personal reference, you might want to do as Al suggested and get a coolant tester at the auto parts store, test your old coolant before draining it, then test new coolant both before and after adding the conditioner to establish a baseline for your car. It may be your numbers are at one end or the other of the scale under "normal" conditions.

Also, if you don't already do it, be sure to mix your new coolant with DISTILLED water. I know some people who also do a final flush of their cooling system with distilled water to minimize the residual minerals from tap water left in the system, though that might be a bit much for most of us. Regardless, you should get better life and less buildup of crud in the system using distilled water w/ your coolant instead of tap water.

Rick

Suby dealer do have the "conditioner". Use it and any head gasket leakage is waranted for 8 years and 80,000 miles. It is a sealer. GM products have had great HG problems and now put a sealer in at the factory so they don't need to extend the waranty past 36,000 miles or 3 years.

Most manufs recommend changing coolant every 2 years/ 50K miles; some three years, but I've never seen longer. I seem to recall the conditioner bieng a relabelled Holts product; Radweld IIRC. It's a sealer and will assist with head gasket weepage and the like, but AFAIK it does nothing to assist the coolant itself or extend its heat transfer &/or antifreeze properties. Cheers