Coolant system question

My son has bought a 1992 Subaru Liberty Staion Wagon (Australia). He's had it a month and it's been great. Yesterday it developed some cooling system troubles and I can't quite understand what might be happening. There is a slow leak from the bottom of the radiator near the drain tap, enough to wet the ground and cause a bit of steam when the fan blasts the coolant onto the engine. The temperature gauge rises to HOT within

10 minutes of running the engine but drops back down again after a few minutes and that's how my son got the car home (frequent stops). The radiator feels cold, but the top radiator hose feels very hot but the coolant expansion tank (that you top up) is at a normal level! Taking the cap of the radiator itself (with the engine stopped) I can't see the coolent level and there's no feel of pressure but it looks wet in there but no steam eminates. I don't quite understand why the temperature goes up with the leak but with no major loss of coolant. We'll phone our servicer but my son is quite upset (first car syndrome) and it'd be nice to have some idea of what could be the cause before our mechanic opens on Monday Cheers....Pete
Reply to
pmg
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Could be a block in the system. With a car that old, if the inside of the cooling system was corroded a bit, some junk could have fallen off and clogged on of the lines. Another thing it could be is a water pump failure. It may have plenty of clean coolant, but it is not being circulated. The last thing I can think of is if it was not properly flushed, and you have an airlock. This sometimes happens if they have to replace the heater core in the radiator as the car ages.

Reply to
FNO

Had similar trouble with my 91 Liberty sedan.The tank on the drain plug side had cracked and leaking.Take the Radiator out and have it pressure tested at some radiator repairers.Once the radiator is out ,a crack can usually be visible if that is the problem.Coolant tank level does not drop as the crack lets in air when coolant cools down.

Reply to
PG

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