Coolant system question

[pmg]

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

 

[FNO]

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

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.

 

[PG]

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.