Measuring Antifreeze Protection

[David Patnaude]

I started taking my 2000 Outback to a quick oil change place the last
couple of oil changes. Before this, I had the Subaru dealer add the
additive to the coolant system to extend the warranty for head gasket
leaks.

On both visits to this oil change place, they tell me that my antifreeze is
not providing the correct protection level. I never trust these type guys
and thought that it was just a gimmick to get someone to buy a coolant
flush, but my wife has brought her Honda there and it reads ok for the
hydrometer test.

I am wondering now if the additive or Subaru coolant in general has a
different specific gravity that makes the hydrometer read incorrectly for
the coolant protection test.

At 72,000 miles I am also start to get an occasional whiff of burning
coolant (after stopped facing downhill??). I hope it is not a head gasket
problem.

Any thoughts?

Thanks,
Dave

 

[Rick Courtright]

On both visits to this oil change place, they tell me that my antifreeze is
not providing the correct protection level. I never trust these type guys

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

 

[Al]

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

 

[David Patnaude]

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

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

 

[Rick Courtright]

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?

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

 

[Edward Hayes]

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.

 

[hippo]

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