What. The. Hell

"YSI-what can brown do for you" (ysi-what-can-brown-do-for-you) 06/25/2014 at 22:52 • Filed to: None

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the coolant in a FRS after 15k miles. Good news though, there is coolant!

After a 5 minute drive the coolant is abut an inch above the low line, which is good. Going tomorrow to pickup coolant.

GeorgeyBoy > YSI-what can brown do for you 06/25/2014 at 22:54

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Is it supposed to be checked hot or cold?

YSI-what can brown do for you > GeorgeyBoy 06/25/2014 at 22:57

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I don't know, I checked when it was both hot and cold.

GeorgeyBoy > YSI-what can brown do for you 06/25/2014 at 23:02

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Full operating temp?

Make sure you use the right coolant if it does need any.

YSI-what can brown do for you > GeorgeyBoy 06/25/2014 at 23:07

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I drove for like 5 to 10 minutes and the needle didn't move for a bit. I am going to check around, the dealerships have it for sure, l ooks like it will be around 30 bucks.

GeorgeyBoy > YSI-what can brown do for you 06/25/2014 at 23:11

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http://www.ft86club.com/forums/showthr…

Looks like cold. The link you put looks like pink coolant, blue seems to be what's in the pic of the frs.

YSI-what can brown do for you > GeorgeyBoy 06/25/2014 at 23:15

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Damn! Yeah, it is supposed to be blue not pink. I even googled blue!

Either way, I was looking at that link when I saw the coolant level, didn't see the thing about it having to be cold though.

GeorgeyBoy > YSI-what can brown do for you 06/25/2014 at 23:20

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3) Check that the fluid level is between the "Full" and "Low" lines on the reservoir when the car is COLD.

Arch Duke Maxyenko, Shit Talk Extraordinaire > YSI-what can brown do for you 06/25/2014 at 23:20

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blown head gasket already? You did but a proper Subaru!

YSI-what can brown do for you > GeorgeyBoy 06/25/2014 at 23:27

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Well I mean the first time! I saw it the second time around.

YSI-what can brown do for you > Arch Duke Maxyenko, Shit Talk Extraordinaire 06/25/2014 at 23:28

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Hey now, there was no white smoke of doom to be seen! Either that or my mind just ignored it.

JGrabowMSt > YSI-what can brown do for you 06/25/2014 at 23:38

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Always check coolant cold. Always. Also, drive it until it's fully warmed up, like 30+ minutes of driving. Coolant may possibly be over the max fill line. This is okay, coolant is hot, and cycling through the engine.

There's fluid between the low and full line? You're good. Better to have the fluid closer to the low line than the max fill line.

Just call it a day. Don't add coolant unless you're low when cold, and only add coolant when cold.

I had an issue with too much coolant in the wagon, I parked nose down in my girlfriends driveway (a little more than a slight incline), and coolant was getting out from the overflow vent. Proper coolant level and you shouldn't see that ever.

Coolant is more forgiving than oil. You don't need a super specific quantity in the car 100% of the time. You need to eyeball it and keep it under control. If the temp gauge is normal, keep driving it.

BoulderZ > YSI-what can brown do for you 06/25/2014 at 23:40

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Overheard at tech inspection tonight, from a FRS owner: "I just hope the catch can is big enough that I can make it through a full session and then empty it". Are the engines in them really that loose on fluids? I do like the cars, just surprised on the consumables.

Zoom > YSI-what can brown do for you 06/25/2014 at 23:40

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Who checked fluid levels at your last oil change?

'Was it needing coolant then, (and how much)' is the question.

YSI-what can brown do for you > JGrabowMSt 06/25/2014 at 23:42

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Well the first picture is of it cold, and it was on a flat surface. I however didn't drive around for 30 minutes it was probably closer to 10 minutes. I didn't notice anything weird.

I am going to the dealership tomorrow to either get a free fill, or if they don't do that buy some. Should I tell them to keep it in the middle of the low and high line when it is cold?

YSI-what can brown do for you > Zoom 06/25/2014 at 23:59

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Last oil change at the dealership was at 7500 miles. We did our own at 12500ish, didn't look at the coolant though. So I am assuming they didn't see the coolant at 7500 though.

JGrabowMSt > YSI-what can brown do for you 06/26/2014 at 00:21

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No. If it's above the Fill line, then you're kosher. I would only go a little bit above the fill line, probably not halfway between. Not knowing exactly how much coolant is in the system currently, whether there's more in the radiator or wherever it feels like hiding at the moment. I like to check coolant in the morning before I do any driving. It means the thing is dead cold, and all that fun stuff.

It's a little hard for me to tell where your coolant levels are from those pictures, it looks like it's halfway when cold? Or am I looking at the wrong thing here? Am I supposed to see a polar bear high fiving a seal? I can't tell what the second picture is at all, is it lower than normal?

Granted, my coolant overflow tank is right up top, super easy to see and check, the HEMI Wagon spoils me.

Do you have a reason to suspect your coolant is low or otherwise? Just poking around and unsure? You could stop by the dealer and ask them to look, but might not probably wont be free.

YSI-what can brown do for you > JGrabowMSt 06/26/2014 at 00:27

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Well, in the first picture there is no coolant in the tank. The second picture it is above the low line by about an inch after driving for about 10 minutes. The tank is not hard to see, but sticking a phone in the car to take a picture was a bit difficult. Not much room for that.

I had no reason to suspect the coolant was low, it never overheated even after a few autocross events and even in heavy traffic. I just checked and the tank was missing coolant.

So basically when it is cold it should be at the low line, but after driving it should be at the full line?

JGrabowMSt > YSI-what can brown do for you 06/26/2014 at 00:36

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When it's cold, it should be slightly above the low line. When the engine is at it's normal running temp, it depends, but it can be slightly higher than Full line. Each car is different when it's at it's operating temp, but when cold, it should be at or just above the low line.

Like I said before, if you fill to the max fill line, it will spit coolant out until it's happy with it's level on it's own. It's possible that if you've lost coolant, you lost coolant during an autocross, if the coolant got hotter than during normal driving, and you lost some on the track. It wouldn't be enough to leave a serious puddle, or even enough to notice right away, but over time, you'd notice, which could be an explanation for this. Not sure if it is though.

When you go to the dealer, I would not admit to autocrossing. Just play stupid, and say there was no coolant in the bottle when you were washing it or something. You don't want to give them a reason to void a warranty or anything else that could cost you, then or later.

YSI-what can brown do for you > JGrabowMSt 06/26/2014 at 00:47

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It seems I am not the only one to have this problem either. A few people on the forums say they seem to be low on coolant after 10k miles or so. I haven't noticed any puddles. Next autocross, I will check the coolant levels after every run and see what happens.

Don't worry, the dealership won't know a thing. ;)

Squid > YSI-what can brown do for you 06/26/2014 at 04:01

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Just get some distilled water and put in there. You are probably fine though. Did you take a look where the level was with the cap off? Sometimes the plastic tanks can be decieving.

Zoom > YSI-what can brown do for you 06/26/2014 at 08:58

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Or your consumption just started and they did see some at 7500.

Those are your two scenerios.

1. Consumption just started and you have a problem. OR

2. Evaporation gradually over the last 15k has dropped you down less than a pint.

The only way to determine which it is, is to know if there was or wasn't any there at last change. That's why it's important to ck all fluids, every time, and take note.

If you had a professional shop change it, and they didn't give you a walk around sheet with inspected items and fluid levels, find another shop.

And if you didn't check it yourself last time, well, that's why you really aren't sure of what's going on right now.

It might just be evaporation, and totally normal.

YSI-what can brown do for you > Zoom 06/26/2014 at 11:44

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This is my first car, and no one in my family are car people, so I am new to this whole dealo. I did learn this time though, check all your fluids!

I don't think it is a headgasket issue, the oil looked fine(even though this might be a new problem). Also there was no white smoke to be seen!

YSI-what can brown do for you > Squid 06/26/2014 at 11:46

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Yeah I checked with the cap off, and stuck a flashlight in there. Looked pretty empty! I didn't notice any problems during the last week, so that's a plus. Luckily the dealership topped it off no problem!

YSI-what can brown do for you > BoulderZ 06/26/2014 at 11:48

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They are a little loose. There is a small oil leak at the rear of the engine at most if not all FRS. There is a cam plate there needed for the manuals but if you have auto they need the whole in the back, so when they sealed it, it was poorly done and leaks oil ever so slightly, like you won't even notice.

BoulderZ > YSI-what can brown do for you 06/26/2014 at 11:52

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Huh, very interesting. I've always admired the cars, but really didn't know a lot of the details. Thanks for the info!

YSI-what can brown do for you > BoulderZ 06/26/2014 at 12:06

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If it is a big deal, you can always get an aftermarket one that super seals it. It is really easy to check as well. The one on the left is stock, the stuff they used to seal it was not great. . .

Zoom > YSI-what can brown do for you 06/26/2014 at 12:15

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No sweat. 95% of early headgasket failures don't smoke or contaminate oil, they just use coolant. But I doubt this is your issue.

Fill the coolant bottle to a know level at a known engine temp, maybe mark it with a sharpie, and ck it again after a week at the same engine temp (both times cold would be easiest.)

If you drop less than an inch every month, it's usually just evaporating.

Squid > YSI-what can brown do for you 06/26/2014 at 21:09

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did they top it off with coolant or the hose from the ceiling? You are probably better off with just getting some distilled water for the next time it runs low.

YSI-what can brown do for you > Squid 06/27/2014 at 00:03

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They got a nice bottle of coolant it appears. The dude that did it was pretty cool and pretty much did it in like a minute.

Will do, probably start to run low in another 6 or 7k miles.