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  #1  
Old 05-03-2010, 04:27 PM
Awox Awox is offline
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Spontaneous radiator combustion.

My radiator just blew up!

I am currently blaming my radiator cap. Earlier on in the day, the old old old old rubber radiator hose sprung a leak. 20 bucks later that was fixed and I went home. 100+ mile drive. No sweat.

I let the car cool down an hour or so then went to the store. I was sitting at a stoplight, for a while, the temperature needle moved up a bit, but not much, nowhere near the red, but just a bit higher than normal. I just watched it very slowly inch up. Then when i stepped on the gas when the light turned green. KABOOM

Coolant everywhere, the force of the explosion tore up the insulation on the top of the hood. It looks like it's only the top plastic part that actually blew up. Is that specifically replaceable? Or does the whole radiator have to go?

I am currently blaming the fans for not coming on from possibly being sprayed with coolant earlier in the day, because they weren't on at all when I was checking out the car after the radiator blowout. That and coincidental radiator cap failure, possibly some grit got in it while i was filling the radiator back up?

Does this sound about right or could this be a more devious plot by SVX gremlins?
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  #2  
Old 05-03-2010, 04:38 PM
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Re: Spontaneous radiator combustion.

Head gasket.... sorry
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  #3  
Old 05-03-2010, 05:50 PM
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Re: Spontaneous radiator combustion.

Possibly a head gasket but don't rule out a sticking thermostat. I had mine blow up a few radiator hoses this winter before replacing the thermostat fixed the problem.
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  #4  
Old 05-03-2010, 05:53 PM
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Re: Spontaneous radiator combustion.

The whole radiator must be replaced. There are excellent ones on Ebay for as little as $138.00. I've bought 2 of them, one for each SVX.
Check the fan operation. There's a fuse marked A/C in the under hood box which controls the fans also.
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  #5  
Old 05-03-2010, 06:32 PM
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Re: Spontaneous radiator combustion.

The fact that it blew so violently without even being very far overheated, and as he stepped on the gas, tells me the engine compression was forced into the system.

I wouldnt drop the cash on a new radiator until you have the engine block tested by a shop (or do it yourself) or you risk the same thing happening again to the new radiator. A stuck thermostat will NOT cause cooling system pressure to blow out a radiator, the cap would relieve the pressure into the reserve tank. If the cap stuck, the coolant/water mixture would have to be SCORCHING hot to boil so violently that it exploded the radiator in that manner. According to the OP, it was "just a bit" higher than normal on the gauge.

Just sayin.... get the engine tested with a block tester or a smog machine to check for hydrocarbons at the radiator fill neck.
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  #6  
Old 05-03-2010, 06:46 PM
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Re: Spontaneous radiator combustion.

The head gasket seems more likely to be the culprit, but I've personally experienced a bad thermostat blow apart more than one top radiator hose with the symptoms he described. Coolant wasn't extremely hot, overflow tank wasn't overflowed. I replaced the cap first thinking that was it, but then it happened again. It couldn't blow out my PWR though...

The old plastic top radiators are weak to begin with, and the older they get they are prone to crack. I believe that the same amount of pressure that it took to blow apart the new hoses I put on mine when the thermostat was failing could have easily destroyed a deteriorated top plastic tank.
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  #7  
Old 05-03-2010, 09:02 PM
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Re: Spontaneous radiator combustion.

This sucks....

You guys may be right about the head gasket, because the temp gauge needle was at maybe 70% to the top, still plenty of room to go till it got to the red. Not sure why though that the radiator cap didn't vent anything.

Man...

This is really saddening. My first SVX ever, it has none of the usual defects...but the same problem as the Legacy GT it is replacing.

This is frustrating, gah.
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  #8  
Old 05-04-2010, 10:18 AM
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Re: Spontaneous radiator combustion.

Mine recently blew a massive crack in the plastic top. This was in stop and go traffic and the needle was approaching the red mark. Found out the fan fuse was blown and the fan operated by the AC didn't come on because of a low charge. Fortunately all is fine with a replacement radiator from Race Pages.com.
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  #9  
Old 05-04-2010, 10:50 AM
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Re: Spontaneous radiator combustion.

In the overflow tank hose nipple, where the radiator cap goes on, I just found some sticky gunk with metal flakes in it. I'm pretty sure it's that cheap head gasket fix stuff. I'm afraid the head gasket is blown. The previous owner wouldn't bother putting that crap in if it weren't blown.

Now...since the coolant itself has no metal flakes, it appears it was changed, and the overflow tank is spotless. It appears the guy knew it was blown and did his best to cover it up before the sale.
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  #10  
Old 05-04-2010, 11:14 AM
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Re: Spontaneous radiator combustion.

lemon law?
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  #11  
Old 05-04-2010, 11:24 AM
Awox Awox is offline
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Re: Spontaneous radiator combustion.

I'm not really sure what I can do about it. The bill of sale clearly states "as is". But if he did such a good cleanup job there's no way to tell without ripping the engine apart. Gah.....
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  #12  
Old 05-04-2010, 04:44 PM
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Re: Spontaneous radiator combustion.

Subaru tries to push that crap when you buy coolant. They call it cooling system conditioner. Do a flush and fill, check your thermostat and fan operation, get a new rad and give it a try. There seems to be a headgasket bandwagon, don't get on it till you're sure.
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Old 05-04-2010, 05:31 PM
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Re: Spontaneous radiator combustion.

Very interesting. My bursting radiator hoses began shortly after I put in some stop leak to address a leaking heater core. I thought the stop leak may have been what killed my thermostat.
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  #14  
Old 05-04-2010, 06:28 PM
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Re: Spontaneous radiator combustion.

Quote:
Originally Posted by Awox View Post
I'm not really sure what I can do about it. The bill of sale clearly states "as is". But if he did such a good cleanup job there's no way to tell without ripping the engine apart. Gah.....
Quote:
Originally Posted by michael View Post
Subaru tries to push that crap when you buy coolant. They call it cooling system conditioner. Do a flush and fill, check your thermostat and fan operation, get a new rad and give it a try. There seems to be a headgasket bandwagon, don't get on it till you're sure.
Quote:
Originally Posted by immortal_suby View Post
Very interesting. My bursting radiator hoses began shortly after I put in some stop leak to address a leaking heater core. I thought the stop leak may have been what killed my thermostat.
Check your state laws or call a dealership and ask about your states lemon laws!! You may save yourself a lot of cash and a lot of headache!!

YOU CAN DIAGNOSE A HEADGASKET LEAK INTO THE COOLING SYSTEM WITH A BLOCK TESTER KIT !! THEY ARE INEXPENSIVE AND VERY VERY EASY TO USE. I would verify a HG leak before spending the cash on a new radiator! OR you will do to the NEW radiator what happened to the old one, and you cant return a radiator that has been used!

Some folks might remember what happened to ME when I used that stop leak crap in my cooling system a year or so back...... it seized the bearings in my waterpump and redlined my temp gauge.... that stuff is bad news in older cooling systems... at least the crap with the aluminum flakes in it.....

I feel for ya man..... the first thing I would do is get the HG's checked, THEN if they are bad find out the lemon laws and maybe try to get your money back in or out of small claims. If you plan on keeping the car regardless..... buy a new radiator of course but I sure as heck wouldn't run the car with it installed without eliminating the headgaskets...... your pistons will overpressurize the cooling system again and the radiator is usually the weakest link.
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Last edited by SoCal LS-L; 05-04-2010 at 06:30 PM.
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  #15  
Old 05-04-2010, 10:54 PM
Awox Awox is offline
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Re: Spontaneous radiator combustion.

Yeah. Going to test the block as soon as I get a day off, or get one of those HFC test kits, but I don't know how much good that'll do since just about all the coolant was shot out the gaping hole in the top of the radiator.

There is no fuse in the AC slot. So, no wonder the fan didn't work.

I will not jump on the head gasket bandwagon just yet, I have a shred of hope. I really really really don't want 2 good looking Subies in my parking lot with blown head gaskets.

All day I've felt like a girlfriend just dumped me, I was enjoying this car so much till yesterday afternoon. Feeling kinda sick with depression.

Some good news will come though, I hope.
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