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2004 Outback 2.5 H4, Low coolant: just top up? (I’ve read the other threads)

2K views 6 replies 4 participants last post by  Temp Driver 
#1 ·
Hi everyone, I realize this is my first post here but I've read all the discussion threads about coolant choices and appropriate coolant maintenance options extensively. This situation is a little different:

I’m visiting my parents who are the original owners of this Outback with only 35,500 miles. I know the discussions in this forum about replacing coolant and choosing the best brands focus on trying select the very BEST maintenance choices for the maximum longevity and health of the vehicle. In this case, the Outback is a secondary car, driven infrequently, and my parents are planning to move and donate the car, possibly within the next year. The car has had periodic maintenance, especially oil changes, but the service schedule has not been followed to the letter. (It also appears highly likely that an unscrupulous dealership service department duped them into unnecessary and expensive work in the past.) At this point the car runs fine, and my parents do not want to put unnecessary money into maintenance of a vehicle they don’t plan to own or drive much longer. The car effectively has low value to them. So here’s my question/issue:

Currently the coolant level in the reservoir is slightly below the “low” level with the car in the garage and not driven for a few days. I have not checked the level after the car had been driven and warmed up. According to the service records, the coolant was drained and refilled (with the addition of a bottle of coolant system conditioner,) in March 2010 at a mileage of 22,770. This was part of the questionable repair performed by the aforementioned unscrupulous dealership, and came only one year and 1,300 miles after the previous coolant services maintenance. The records indicate that the coolant used was Subaru SOA868V9210, which I understand to be the “long life” green version. (The previous coolant services maintenance the year before specified they used SOA868V9270, the “super coolant” blue variety, if they were even honest about what they used.)

The coolant remaining in the reservoir is green and looks reasonably clear. I know it's been 5 years (but only 12,700 miles) since the coolant was changed. If we were planning to keep the car, I’d be looking at a coolant flush and all that great maintenance, but for now:

1. Would topping up the coolant be sufficient?
2. If I can get my hands on Peak Global, would that be fine? If not, what other brand/formulation would be sufficient given the circumstances described above? (I do not really want to try to locate and buy the Subaru brand.)
3. Should I fill the reservoir, as the owners manual indicates, to the “FULL” level mark?
4. Also, when I remove the radiator cap, there is no visible coolant showing at the neck or the very short distance before it bends out of sight, but I don’t know if coolant is supposed to be up to the very top of the radiator when it’s cold? Should I be filling up the radiator to the neck as well?

Thanks very much for your advice, and I apologize for posing a question and describing a situation that I am sure would “upset” any Subaru enthusiast or owner that wants to do the very best for their vehicle at all times.
 
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#2 ·
Topping up should be fine for the temporary period involved.

I'm not sure about the Peak Global, although I seem to recall others mentioning using it. Do a search for it here and see what has been said. If it's used, go ahead.

Yes, fill the reservoir to the "Full" mark, as in the Owners Manual.

But also top up the radiator. There should be coolant up to the rad cap neck where the cap seal is, just below where the outlet is to the reservoir hose.

Also make sure that the hose going down into the reservoir is not pressing down against the bottom. It's also an idea to cut the bottom of the hose diagonally.

Should be fine in my view given the short-term plans.
 
#3 ·
I have topped up the radiator and the bottle with Peak Global (and distilled water 50/50 mix), at maybe 16 oz at a time. Peak just being another OK brand on the market.

although I typically use prestone green (with distilled water 50/50 mix), when doing a whole system flush/ fill.


You might consider putting the car up on various sites for sale,...craigslist etc. sounds like something people would love to have, ...including any added detailed maint. records.

some low miles senior citizen owned cars have too little maint.....like no transmission fluid changes in 10 years

or no annual oil changes. as they may not even get 3000 miles a year.

here is a basic maint. schedule which you might compare what they did in months vs. mileage.

Subaru maintenance schedules and new car break-in period- 2000 through 2009, links for 2010, 2011...

and presently I am helping some senior citizens with their Matrix. the dealer put a new set of tires on it as the originals were 6 years old at 20,000 miles.

charging way too much for wimpy all seasons
and more then once this past winter I have had to push this car by hand out of a snowy parking space. = Michellin Primacy,...which I have parked in my garage while my cars are on real snow tires.


_____

a quick missed key stroke on a dealer record, and it can go from blue to green coolant, (blue being a lot more expensive). or the wrong viscosity oil. such being computer records vs. what the technician actually put in the car.

which dealer was this? (lots of subaru lovers in the lower hudson valley, ...and we even have a section on this website entitled "dealership reviews" so you should not be afraid to discuss them by name.)
 
#4 ·
Thanks for the feedback! This is a great forum :)

As for the dealership, it was Curry Ford/Subaru, and at the time my parents bought the car from them, the dealership was in Yorktown Heights, NY and later it relocated to Cortlandt Manor and became Curry Hyundai Subaru. My parents were having all their regular and scheduled service done at the dealership, and then after six years of gentle driving and only 22,774 miles they took the car in for maintenance and were told there was oil leaking and it needed some major repair (despite the fact that there was no leaked oil in the garage at home.) My parents took them at their word, and over $1,100 was spent for “repairs” and service including replacement of crank seal, resealed oil pump, replacement of timing belt and outer belts, differential service drain and refill, radiator hose replacement, coolant drain and fill, and more. Obviously we cannot know if any of this was really necessary, but given the good condition of the car and the low mileage, I find it highly suspicious (and my parents felt they were taken advantage of and lied to, and never went back to the dealership after that incident. They even had to rent a car while their Outback was being “repaired.”)

We will also never know why that same dealership supposedly went from Subaru blue coolant to green coolant, whether it was a slip of the keyboard or something else. But more suspicious is their need to replace the radiator hose and do another coolant drain and refill when they had just done the coolant service a year (and 1300 miles) earlier.

But back to the main purpose of this posting: The user manual cautions against mixing different types of coolant, so that’s why my main concern is choosing a coolant to top up that would be most compatible if the current coolant is indeed the Subaru green SOA868V9210 variety. Can I assume that either the Peak Global OR Prestone Green will be okay?
 
#5 ·
either should actually be fine. ...green stuff is basically green stuff. (plenty of sales on in April for such things) $12 a gallon, and maybe $14 for the premix. (distilled water gallons is right with the drinking water gallons in supermarkets,...and they sell rad fluid too).

very sad they made them "rent" a car, for doing $1100 in work they should have given them a car. a independent subaru loving shop (plenty around there,...could have done the work for $800 maybe. it would have probably been better to just monitor the oil level though.

on my 2.5 car my crank seal was weeping 18 months at least before I got a weep from a head gasket to think it worth actually pulling the engine to do all the gaskets and seals. = $1600 no milling. (independent shop, only have been to any dealer in 12 years to use a coupon on a $100 alignment.)
@Dodik should be made aware of such a place.


and this is a really great car for anywhere even southern california (great for going into the mountains or just plain slick rainy days), 29 miles to the gallon of regular !!
 
#6 ·
i've been to that dealership plenty of times even before they moved from 202 to route 6, only to buy parts, I have never had any dealership look at any of my cars. That being said, 1100 bucks for a timing belt job plus new seals is not that bad, the milage is low but thats maybe why some of the seals dried out age is a also a big factor when it comes to rubber components, so I'd say they may have taken advantage of you in replacing what possibly didn't have to be replaced, but it is good for your car and at that price I'd just let it go.
 
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