Lower radiator hose blew off - rough day.

Long story, long day. Sorry

Evening everyone. Today I was driving back from a funeral, on a ~2 hour drive to my home. An average day (pretty nice actually, upper 70s). I take a gander at my gauges (I do this frequently for the exact possibility of what happened today). The coolant temp gauge is on the bottom of the RED hot zone. Not maxed out (not sure if it displays higher though?), but definitely in the red. Not good.

Luckily, I'm the front car at a red light, so I hang a right into the Walgreens parking lot next to me. As I'm doing this, I turn the heat to maximum - I've heard this can provide a tad extra cooling, since the heater core is essentially a mini-radiator that air passes through and comes out hot on the other side. Well, the air is about a nice 76 degrees, about the same as coming from my open window. Great, I think to myself. No coolant in the lines at all.

At this point I'm pulling into a parking spot, and turn it off immediately, but flip the key back to on (the fan keeps going. Very furiously, I might add). I smell what I think is coolant, and sure enough it's splattered about the engine bay. Then I notice the bottom radiator hose is just laying on the lower engine cover, completely detached from the radiator.

The clamp is about 4 inches back on the hose, and fairly tight! I'm almost certain it couldn't have scooted that far because the hose blew off, it must have already been living there.

I've never tinkered with the hose, and so I come to the conclusion that it must have been left loose from the factory, or last week during my check-up and oil change perhaps the mechanic somehow managed to move the clamp. They didn't flush coolant, so I don't really think that's a possibility.

I let the car cool down for a while, start it back up for a second to see how it sounds. Runs normally and sounds fine. A tad concerned for heads/headgaskets.

I call the roadside assistance number in my glovebox. I think it will be fine, but I call it so that the dealership can check it out and so that if the car has sustained a bit of damage that might not show up on first glance, I can refer to this documented incident. I figure I'll let them deal with it and keep my hands off.

I call the dealership that Subaru told me they would tow my car to, and they say that they can't check it out until Monday, and that there is no loaner program. So on my new car with 5,000 miles, I'm out of gas, figuratively, for a few days. As much as I love my Legacy, that's one point I wouldn't be left hanging on if I had purchased a new G35 instead.

Tow truck comes after about 40 minutes and loads the Legacy up onto the flatbed. Thank goodness I got ahold of my friend to come get me, and I'm fortunate I have another car I can drive in the meantime. A bit of an inconvenience, I'll say.

At any rate, I've lost no faith at this point. I'll just be happy to have her back soon. Just needed to share my story. Have a good night Since I'm not positive how long it was hot for, if we have a prayer chain, sign up an atlantic blue pearl Legacy for me.

Kez

What prevented you (after the engine cooled) from simply putting the hose back on, refilling the coolant, and enjoying your car?

I think he wanted to make sure nothing was damaged in the car.

I think he wanted to make sure nothing was damaged in the car.

Additionally, he wanted to document the incident for warranty purposes if there is damage.

(Nobody reads.)

Additionally, he wanted to document the incident for warranty purposes if there is damage.

 

(Nobody reads.)

I read just fine, thanks. I also know that if something is wrong there's nothing that will make Subaru pay for it. They can simply say "someone loosened the hose" and that's the end of their liability. It can't be proven either way.

They could even claim "He should have seen the high temp reading sooner which woud have avoided damage."

I don't mean they would take this approach but there's nothing to prevent them from doing it either.

I read just fine, thanks. I also know that if something is wrong there's nothing that will make Subaru pay for it. They can simply say "someone loosened the hose" and that's the end of their liability. It can't be proven either way.

 

They could even claim "He should have seen the high temp reading sooner which woud have avoided damage."

 

I don't mean they would take this approach but there's nothing to prevent them from doing it either.

If something goes wrong, Subaru must pay for it if the problem falls under the terms of their new car warranty. The warranty prevents them from doing what you suggest. The problem, as outlined in the original post, certainly falls under the terms of the warranty. WHAT DOESN'T FALL UNDER THE WARRANTY IS THE OWNER DOING A ROADSIDE REPAIR WITH OUT PROPERLY EXAMINING AND DIAGNOSING THE VEHICLE AND CONTINUING TO DRIVE THE CAR NOT KNOWING IF IT HAS SUSTAINED ANY INTERNAL DAMAGE.

The car's got 5,000 miles on it. You'd be a fool to touch it after losing coolant, especially not knowing if and additional damage occured.

"Not seeing the high temp reading sooner" is an indefensible position for Subaru, as is claiming "someone loosened the hose". Why would someone loosen the lower hose? Can you get to the clamp from above or do you have to remove the lower cover? If you have to remove the cover, it is smarter not to touch anything. It is far better to show up at the dealer with pristine fasteners and lower cover rather than parts that have obviously been removed and reinstalled.

Continuing to drive a car after loosing (and refilling) coolant would make it far easier for Subaru to deny a warranty claim. The car is under warranty. Subaru will fix it under warranty.

If something goes wrong, Subaru must pay for it if the problem falls under the terms of their new car warranty. The warranty prevents them from doing what you suggest. The problem, as outlined in the original post, certainly falls under the terms of the warranty. WHAT DOESN'T FALL UNDER THE WARRANTY IS THE OWNER DOING A ROADSIDE REPAIR WITH OUT PROPERLY EXAMINING AND DIAGNOSING THE VEHICLE AND CONTINUING TO DRIVE THE CAR NOT KNOWING IF IT HAS SUSTAINED ANY INTERNAL DAMAGE.

 

The car's got 5,000 miles on it. You'd be a fool to touch it after losing coolant, especially not knowing if and additional damage occured.

 

"Not seeing the high temp reading sooner" is an indefensible position for Subaru, as is claiming "someone loosened the hose". Why would someone loosen the lower hose? Can you get to the clamp from above or do you have to remove the lower cover? If you have to remove the cover, it is smarter not to touch anything. It is far better to show up at the dealer with pristine fasteners and lower cover rather than parts that have obviously been removed and reinstalled.

 

Continuing to drive a car after loosing (and refilling) coolant would make it far easier for Subaru to deny a warranty claim. The car is under warranty. Subaru will fix it under warranty.

I guess I'll be sure TO USE SOME CAPITAL LETTERS TOO -- just not as many. Let's examine the facts:

- someone else has worked on the car, albeit not having anything to do with the coolant hose, but someone has been under there already.

- the hose clamp is now several inches down the hose and appears to be snug.

Well, we know the clamp hasn't always been there because there's no way the radiator would have held coolant from day one. We know it didn't slide on its own because it's tight now, and they don't self-tighten any more than they self-loosen, and they certainly don't oscillate between the two states.

Knowing this, why are you so quick to say Subaru must fix this under these circumstances, yet if he had dared to put the hose back on himself it would somehow give them grounds to deny their claim? They can't have it both ways!

To the OP, I know this really has no bearing on your situation. It's a new car and Subaru will take care of it. It just seems that STG likes to present his opinion from the perspective that anyone who disagrees is wrong. I beg to differ, and I can play the logic game with the best of them.

I see the main problem as being no loaner. I would not have touched it either, it is too new. However to leave the poor guy without wheelsfor the weekend is poor. Any news on what the dealer said?

peace,

Greg

You did the right thing from beginning to end

You have no idea how many people just keep driving.

John ;

Buddy of mine had an upper radiator hose on his jeep split on him.

We drove it approx half a mile back to his house, got a new hose, installed it, refilled the coolant, and went out to "enjoy his car". About 15 minutes after that, the Engine quit. Took it in, and the block had cracked due to overheating..and we found the problem almost immediately. Sure, I suppose the block may have had issues before that point, fact remains however, we did very little driving and the engine was messed up. So I find your suggestion of hooking it back up, refilling the coolant and 'enjoying the car' to be rather ignorant given the way it was described.

Better safe than sorry. Besides, if you really want Subaru to balk at his request I'm really sure "oh I hooked the hose back up refilled the coolant and drove it like normal" would make Subaru pay for the repairs if any were required later on.

As for the rental thing, this must be some luxury expectation thing because no car I've ever bought has offered me a loaner for service work. EVER.

If you want that sort of service I suppose you'd have srpung for one of those 40,000+ lux dealies instead. Deal with it. Subaru isn't a luxury brand that tosses money all over the place because you're over paying for their cars in the first place. *shrug*

I mean, we're balking over a rental car... the Subarus are great, love em, better than the lux brands, but no loaner, last straw oh me oh my.

Kez.....

Out of curiosity because of this thread I went out & checked my radiator hoses upper & lower.

The lower was fine but the upper one was pushed back to where the clamp was @ the very edge. Clamp was still in it's original position. I Pushed the hose back where it should have been & reset the clamp. I think I may remove the stock clamp this afternoon & replace it with something a little stronger;)