Water sound from engine bay

This could be a really stupid question, but i've never experienced it in my past Subaru's i've owned. Whenever i start the car and for a few minutes afterwards, i hear the sound of swooshing water coming from the driver side engine compartment. The car isn't leaking anything, so i know it can't be that. Anyone else experience this?

huh?? water sound. thats odd

yeah it's really wierd. I guess it could be the radiator fluid, but if that's the case, that's the loudest movement of liquid in a engine bay i've ever heard from inside a car.

I thought I was crazy, but now I guess we both are. I hear it too! Wish I knew what it is.

Have You checked your levels?

i'll double check them tomorrow, but i have checked them before and nothing out of the ordinary

I'm not sure where to start on this one. It really sounds like water in a pipe. Kinda like your upstairs neighbor in a cheap apartment taking a shower. Serious flow noise. Then I accelerate and boxer rumble takes over. Doesn't happen after warm=>prolly has something to do with coolant/thermostat. I will be getting a Crucial t-stat soon, so system will definately be full after that install. We'll see how it goes.

I have an appointment at the dealer Friday for warranty work, but there is no way they will get this to duplicate itself.

that neighbor description is EXACTLY how it sounds! I'm taking mine into the dealer to to have some work done, but i may need to leave it over night anyways. If thats the case i'll tell them to check it out.

I think there was at least one thread about this before. I cant remeber much about it. I will see if i can remeber enough to do a good search.

 

Edit: Here is the one i remeber

 

http://legacygt.com/forums/showthread.php?t=42583&highlight=liquid+sound

Nice catch, VTsullyman!!

OK, so what is the best method to bleed the system?

Awesome, thanks! I did just have the dealer swap out my radiator fluid since i was affected by the recall not to long ago. Makes perfect sense. Thanks!

I've got the same sound, thanks for bringing this to my attention!

I just ordered the Crucial t-stat, so I will do a proper fill and burp when I put it in. I like the Crucial because it fails in the open position. Found a pretty good deal by searching the Crucial forum on here. Will update on the water sound after the install.

I thought they all, including OE, fail open.

I've been lead to believe that the stocker fails closed:( Could be some slick advertising, though.

Copied this from Crucials website(without permission, of course:)):

Under normal conditions, the Coolsafe Thermostat will operate like any other thermostat. But, unlike standard thermostats, our Coolsafe thermostat automatically locks into an open position should an overheating or failure condition occur, protecting the engine from serious damage. Any other thermostat will lock in the closed position; a sure way to serious engine failure! Although a thermostat cannot completely prevent cooling system failure, it can greatly improve operating reliability in emergency situations. It is a wonderful safety feature for your Subaru, and the added performance is a welcome plus.