Disappearing Coolant

About three weeks ago I did a drain and fill on my coolant. I followed Subaru procedure to a T, made sure both the radiator and reservoir were full, and all was well. Today while cleaning my car I was inspecting my fluids and I noticed that the coolant is nearly on the low line. At the time the car was cold so everything should have circulated back to its proper places. I had checked it maybe two weeks ago and it was pretty much at the full line, it had only gone down slightly at that point which I expected.

I also noticed that on the bottom hose connected to the engine there is a bit of dried coolant gunk there.

Im not sure but Im thinking I have one of two problems;

1 - there is a leak in the transmission seal which could explain the gunk I noticed accumulating around the driveshaft

2 - my engine is overheating for some reason and burning up the coolant

My AP is currently at Cobb so I cant see my coolant temps but prior to that it was consistently running between 185 and 205.

I do have an ODB2 cable with a USB so I'm going to hook up FreeSSM to get some temp readings.

Anyone have any ideas as to what to check or monitor, things to look at? Always trying to avoid taking it into the shop just to pay for research time.

Thanks in advance

Some pics for reference

http://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20160423/7dc9a22ced1c654817acc66b73722842.jpg

http://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20160423/c338de6c2b31e649225fd62a2e452dc7.jpg

Running uncapped until the thermostat opens is what i do. I would keep coolant in it and record what it uses. Also if it was overheating it would flash the coolant light at you.

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Yea I'm going to fill it back up and keep watching.

Another couple of notes:

Ive never changed the thermostat

Ive never gotten the flashing or solid red light

Ive never changed water pump or timing belt

Im at 66k miles

Maybe try getting the radiator fill and reservoir up higher with a jack to help any air bubbles out.

When I did the drain and fill it was up on ramps, I was actually thinking that might be counterproductive. I just refilled it now, slightly above the fill line. I'll be keeping a close eye on it now and praying my AP3 comes in this week so I can really monitor.

First pic shows a hose that's leaking. I'd replace the clamp and see if that helps there. First things first, though - rinse the engine - get all of the coolant residue off, then let it dry. Then go out for a drive and let it get up to operating temperature for a bit, then go back and take a look - at that point you should see coolant residue pretty much only where it's leaking. I had the clamp get weak at the upper radiator hose to radiator and then on the other end at the engine, but it was only leaking down the engine (just dripping) - replace the clamps there (and on the lower radiator hose) and have been leak free since then.

It's really hard to figure out where it's coming from when it's had a chance to get all over the place!

You can tell the thermostat is open by watching for the temp to stop climbing and starts oscillating between about 185 and 195. IF we had a temp gauge it would get to almost the hot mark before the fans would come on.

The highest point in most stock cooling systems is the radiator cap/overflow tank fitting, no need to jack anything up unless your car is on an incline, in which case just turn it around.

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First pic shows a hose that's leaking. I'd replace the clamp and see if that helps there. First things first, though - rinse the engine - get all of the coolant residue off, then let it dry. Then go out for a drive and let it get up to operating temperature for a bit, then go back and take a look - at that point you should see coolant residue pretty much only where it's leaking. I had the clamp get weak at the upper radiator hose to radiator and then on the other end at the engine, but it was only leaking down the engine (just dripping) - replace the clamps there (and on the lower radiator hose) and have been leak free since then.

 

It's really hard to figure out where it's coming from when it's had a chance to get all over the place!

The engine bay is definitely in need of a cleaning so I'll be doing that and getting some new clamps, the hoses themselves look to be in great condition so I wont be swapping them out anytime soon.

You can tell the thermostat is open by watching for the temp to stop climbing and starts oscillating between about 185 and 195. IF we had a temp gauge it would get to almost the hot mark before the fans would come on.

 

The highest point in most stock cooling systems is the radiator cap/overflow tank fitting, no need to jack anything up unless your car is on an incline, in which case just turn it around.

 

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I found this little handy chart and I believe it applies to our cars as well

http://porcupine73.com/pics/diagrammatics/radiator-fan-control-chart1.gif

I hooked up FreeSSM and ran the car for a bit to get it up to temp. Neither fan came on and I got it up to 95 deg Celsius, but as soon as I turned on the AC both fans came on. I guess it is operating and somewhat efficiently but I'll be keeping an eye on it going forward.

Burping the system is the same as bleeding. Here are my thoughts around cooling issues.

If you drained and refilled the coolant and you're having overheating issues. jack the car up as high as you comfortably can and check for bubbles. Keep in mind this will only work until the car gets up to temp, then you'll want the cap back on to get the pressures up.

Put the heater on high full fan. You want the coolant to run through the "entire" system, this means the heater core too which acts as a small radiator. If there is a bubble in the system, my money would be on that. Its easy to check too. Feel the hoses when its on and see if the inlet and outlet hoses heat up to hot to the touch, not warm. If they're warm there is a bubble. If there is an issue, this should cause the overheating to show itself. if the hoses are cold you can try squeezing them by hand to force coolant through the heater core to help oust the bubble.

That one photo of the hoses looks definitely like a leak. Clamps rarely fail. I would go a new hose before that. Hoses after a while will get stiff, which is where cracks and fissures form around the edges causing coolant to leak and burn off

The overflow tank has a vent to release extra pressure. If coolant is run through the whole system, eventually all the bubbles will be expelled.

Thermostat valves rarely fail these days. Its a cheap part but messy to replace with all the coolant you have to dump, then bleed and feed all over again.

If you still have overheating issues either its a head gasket (easy to diagnose) or a blockage in the radiator.

Hope this helps