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Got Leaks? A Public Service Announcement Posted by Ari [Email]  (#2847) [Profile/Gallery]
(more from Ari) on Fri, 17 Dec 2004 06:30:43
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More like a Preemptive Post.
Now that winter is coming to the Northern Hemisphere (and for our friends in Canada, has been here since late August), some nights have been getting very cold - well below freezing, often into the teens or lower (F).
You come out to the car, and lo, there is a puddle or two of coolant under the car. Not huge, but enough to get us thinking Water Pump/radiator/hose/ Time to Buy a Subaru.
Don't panic. Get yourself a nut driver or screwdriver, and tighten up your coolant hose clamps. Favorites are the upper and lower radiator hoses, and the hoses to the water pump. You may want to stick a socket (usually a 7mm works fine) on a ratchet for some extra leverage.
If you haven't had any leaks, nows the time to tighten up those clamps.
OK, why? Or more, why now? Band clamps have no spring action. Stainless steel doesn't stretch much. The spring action is in the rubber of the hose being clamped. As the engine heats up and cools down, this causes a little play in the connections over time. When you get a really cold night, everything contracts, but not all at the same rates or amounts (coefficient of thermal expansion, and all that). If the car has been driven, and the system is pressurized, there may be a period of time where there is still pressure in the system, but one part or another has contracted enough for fluid to leak out. Once everything is cold, the pressure is gone and the leak stops. When the car is warm, everything has expanded and there is no leak. Only in a very narrow window of heating or cooling.
OK, you may still have a punked water pump or a leaky radiator. But sock down those hose clamps before you panic. And be a real sport, and sock them down BEFORE you leak.
And kids, stay in school!
posted by 192.249....
, Fri, 17 Dec 2004 06:30:43 <-- Viewing This Message
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