Overheating 1999 Legacy

DANNYBTEN23

MEMBER
1999 SUBARU OUTBACK
4 CYL
AWD
AUTOMATIC
148,000 MILES

My 1999 Legacy outback is overheating. Here is the story.
Maybe 5 months ago driving to work in the morning the heater wasn't working, the engine then was overheating. I had been driving only a few minutes. I added coolant and headed to the mechanic. He added fluid to the right place and said the thing didn't have a leak and ran it for an hour with no problem.
Since then it has worked fine, driving over hills everyday. Headed to the mountains Friday is was overheating again, although I checked the reservoir the day before. About an hour into the trip we smelled something funny (coolant I guess), but the car didn't get hot for another hour or two. Upon looking under the hood there was a tube that was obviously compressed due to lack of air inside the tube. When I opened the radiator, the tube filled with air. I added fluid to the radiator and the reservoir and the engines stayed cool. Any idea what is going on? Is my head gasket leaking into the coolant and pushing the coolant out of the engine? I could see coolant all over the top of the engine. If I keep an eye on the coolant level will the car work fine?
Thanks,
Danny

1 Reply

KHLOW2008

MECHANIC
41,814 POSTS

I don't think it is a head gasket fault. If it is, the hose would not be compressed due to suction. Instead there would be excessicve pressure in system.

There should be a leak somewhere causing the coolant to be spashed all over the engine and depleting from system. A pressure test should be able to locate the source.

The hose that was compressed is failing and you need to get it replaced. Have the radiator cap replaced, seems its pressure is not correct.

Keeping an eye on the coolant level should allow the vehicle to work fine.