Alexis90

We pressured tested it, and they confirmed it. It just seemed to be a leak with the lower water hose. The one that is under the coolant reservoir tank, just below the cooling fan. The big one that connects to the lower part of the radiator. If any more symptoms develop I'll post here.

Double Post: My dad came over and we inspected the radiator and oil, etc. Radiator was bone dry and we filled it all the way up ( no leaks ), and the oil looked normal, not milky ( milky is bad, right? ) No excessive white smoke coming out of the exhaust. But the strangest thing happened. After we filled it all the way up. I drove it a good 6 miles, ( in Boston thats a good 20-40 minutes depending on traffic ). It went up hill, downhill, idle in traffic. Meter didnt go above operating temperature, and we pulled over and 0 leaks. There was nothing near as ridiculous as the video I posted. Literally nothing was coming out No trail of coolant on the road, no fan kick up, no hose leak, nothing. It was as smooth and normal as when I purchased it about 2 and a half years ago. Do you think there could be a small leak in the hose/ water pump and over time it just drains it, but very slowly? My guess is, they'll do a pressure test and see where it's leaking from ( if any ) on the system. Father got lazy and took it to a mechanic who is a family friend since they were kids. ( honestly though, it was like 20 degrees F when he came ) Hopefully I'll hear back in a couple of hours.

Thank you all so much for the replies. I appreciate it, and appreciate how the Subaru community is so tight packed and helpful. @doublechaz, I will be looking over it with my dad today ( hopefully ) and give more accurate assessments. But I am prepared for worst case. If it's the worst case, I will use whatever spare cash I have ( around 1.5k-2k$ ) for a down payment on another car ( do love this dam 02 Legacy though. My goodness this thing is tough as hell, got me through a lot of close calls and eats snow for breakfast and stable as hell ). I also never put water in the cooling system. I had about 2 gallons extra ( I had overheating issues with a Jaguar and Honda before this ) and decided to be prepared in case it happened again. I am not pouring European model anti-freeze in this Subby though. Only the ones recommended to me. I filled up the reservoir before I even turned the car on ( noticed it was low, when the car was cold ) and when I noticed the fan kick up on super ultra high mode I immediately turned the car off and inspected it.

Okay, I'll be doing more testing tomorrow when there is more light out. This was when it was in idle for a bit and I turned it off immediately when I heard the fan spin up. Was clearing snow so I didnt wan't to be out much longer. I'll be posting my finds tomorrow.

Yeah, when I got the car the person said he replaced it. Dang, head gasket eh? Oof. And thanks for the welcome

I have a 2002 Subaru Legacy L AWD Sedan. About a week ago I noticed the cooling fan spinning up really high, and I kept my eye on temp to make sure it wasn't overheating ( which it wasnt at the end ). Earlier this week I drive it to work and about 20 minutes later it start to overheat. Weird thing was, if I let go of gas and left it there ( of course it would heat up a bit ) but then stay at that current temperature. I haven't driven it since because I went out of state, but when I go to clear some snow and turn car on ( put more coolant to test some more ). No leaks when cold, no leaks when running for about 10 minutes. Get to operating temperature, nothing. Once it stay in operating temps for about 5-10 minutes this the fan kicks up high. I go outside and check under car and I see this. https://drive.google.com/file/d/1EbzCIFwgPE18i7OjHTlpfDIKUM_7TjHK/view?usp=sharing I bought this Subaru because I wanted to learn about cars, and so far I figured out some neat stuff, but what could be causing this? Clog, thermostat? Bad radiator? Water pump? I don't know the location of where the pump or thermo is, so if anyone could help me out . If I have to take it to a mechanic, I'd at least have a lot of information to give them and where to look/ start. TL;DR: Look at the google drive link.