Silver Bullet Posted January 18, 2006 Share Posted January 18, 2006 Here's the scoop...last night i'm driving home from work crusing at around 45-50mph and i hear a squeel (like the belt on an old car starting up on a cold morning) and then a pop. A couple minutes later i'm sitting at a light and the car begins to smoke and the temp guage goes into the red. I pull into a gas station and notice the car is steeming because radiator coolant is leaking and pissin' all over the engine compartment and leaking out of the bottom of the car. Had it towed to the Subaru dealership (Manchester Subaru) where i got it from and figured my warranty would take car of the repair which i thought was minor. At first, i thought it was just a hose that went, no big deal that's an easy fix. I just got a call from the dealer service dept and they told me that the BACK of the radiator has punctures in it and a bunch of the metal fins are bent all to hell and screws are loose. What the hell? He asked me if i was in an accident, which of course I said no because I have not been. How in the world does the back of the radiator receive holes big enough to destroy the radiator? Could anyone answer that? A new one is going to cost me around $450 and is not under warranty. I had the car at the dealership this past friday to get the driverside headlight replaced (I got pulled over 3 times in one week for that light being out), maybe something happened when they were fixing it then. Needless to say, I'm rather pissed because the car has only 18k miles on it and I'm already shelling out money for it. Please, if anyone has any idea what could have caused this or has any advice let me know. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
driggity Posted January 18, 2006 Share Posted January 18, 2006 Are there any signs that the fans contacted the radiator? Thats the only thing I can think of, unless something was bouncing around between the fans and the radiator. And for that price I'd look into an aftermarket radiator. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GTBoxer Posted January 18, 2006 Share Posted January 18, 2006 Also...what about the belts? Sometimes a belt can break and cause all kinds of damage. Just a thought. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ilh Posted January 18, 2006 Share Posted January 18, 2006 Animal looking for warmth? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
melayout Posted January 18, 2006 Share Posted January 18, 2006 Goto dealer and check out the damage for yourself  If something punctured the radiator from the inside, then that object should be either lodged in the radiator or in the vicinity somewhere. Find that object and see where it could've come from. It could be from another part that disintegrated or just a foreign object from the road. Depending on what the source of the object is, it may be covered under warranty. P.S. Take pictures of everything affected I keed I keeed Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Silver Bullet Posted January 18, 2006 Author Share Posted January 18, 2006 The service department told me there were some loose screws. I'm not sure if any of them came out or not but i suppose thats what could have happened. I dont think he said anything about the fans hitting the radiator, however. Maybe I'll look into an aftermarket one radiator, unfortunately, I'll need the car soon so i may not have enough time to order one and wait for it. Do aftermarket ones usually cost around the same price? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GTBoxer Posted January 18, 2006 Share Posted January 18, 2006 try here for an oem replacement: http://www.radiatorbarn.com/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GTBoxer Posted January 18, 2006 Share Posted January 18, 2006 for some reason they dont have anything above 2004...sorry bout that you could always call them and ask though Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
melayout Posted January 18, 2006 Share Posted January 18, 2006 A new radiator for $450??!! Is that just the radiator or parts+labor ? New OEM 05 LGT radiator for $230 : http://www.trademotion.com/partlocator/index.cfm?action=getLocator&siteid=214077&chapter=APL731&appSectionid=8&groupid=61415&subgroupid=0&componentid=0&make=32&model=Legacy&year=2005&graphicID=F731010&callout=1&catalogid=1 I think your insurnace can cover this, if it's deemed to be from a foreign object. I keed I keeed Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GTBoxer Posted January 18, 2006 Share Posted January 18, 2006 beat me to it...i was trying to find something as well...bored at work:icon_bigg Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ilh Posted January 18, 2006 Share Posted January 18, 2006 If screws came loose and caused the damage, that sounds like a manufacturing or design defect. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Waxiboy Posted January 18, 2006 Share Posted January 18, 2006 Animal looking for warmth? +1 maybe a mouse, or a squirrel, or even a skunk Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
melayout Posted January 18, 2006 Share Posted January 18, 2006 If screws came loose and caused the damage, that sounds like a manufacturing or design defect. They could've been loose from when they last worked on the car while replacing the driver's headlight. Silver Bullet, any mods? I keed I keeed Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GTBoxer Posted January 18, 2006 Share Posted January 18, 2006 +1 maybe a mouse, or a squirrel, or even a skunk  could have been the squeel Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MassiveAttack Posted January 18, 2006 Share Posted January 18, 2006 If it was my car the dealer would be replacing it under warranty or they would be getting a call from my lawyer. Don't back down so quick. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Silver Bullet Posted January 18, 2006 Author Share Posted January 18, 2006 They could've been loose from when they last worked on the car while replacing the driver's headlight. Silver Bullet, any mods? I did take off the bumper and removed the grill to put on halos but thats it. Never touched anything else. All the screws were in there tight when i put it all back on and that was the beginning of October. I hope it was nothing that I did that caused this. At first I wanted to pin this on the dealer when they replaced my headlight, maybe they loosened up some stuff. Haven't looked into my insurance yet on weather or not it would cover this...i suppose/hope if it was a foreign object it could take care of some of the costs. I'll have to ask them what they find.  I doubt by me looking at it would do anything, i don't know much about radiators or what to look for. Hopefully they are honest enough to tell me what happend. I do have the salesman's business card though and i saw him last night when i brought the car in...I'll give him a ring and get his thoughts.  I think the $450 is includes labor. Dealer will call me back and let me know if they even found one available yet.   Oiy vey! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
melayout Posted January 18, 2006 Share Posted January 18, 2006 I did take off the bumper and removed the grill to put on halos but thats it. Never touched anything else. All the screws were in there tight when i put it all back on and that was the beginning of October. I hope it was nothing that I did that caused this. At first I wanted to pin this on the dealer when they replaced my headlight, maybe they loosened up some stuff. Ok, so both you and the dealer worked on the car before. Simple, find the object, find its source and then you'll know whether it could be from your, the dealer's work or a just a foreign object. I keed I keeed Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Silver Bullet Posted January 18, 2006 Author Share Posted January 18, 2006 Ok, just got off the phone with the service department and they told me that it doesnt look like a screw hit the radiator. No screws are loose or missing either. Apparently, there are several locations on the radiator that are dinged up and 1 or 2 spots that have holes. They haven't gotten around to actually finding the root of the problem but he said they'll look for it. I'd like to know so i can determine if my insurance will cover it or not or if it may in fact be warranty covered. Â Wednesday=Hump Day for good reason. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
c-lo Posted January 18, 2006 Share Posted January 18, 2006 should be covered under warranty. perhaps a call to SOA is required now. 258k miles - Stock engine/minor suspension upgrades/original shocks/rear struts replaced at 222k/4 passenger side wheel bearings/3 clutches/1 radiator/3 turbos Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
melayout Posted January 18, 2006 Share Posted January 18, 2006 should be covered under warranty. perhaps a call to SOA is required now. Huh? that's not for sure yet. I keed I keeed Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mwiener2 Posted January 18, 2006 Share Posted January 18, 2006 you put halos on your car yourself, but took it to the dealer to replace a headlamp???? My Mods List (Updated 8/22/17) 2005 Outback FMT Running on Electrons Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Silver Bullet Posted January 18, 2006 Author Share Posted January 18, 2006 you put halos on your car yourself, but took it to the dealer to replace a headlamp???? Yup...they didn't say anything and neither did I. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mwiener2 Posted January 18, 2006 Share Posted January 18, 2006 i meant why waste the time. It takes 5 min to change a lightbulb yourself My Mods List (Updated 8/22/17) 2005 Outback FMT Running on Electrons Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
doogdog Posted January 18, 2006 Share Posted January 18, 2006 Looking at the estimate of $450 sounds about right to me for a dealer. Probably 1.5 to 2 hours of labor, replace coolant, replace radiator. Having just been in an accident I looked at the estimate and the rediator was $299.35. This price had the labor included because the car was completely apart, best of luck to you. Rick Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bdisco Posted January 18, 2006 Share Posted January 18, 2006 You need to find the screwdriver they left in there that damaged your radiator when the changed your light and do this to the service guy... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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