1996 Subaru legacy spewing coolant/water from overflow, is it gasket or water pump?

Asked by rubysubi Aug 17, 2016 at 02:54 PM about the 1996 Subaru Legacy GT Wagon AWD

Question type: Maintenance & Repair

i just got a new radiator (old one was cracked and apparently car was
empty on coolant yet the overflow was full of fluid), car had oil, turned car
on after the radiator installment andd coolant (&water?) started spewing
like crazy out of the overflow! my mechanic seems to think its the head
gasket because its the legacy lineage of bad gaskets, yet couuld it be the
water pump instead?!
thank you!!  (ruby is at only 180,000miles:)

2 Answers
115

seuadr answered 7 years ago

I am at a loss for how a leaking head gasket would cause the coolant to overflow, but it may be possible.

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10

99Subaru answered 6 years ago

Happened to my Subaru, I believe it depends on where the head gasket fails. Exhaust was being pushed into my radiator. Did the overflow tank smell of exhaust or have back soot in it? My symptoms were a loss of coolant. You could visually see white residue from where the coolant had been seeping out at my hose clamps, bleeder plug and rad cap Luckily my radiator survived the encounter.

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