Holy Crap, Is This Normal?

[Faithbleed]

Hi All

I'm about to do my first coolant flush and replace. But having a look around the engine I discovered something.

To me this doesnt look right, but I could be wrong...

Ok, so cars have a coolant overflow tank normally right? In a turbo car its a lot smaller, a little sausage looking tube. Well in my setup it goes a little something like this:


Radiator Cap


Overflow Tank/Tube


THE PIPE

This little puppy was just stashed down the side, next to the battery and from the looks of that whole area, has been overflowing coolant all over the place.

Is it supposed to lead somewhere? At the moment I just stashed it back down there an into a whole in the engine bay, which would mean it would leak onto the road if it were to overflow again.

I'm a car noob, so if you could explain this to me, that would be great.

Thanks

[mikec]

From what I remember, that all looks right. How high is the coolant level in your overflow bottle? That little one with the cap should be connected to a larger bottle in the fender well (you can see the hose that leads to it in the second picture - the one with the clamp). Its possible that hose is plugged...

[Faithbleed]

The Silver tank that has the radiator cap on it leads to the bottom of the overflow tank.

You cant see it actually connected in the pic, because of the wiring, but its does connect up to it.

Just checked it now (car is cold) the small tank/tube is practically empty and the larger silver one is from what I can see, is empty too.

Is the silver tank where I pour the coolant/water mix? Is is bad that both this tanks are empty?

Should it be leaking all over the place? There lots of headlamp wiring and stuff which I would think shouldnt get wet.

[mikec]

The silver one mounted to the intake should be full. The small, white one should be somewhere between the 2 marks on the side of it.

If I remember right (I can check later this week), the small white one should be connected to a slightly larger one inside the fender well, by a short piece of hose (the hose with the clamp). I'm wondering if that hose is plugged, so that coolant can't flow into the bigger tank in the fender well.

Otherwise, all the hoses look right, from what I remember. Its been a while since I've seen an EJ20G in its original engine bay.

[Faithbleed]

Sorry mikec I adjusted my previous post after you posted

Does the silver tank need a coolant/water mix? I'm a bit worried that it's empty.

[greg donovan]

this isnt a north american car w/a ej22t is it?

[mikec]

Yeah, ideally a coolant/water mix. If you need to though, just water is ok, as it doesn't hold a huge amount.

I've been guessing an early STi, based on the coolant reservoir, and the power steering cooler lines.

[Faithbleed]

I'm in New Zealand.

As for what engine it is, I have no idea! I'd be happy to tell you, if I knew how to find out.

Sorry for all the dumb questions, but if that silver tank only takes a small amount of water, where would I pour the new coolant/water mix for when I do a full flush and replace?

[Project_Legacy]

i believe it is the ej20g in the liberty? i bought a complete ej20g longblock, and it had that same radiator cap coolant tank.

[mikec]

You pour it into the silver tank, and it'll fill up the rad, heater core and engine. The silver tank is part of the coolant system, and allows the turbo to be cooled using the water/coolant mix after you shut the car off.

I'm assuming the level in the tank is only somewhat low, and that the rest of the system is fairly full. If you find it takes a lot of water to fill, I hope you haven't overheated the engine!

[THAWA]

That's a Legacy not a Liberty. I thought it was only some RS's that came with ps coolers, but I guess GT's did too!

[Faithbleed]

Thanks folks, that helps a lot.

Still curious about my engine though. How do I find out what type it is?