1999 subaru forester coolant

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drg

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Dec 25, 2009
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Royal Oak Michigan
What kind of coolant should I use in this car. Whats in there looks like the normal green coolant, but of course the manual says use subaru coolant only. thanks
 
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I did a complete drain (radiator and block) and refilled with Prestone and Subaru Coolant Conditioner at about 30K on our 2004 Forester XT. The car has 90K miles now with no issues. As long as you use a coolant that is JDM spec (low or preferably no silicates) you should be fine.
 
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I work in a Subaru dealership in parts and I can tell you, you're going to want to use the Subaru coolant. ALL other coolants are of a different formulation and will rot the head gasket material. We've been told this over and over by Subaru in hopes that customers listen and save themselves future headaches. The cooling system conditioner is simply radiator stop leak. It does nothing else. Trust me. We've been through this dozens of times where I work. It's only used when there is light coolant seepage at the head gaskets as a band-aid fix to get a few more miles out of the gaskets before they fail. USE ONLY SUBARU COOLANT!!
 
I use cheap old WalMart SuperTech green and now have over 177,000 on the car with no problems.
 
Originally Posted By: ethangsmith
I work in a Subaru dealership in parts and I can tell you, you're going to want to use the Subaru coolant. ALL other coolants are of a different formulation and will rot the head gasket material. We've been told this over and over by Subaru in hopes that customers listen and save themselves future headaches. The cooling system conditioner is simply radiator stop leak. It does nothing else. Trust me. We've been through this dozens of times where I work. It's only used when there is light coolant seepage at the head gaskets as a band-aid fix to get a few more miles out of the gaskets before they fail. USE ONLY SUBARU COOLANT!!


Funny, my local Subaru dealer says it has to do with the radiator and that it's more prone to corrosion so there are special additives...

I did find this in my manual- "The SUBARU Genuine Coolant containing antifreeze and anti-rust agents is especially made for SUBARU engine, which has an aluminum crankcase. Always use SUBARU Genuine Coolant, since other coolant may cause corrosion."

So the conditioner is not required? I have never used it.
 
Originally Posted By: sw99
I use cheap old WalMart SuperTech green and now have over 177,000 on the car with no problems.


According to your signature, you have a 2.2L, therefore you will have no problems. This applies to the 2.5L engines only. The 2.2L is a closed-deck design and has slightly different head gaskets and Subaru coolant is not mandatory for them due to the different materials and design. I should have specified.

As for the system conditioner, they advertise it like it will transform generic coolant into Subaru coolant. While it may add some chemicals and such, it's basically a stop-leak. I can't remember the name, I know it's some sort of silicate, but the Subaru coolant does not have it in and the silicate is supposedly what causes the head gasket failure. This is what is pounded into us by Subaru- "Do not use anything other than Subaru coolant!"
 
Thanks for the replies, I just picked up the car and the previous owner said the head gasket is leaking. The Subaru is known for this problem. It has 174000 on it but I do not see any leaks nor do I see anti freeze in the oil or oil in the anti freeze but I'll have it checked out by someone who has the right tool to check it out. It may be the internal leak. After its fixed I wanted to be sure the right coolant is put back in it.
 
Originally Posted By: drg
Thanks for the replies, I just picked up the car and the previous owner said the head gasket is leaking. The Subaru is known for this problem. It has 174000 on it but I do not see any leaks nor do I see anti freeze in the oil or oil in the anti freeze but I'll have it checked out by someone who has the right tool to check it out. It may be the internal leak. After its fixed I wanted to be sure the right coolant is put back in it.

The NA engine up to 2003 is the problem. after 2003/2002 the problem was more or less highly improved. The problem though is the open deck engine. The turbo is fine.

Yea on the Conditioner and Subaru coolant.
 
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