STi-owns-evo

iTrader: (4)

Plus you have your overflow tank, so if you put too much in, no harm done =)

AWD 20T

iTrader: (11)

Could be you're hearing the gasoline in the tank move around.

zumnwrx

iTrader: (6)

yup check you coolant... it will look full but grab one of the hoses and squeze it a couple of times... what your hearing is bubbles somewhere from your coolant being low...

edgar,

wombatsauce

iTrader: (7)

Yup, I had the same thing on another car where I also refilled the coolant using the method known as "The Wrong Way." It's water slooshing through the heater core in the dash that got it for me. Rev engine, turn on heater, hear it even more. Try that - see if it does it.

I'm sure it's not your gas tank sloshing while you rev your engine...

-Jacob

WRXDad

iTrader: (1)

Yup this happened to me, and I topped of the coolant and squeezed the lines to get the bubbles out. Presto! after 15 mins of driving the noise was gone. Make sure you do it soon since air bubbles can impinge on the vane of the pumps and cavitate them (this happens on industrial pumps - so I may be stretching a bit since I haven't seen what kind of pump they use, just better to be safe then sorry).

My .02$
WRXDad

TurnWRX

iTrader: (3)

anybody know what type of coolant to use? My coolant resevoir lvl is below L. I've read the manual but it doesn't say anything except a mix of 50% water and 50% something else


and yes I'm a n00b when it comes to engine-related stuff

mexicanpizza

iTrader: (9)

Don't look in the overflow tank. It will be much higher when hot.

Open the radiator cap(s) when it's cold, and top it off with either 50:50 greencoolant:water or distilled water.

mattsn0w

iTrader: (23)

distilled water = wont boil, so it will just get really f*ckin hot, then drop a dirty spoon in that cup and BAM!!!

MythBusters RULES!

Ash

iTrader: (12)

This is really common with our boxer motors. Everyone's right... You're just hearing air bubbles running through your heater core because your coolant is a little low. Hard to figure when you look at the the coolant temp gauge because it's avtually only a three interval gauge... cold---middle--too hot. So a slight increase in coolant temp isn't visible from the cockpit.

I've heard several people complain about hearing this same noise after getting the coolant system flushed. Truth is that it's a slight pain in the **** to get all the air out of the system...

Here's the trick...
with your engine cold...

use a funnel if you dont want to smell coolant for the next 500 miles
pour pre-diluted coolant in the little resevior up to the bottom of the neck
now squeeze the radiator hose on top (right next to the intake funnel) to push
the air out.
you'll see bubbles come out from the filler neck and the level of coolant go down
repeat about ten to fifteen times untill the coolant you pour in stays in the res.
squeezing the hose at this point will make it overflow.

you're done.

hope this helps,

Ash

wombatsauce

iTrader: (7)

Huh? I don't have any dirty spoons in my cooling system, and have heard to use only distilled water so that the minerals don't build up over time. Like they did in my Celica when I didn't use distilled water and had to replace the radiator 2 yrs later because it was so clogged with mineral buildup.

-Jacob

mattsn0w

iTrader: (23)

well, for that reason too, hehe.


They did this cool experiment where they took a coffee mug filler with tap water, heated in the microwave and it came to a boil.
Then they took a clean coffee mug, heated distilled water in a microwave, then took it out and it was not bubbling...

Then they dropped a silver spoon in it, and boom!

mexicanpizza

iTrader: (9)

You can explode distilled water just by shaking/moving that coffee cup too. Dangerous for people at home...the phenomenon is called superheating. It's hotter than the boiling point, but with no particles (dirt/minerals) to nucleate bubbles, it just sits there waiting to spring on your unsuspecting granny.

WRX Rush

iTrader: (7)

+1 for mythbusters All of this is good info for anyone who wants to know about what should go in their radiator

Rush

scoobsport98

iTrader: (5)

I never saw that one... I thought water (that is, H2O, distilled, free of minerals) boiled at 100 degrees celcius.

n192da

OKAY BOYS AND GIRLS...

I checked the coolant level and it was indeed low! I added probably less than 1 quart, drove it around for 5 minutes and everthing was perfect again---No sloshy sound!!!

Thanks guys.

However, this leads me to my next question: why was I low? I just had my 30k service where they flushed the system and replaced the fluids. Isn't the cooling system a *closed system*? If so, why was I low? Where did the coolant go?