G'day & Welcome @Batuche

Thanks for the information

 

@Kevin Forgot to add that my 2012 Subaru Forester 2.5L 4AT-X has 104,000+ on it, and I should have called the radiator upper hose connector that broke the NECK. Looks like a fairly common but potentially critical problem with these. Mine completely blew off about 1/2 mile from my home. I was at a stop light and thought the poor sucker ahead of me in traffic was losing the coolant that I smelled. Only when I turned the corner to go home did I realize that poor sucker was me. Fortunately there was just enough neck left to clamp the hose to (my son picked up a clamp for me at the store) so I could add coolant and make it to the shop the next day.

 

Was it the part, or the gasket that goes with it? That has two outlets and is for the cooling system for your throttle body, as well as the PCV system. I used to get a fair bit of oil accumulating there from a timing cover leak. It also occurs to me that a leak in the left hand gasket of the coolant crossover pipe would cause coolant to accumulate in that area. I may replace those two gaskets this summer, and if so maybe I should also change the two gaskets on the bottom of the connector. Both jobs require a fair bit of dismantling. Mind you I am a bit surprised at the 500 or so labor charge. You would need to remove the serpentine belt, and the alternator, and need to move the AC to remove its bracket to access that connector. It may also require draining some coolant, refilling and bleeding the system, but man that seem expensive for such a little part. If I was doing it I would replace the PCV breather hose and the coolant hose that connects to it as it should give you access to them.
Here is the video that shows the other possible leak, though in the video it's the right side that is affected and leaking.

 

Sorry, not much help here as the work was done by a local garage. Yes, the charge was plenty and therefore need to find a different mechanic. Parts breakdown were: 1-Coolant Outlet Assembly $68.20, 1-Bypass Hose $23.28, 3-Hose Clamps $4.47, 1-Blue Coolant 29.42, 1-Seal Set $17.27 (Parts: $142.64). The rest was labor and parts pick-up ($414.50). Then there's Shop Fee of $22.29, and Sales Tax (11.77) for a total of $591.20.

Best of luck with yours.

P.S. Thanks for the video. Yikes! I can't imagine what a shop could charge for that.

 

I would think something similar or even a bit higher labor-wise than what you were charged. It is strange that the connector broke, and caused such a coolant loss. I am glad that your mechanic replaced the coolant hose and clamps and that you at least seem to have gotten a coolant change out of it. It was an unusual failure. That part is used on quite a few models and I have never seen another thread about one breaking.

Saw this and figure it's relevant for anyone wanting to see where this part actually goes and what it does. It's hard to figure out how and why yours broke.

 

It wasn't a rapid coolant loss, more like one overflow tank full every 2-3 weeks depending on how many miles driven. I didn't need a coolant change either as I had just had the radiator replaced and it was changed then. I would like to think that the part broke because it's plastic and exposed to extreme heat due to its location rather than to think it was damaged during my radiator replacement or a recent A/C repair which of course remains a possibility.

 

The whole intake is plastic and it doesn't melt. I replaced the radiator on mine myself and I don't see how that could break the part that is protected underneath the a/c pump. Oh, I see you had A/C work done. All I can think of is that they dropped the unit and it fell on the plastic part cracking it, or they dropped a ratchet or something that did the same. Otherwise, you were unlucky and there was a material defect in yours that caused an eventual failure. Still, though I have never seen a thread about that part failing.

 

"All I can think of is that they dropped the unit and it fell on the plastic part cracking it, or they dropped a ratchet or something that did the same."

That certainly crossed my mind and you may be right, but of course if that was the case unfortunate for me the garage chose not to fess up to it and swallow the repair to pass up those easy $. I first speculated that plastic (all plastic as far as I know) deteriorates to some degree over time when exposed to high heat, but there's no way to know for sure.

The garage doing the work is not a foreign car specialist, but rather a local family-owned shop which probably does 95% domestic American vehicles. I have known the family for years and they have performed all my previous brake jobs and many routine oil changes without incident, but mine may be the only Subaru they have ever worked on.

BTW, I have owned this car since new & it has been relatively trouble free up to just under 100,000 miles when the top neck of the radiator snapped off and was replaced. At approximately100,000 miles new plugs and timing belt were installed, then shortly after the A/C went out. Apparently the garage had one heckofa time repairing it as his replacement compressors (2 of them) were returned as they didn't couldn’t cool properly, so finally a new one was ordered from Subaru and once installed the system cooled just fine, however I then found water leaking from the firewall onto the passenger side floor mat, so it was returned again for that repair - apparently the evaporator case wasn’t installed correctly.

It was immediately after the A/C repairs that I began losing coolant from the overflow tank at the rate of one tank every 2-3 weeks depending on the miles driven. The garage diagnosed it as a bad radiator which they had installed earlier so they replaced it under warranty. But the leak persisted and only after some diligent poking around under the hood with a flashlight was a pool of coolant found under the A/C compressor, resulting in the repairs I posted about above. I had been concerned about head gaskets, but there was never any exhaust smoke, coolant mixed with oil, or leaks found on the ground, etc.

 

Unless you have an XT, your 2012 Forester has a timing chain and not a belt. Hopefully, you are not leaking coolant anymore.

 

Serpentine belt/drive belt, my bad. Also, no more coolant leak (yet!).

While gas mileage has never been great, I used to average 19-20mpg in city and 23-24 max highway, but surprisingly after the plugs, serpentine belt, etc., were replaced at 100,000 I have been averaging 21-23mpg city and as high as 27.9 highway at 75-85 mph. Not getting older, getting better? Pre-pandemic we were thinking about possibly trading, but for now we'll wait it out & see what happens with pricing and availability.

 

There are great modern plastics available that can withstand heat but most auto makers don’t want to spend the money. BMW has some of the worst plastic parts and they cost a fortune. Subaru isn’t as bad.