mysterious water...

[AWD]

There is water sloshing around somewhere inside the back of my wagon, and I can't find where. It's been there for almost two weeks now and it's driving me nuts! I've checked inside most of the spaces I can easily get to and they're dry.

Anyone come across a problem like this before or have some suggestions on where it might be?
My local dealer didn't have a clue...

[HeresMyMind]

could it be gas? LOL

-B

[AWD]

could it be gas? LOL

haha... yea, no that crossed my mind too, but it's definitely something else. Makes a much different noise to the gas - sort of higher pitched gurgling sound rather than the slosh noise from the gas - and only started 2 weeks ago after I washed the car and then had some really heavy rain overnight.
I drained some water that was stuck in the RH door sill the next day (by undoing several bolts at the back of the front wheel well) which got rid of the noise down by my feet, but I can still hear it coming from further back somewhere.

Also checked all the doors, tailgate, lights and plastic trim and they seem to be dry.

[Sarra]

Get one of those sticks that can find water, it'll point you right to it. :D

Get under the car and tap on it, you should be able to tell if you've got a water problem.

I noticed that our Outback had a rushing water sound on cold startup, I burped the radiator and it stopped. That was obviously from infront of the driver's seat though, not sure what to tell you...

[Bdubs]

You have a sunroof? Check in the access door for the spare tire jack. Thats where I found about 5 inches of water sitting because of a detached drain hose.

[AWD]

Hmmm... yes I'd heard the sunroof drain can cause lots of water problems, but mine doesn't have one, so no easy fix there. Checked inside both the rear quarter panels incl. where the jack sits, but no joy :-(

Sarra - I'm almost willing to try one of those sticks!! Nothing else seems to be finding it, although I'm starting to think it could even be in the roof or one of the pillars - is this even possible?

Anyway, gonna take the subie down to the local panelbeater this morning and see what he thinks.

[ccampbell2546]

I saw a picture once where a guy had a ton of water in the spare tire well of his forester. Sorry, if this doesn't help, I just thought of it though.

[HeresMyMind]

have someone bounce up and down on the bumper and sit in the back and listen to where its coming from.

-B

[AWD]

well... interesting story at the panelbeaters:

took the guy all of 3 seconds driving in my car to say the noise wasn't actually water at all, but something loose in the suspension. Never would have guessed, cos it sounds EXACTLY like the bubbling/gurgling noise the water in the sill made before - just coincidental timing maybe?? But that could explain why I can't actually find water anywhere... :oops: Thank you to everyone for the suggestions though.

mechanics next door put it up on the hoist and had a quick look for me (figured I might as well let them have a go, seeing as I was there and they offered) and they reckon the right rear sway bar end-link has had it. The upper bearing does actually feel a bit loose, although I've got no idea what would have caused it to fail... Car's only got just over 14,000km on the clock (yes, 8750 miles - that's not a typo).

Good excuse to spend a few $$ on a new rear bar and links I guess. We'll have to see if that makes the noise go 'way otherwise it's back to square one.

[Huffer]

mechanics next door put it up on the hoist and had a quick look for me (figured I might as well let them have a go, seeing as I was there and they offered) and they reckon the right rear sway bar end-link has had it. The upper bearing does actually feel a bit loose, although I've got no idea what would have caused it to fail... Car's only got just over 14,000km on the clock (yes, 8750 miles - that's not a typo).

Good excuse to spend a few $$ on a new rear bar and links I guess. We'll have to see if that makes the noise go 'way otherwise it's back to square one.

Where did you take it? If you're in Wellington I recommend visiting Maclennan Performance. They hooked my Impreza up extremely well.

[Stang70Fastback]

I noticed that our Outback had a rushing water sound on cold startup, I burped the radiator and it stopped. That was obviously from infront of the driver's seat though, not sure what to tell you...

I have that too. Is it something BAD or does it not really matter. Just sounds like water is trickling/running through the pipes for like 10-15 seconds.

[Sarra]

I noticed that our Outback had a rushing water sound on cold startup, I burped the radiator and it stopped. That was obviously from infront of the driver's seat though, not sure what to tell you...

I have that too. Is it something BAD or does it not really matter. Just sounds like water is trickling/running through the pipes for like 10-15 seconds.

I'm not really sure. It still does it on occasion. If it does it when warmed up, you have a problem, but when cold it's not such a big deal, just needs some more burping. Means you have air in the system, and as it heats up, the coolant will expand, and most probably compress the air into almost nothing.

My WRX did this too when I had improperly burped it, but the waterbox on the turbo cars helps a ****ing ton with burping. Let the car cool off completely, like overnight, and pop the radiator cap. If the fluid isn't right up at the top of the radiator, then you should take 10-30 minutes and burp it. Get some fresh coolant, and start it with the cap off. Let it run, and as the coolant level goes down, add coolant or fresh water to keep it topped off. Have someone turn the AC on and off for you, or blip the throttle as it gets up to operating temp to get the bubbles to circulate out of the block into the radiator.

And keep the overflow bottle at least filled to the 'MIN' line. If not, the radiator will suck in air as it cools off after you drive.

[AWD]

Where did you take it? If you're in Wellington I recommend visiting Maclennan Performance. They hooked my Impreza up extremely well.

Am up in Auckland unfortunately - at least until I finish studying anyway - but thanks for the tip. Will look them up if I ever end up down that way.
Just took it to a shop next door to our local panelbeater in Greenlane - the guys at the panelbeaters know our family quite well... not sure if that's a good thing or not :lol:

Found an aftermarked bar and links at a wreckers, so going to go check that out on Monday and see if it's any good.

[AWD]

I noticed that our Outback had a rushing water sound on cold startup, I burped the radiator and it stopped. That was obviously from infront of the driver's seat though, not sure what to tell you...

I have that too. Is it something BAD or does it not really matter. Just sounds like water is trickling/running through the pipes for like 10-15 seconds.


Sarra is right - if you can do the burping thing properly it makes the bubbles go away. All of our 3 previous legacy wagons have had the same problem. One (a '96 250T) we couldn't get rid of the bubbles at all, even with complete coolant changes and flush, so we just put up with it. Didn't seem to cause any problems at all - went great for over 100k until someone nicked it... :smt011 like they did with the 250TB before...
Folks bought an Outback after that (actually called a 'Grand Wagon' in NZ) and no one's taken that away yet.