Coolant system filler neck paint

[Stinkstain]

I changed out the coolant in my 02' wrx this weekend and when i took off the cap, there was black paint on the inside of the filler neck that was flaking off. I tried to get as much off as i could, but i sure that some paint strips got into the coolant system.

Question #1 Is this something i should be worried about? Will it plug up anything that is plugable?

Question #2 Why would they (Subaru) paint the inside of the filler neck and tank?

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[Johnzim63]

1. yes, the radiator or lines
2. don't know

Best thing for early '02 model owners is to remove the top of the coolant fill reservoir and scrape the paint off that sucker. There have been rare instances of early '02 WRX's with clogged up cooling systems, where the culprit was this paint. Subaru corrected it on later 02's and subsequent years. It's not a hard job, but is a good preventative measure.

[cnk]

It can cause problems, so get as much out as possible. Also, you can take the top off the tank as stated and remove the paint. The part was painted on early 02's, but Subaru realized the error in this and stopped painting the bottom of the cover afterwards. I just removed the paint on mine last week. I had 38k miles on the car and have flushed coolant 2 times before. The paint was starting to bubble, but none had come off yet. Took some sandpaper and wet-sanded it all off after letting some paint thinner set in for a bit.

Calvin

[Stinkstain]

Thanks for the info guys. i took off the top of the tank and there was huge paint bubbles on the cover that was in contact with the coolant. (i took pictures, but don't know how to post them) None of the inside paint flaked off, but it wasn't far from it. I removed most of the paint off by just peeling it off by hand. The bubbles were filled with the old coolant. Even the paint in the tubes were bubbled up bad. After scraping off as much paint as i could, i turkey bastered out the coolant in the tank and found some small paint flakes in the bottom that was from the filler neck. My car was born in Feb of 2002, so i thought it was one the later 02's. I wish i could meet the subaru engineer who thought that painting the top of the tank was a good idea. I would say "Look at what you did?!....Look at what you did to this carpet?!" And then i would rub his nose in it. Then i would throw stuff at him when he ran under the couch.

I recommend that anyone who has this painted top to remove it to see what's going on. I had no clue it was even painted until i replaced the coolant. It's not hard, just very disappointing.

[Turbo9000]

I noticed some small flakes of black paint...it looked like black glitter in my coolant when I replaced my radiator. I have feb. born 2002 as well.

[Turbo9000]

...did you need a new gasket after removing the plate? Im going to do mine today if possible.

[cnk]

It's a rubber gasket and I didn't replace mine when I did it last week. You shouldn't have a problem.

Calvin

[Turbo9000]

I tore it apart today and saw most of the paint had already been boiled off. I scraped the rest of it off. I also trimmed my top hose while I was at it.

Thanks for the input.

[Stinkstain]

I didn't replace my rubber gasket ether, and i don't have any leaks going on. I Checked the bottom of the tank again after cleaning it out with a turkey baster and found some more really small black paint chips. Not many, but they were there. So i'm assuming that this means i have small paint chips throughout the whole coolant system. Does anyone think that calls for a "re-flush"?

p.s. Never Trust Whitey

[tdxflex]

Talk to your dealership. I just had mine replaced under warranty today, but I'm also still in the bumper-to-bumper warranty interval. Regardless, when you point out to the parts and service guys that they changed the coolant tank for newer models they will probably work something out with you.