Thermostat gone bad?

[Eken]

Hello.

I have a 1995 Subaru legacy 2.2 GX, no fancy turbo, all N/A.
I'm not sure about this, but i am suspecting a bad thermostat. Because, 1. The temp meter dont go all the way up to the middle, only just below

(aprox. where the red line is)
http://img534.imageshack.us/img534/4354/18962708.png

2. When it is warm i really dont get really hot air.

3. It takes some time for it to come up to this level when driving, even now at around +0 celsius.

I know for a fact that it's leaking coolant at the lower hose on the engine side (where the thermostat is, right?) since that side is damp all the time, have planned to take a look at this when it get's warmer...


Do i have to worry about changing thermostat, or is this as Subaru is?

[chuckthefuk]

1) The needle never goes to the middle. Just slightly under the middle.. Anyone on the forum will back me up.

2. ... #4

3. From a cold start your car should be at the mid point by 5-9 KM driving or 10 mins of idling.

4) The Coolant System is a HI-Pressure closed system. If your leaking coolant that means your not holding proper pressure. This can result in improper flow to your heater core which supplies the hot air to your ventilation system as well as abnormal readings on your gauge..

5) Changing your thermostat is the cheapest fix or at least trouble shooting. (Thermostat is located on the passenger side of the engine on the underside by the water pump. its a small circle thats about 2-3" wide.

Try this:

0) REPLACE that rad hose thats leaking and get a coolant flush.

1) When your car has been on for at least 10 mins touch the passenger side rad hose (is it hot or cold?) touch the drive side rad hose (is it hot or cold.
--> If the passenger side is cold then your thermostat is not opening up properly.
--> Drive the car for a bit in the high rpms. Pull over and touch the rad hose again. If its hot then your thermostat is working.


If this does not work you may be looking at a blown head gasket but I doubt it since your running an EJ22 which is much stronger in terms of holding the gasket down.

Good luck
-Chuck

[Eken]

Thanks for the quik answer...

regarding the needle, if that's what you say, then i believe mine is as it should... As for the radiator hose, as soon as it get's warmer i'm gonna have a look at it, and see if i just need to tighten the clamp a bit, or if it's the hose that's broken...

[chuckthefuk]

Hey exploding rad hoses or ripped/cracked hoses are very common. Crappy OEM rubber does crap out after a decade :-D

- Chuck

[Eken]

Good news:
Not a cracked hose.
Car get's warm after about 10 mins of idling at an outside temperature around 0 celsius...

Bad news:
I dont know where the hell the leak is. It's dripping from somewhere around the engine heater element, but it seems to come from somewhere further up on the engine?

[B's Legacy Wagon]

SO have you figured out if the thermostat is good or not. i rember seeing a vendor on here who had listed a upgraded thermostat and radiator cap. ill keep searching if you can use it. had an explination on the post about why they are suppossed to be better upgrades than OEM.

[jey]

There is a coolant pipe at the top of the motor, under the intake manifold. Check that out - that's where a coolant temp sensor plugs in, and there is also a rubber line that attaches to it and runs across the the top of the motor to the hard line that goes back to the water pump. I've had to replace that rubber line before due to a crack.

[Eken]

Changed the rocker cover gaskets today, was lazy so didnt remove anything in the bay, was a tight fit but managable. But boooy those old gaskets were overdue, almost as hard as plastic, and as soon as i bent it, it cracked and broked.

And i am 99% sure the thermostat is fine, so no worries there. However... the damn leak... I drove her out of the garage today after the gasket change to let her run warm, when i bent over (At normal running temp) and looked beneath it it dripped good with coolant from the back of the skidplate.
Visually i cant see any leaks from ontop of the engine, so i figures it still gotta be somewhere underneath the engine, might even be the heater element?

[chuckthefuk]

Leaking water pump and seals?

Maybe..

[Eken]

Thought of that the other day too... Have to take the timing belt covers off to see it?

[chuckthefuk]

Yup.

https://sl-i.net/FORUM/images/imported/2010/03/Idler2Removed-1.jpg
http://www.lovehorsepower.com/SubaruDoc ... erPump.htm (http://www.lovehorsepower.com/SubaruDocs/TimingWaterPump.htm)

Good luck
-Chuck

[chuckthefuk]

Jay "There is a coolant pipe at the top of the motor, under the intake manifold. Check that out - that's where a coolant temp sensor plugs in, and there is also a rubber line that attaches to it and runs across the the top of the motor to the hard line that goes back to the water pump. I've had to replace that rubber line before due to a crack."

https://sl-i.net/FORUM/images/imported/2010/03/CoolantHoseRemoved-1.jpg
http://www.lovehorsepower.com/SubaruDoc ... ensor.html (http://www.lovehorsepower.com/SubaruDocs/CoolantTempSensor.html)

-Chuck

[Eken]

That guide makes me scared of touching the waterpump, haha.
Na, not really, seems to be quite the work though, but managable... Forecasters say it's gonna get warmer to the weekend, so gonna get her up and wash her off under the engine to get all the ld oil away, see if i maybe can try and look then...

Many thanks Chuck! :)

[chuckthefuk]

If you going to change the pump.. change your timing belt while your at it. And seals if your up to it.


-Chuck

[ouch1011]

At least you have a SOHC model. They are pretty easy to do the tbelt on.