over heating!!! :(

[99soobiegt]

ok not sure if this is where this post should go or if it would be under electrical systems, anyways i have a problem with my car overheating...ive replaced the thermo, cleaned the egr valve, the radiator and fan are new and my water pump isnt bad, and its not burning or leaking oil so i cant imagine it being my heads, the problem has been going on for a few weeks now but its very intermittent...it will run fine for weeks then out of the blue itll get really hot then if i continue to drive it goes cooler again...any thoughts would be great cuz i have NO idea what the hell it could be

[lord flashheart]

sounds like you have air in your system to me..

[99soobiegt]

well thats what i thought to cuz i drained the coolant and put new coolant in and then to make sure i let it run for a few minutes with the cap off so that the bubbles would surface and it seemed to work cuz it was fine for about a week or 2 and then it starts and stops randomly...i dont wanna replace parts that dont need it u know what i mean

[lord flashheart]

when the car was running and u were putting coolant in it did u have the heater full bore? cuz sometimes that helps get the coolant up into the heater core.

[lord flashheart]

btw, when its over heating does it blow hot air?

[99soobiegt]

no i didnt have the heat on :( ill try that and when its overheating i noticed that the resevoir takes ALL the coolant and it doesnt put any back into the radiator but the radiator isnt cracked and its not blowing out steam and its not leaking so i really have no idea what it could be...i let it run and had the bubbles come to the top with the cap off and it cooled down for a little bit then went right back to overheating

[goodnight1985]

Make sure the car is actually over heating. It could be the sensor or the gauge. Be sure you aren't getting false readings. If that all checks out, try pressurizing the system without the car running. This will hopefully show any leaks in the cooling system. Be sure to check the heater core and also make sure it isn't leaking into the cylinder, the car might be burning the coolant as you drive.

How do you know the water pump is good?

[lord flashheart]

get a block test done, (pressure test) and ask a local mechanic to test your radiator cap. cuz the radiator cap can cause that.

[ouch1011]

Check your oil level. Make sure it isn't way overfull or a milky/cloudy color.

[99soobiegt]

yeah i actually just did an oil change so idk if thats it and i went to pepboys (dont know how reliable they are) and they said i should do a test to make sure its not my temp gauge or a sensor or to make sure i dont need headgaskets, from what i hear the 2.5s are known for bad heads...i dont know how hard they are to do if i have to pull the motor or what but im hoping its not the heads cuz if it is should i bother rebuidling it or just swap it out?

[lord flashheart]

thats a block test. it will tell you if your head gasket is blown.. but i stand by the radiator cap. besides that, its the cheapest place to start.

[MDLP412]

i tried to look at every cheap part there was when mine overheated and eventually pulled the motor and rebuilt almost everything headgaskets out

[ouch1011]

A block test doesn't always tell you if you have a blown head gasket. You can have a blown head gasket and still have a negative block test. Just recently had an old Chevy truck with a cracked block come into the shop, burning coolant and blowing a coolant volcano out the radiator with the cap off, block test was negative.

Overheating from head gasket failure typically isn't intermittant. It usually happens consistantly. 1 way to check for a possible gauge problem is to see if the cooling fans are on when the gauge reads high. Overheating from a blown head gasket will also usually cause a lot of coolant to push into the overflow reservoir, often causing it to overflow.

[99soobiegt]

yeah ive gotten a bunch of things thrown at me pepboys thought blown head, sullivan tire thinks it could be a gauge or i might need a radiator flush cuz i could be clogged, but when it over heats there is no pressure in the hoses and when i shut my car off its not cycling the coolant thru the resevoir its just storing it there but when it runs fine its doing its job lol i think i might try the flush see if that helps and if not ill get it tested but the lady who had it before me kept it very well maintained and i had it checked when i had all the gas lines replaced and the mechanic said the heads looked new so im hoping its nothing wrong with my motor

[chillneil]

My 97 outback is doing something very similar. When driving around town I never have any problems. As soon as I get on the highway for about an hour, all the coolant gets pushed into the reservoir. When I pull into a town and get in stop and go traffic, it will appear to overheat, but as soon as I give it a little gas and start moving, the temp drops almost suddenly. My theory is the head gasket. Combustion air is being blown into the cooling system and whenever I stop or let off the gas, the circulation of the coolant slows down and an air pocket forms at the sensor so it is only sensing hot air. Then as soon as I rev the engine and start moving, the coolant hits the sensor again because the water pump is spinning faster and the temp gauge drops back to normal. Anyone else have thoughts on this theory?

Oh yea, 169,00 miles - owned since 60,000.

[lord flashheart]

that is a possiblity, neil. i would get a block test.

[99soobiegt]

well i was told it could be the head gasket as well but i was talking to someone and they said if it was id have either coolant in the oil or oil vice versa just a theory i could be wrong, but then it stopped about a week and a half ago and has been fine and my buddy checked my CEL and it was my fan sensor? so maybe the fan wasnt working? cuz the thermo is new and my W/P is new-ish as well but it doesnt smoke which i thought if it was the heads it would...but even if its the heads i have 2.2 heads that just need to be resurfaced and then i should be in a little bit better shape, for now i just take it easy on her lol

[lord flashheart]

if it was overheating on the freeway i would say its probably not the fan. but if it only over heats in stop and go and low speed driving then that would make perfect sense.

[lord flashheart]

oh and the smoke your talking about is actually condensation or steem. but subarus dont usually have a notable amout of condensation coming from the exaust when they blow a head gasket. for some reason.

[BG5guy]

if you look at the radiator, there is a plastic screw on the passenger side, make sure that is tight. It is a screw for the radiator that allows you to drain the air outta the system. If that screw is loose or missing, you could be getting air into the radiator causing pockest which would make the car overheat at random times. I had a very similar issue with my wagon and found the screw was 4 threads loose. Picked up a new screw for 2.50 and never had a problem since.

[99soobiegt]

yeah like i said its the most random thing *knock on wood* but it hasnt done it in like 2 weeks its making me nervous lol i was thinking maybe a bad connection to the fan? cuz it turns on and off but it over heated(s) in both hwy and stop n go, if it does it again ill check the screw and have the block tested but the owner before me did all the maintence and when i bought the car the TB/WP and belts and stuff were done i took it to a garage and they said the heads were done too right around 90k it has 140k on it now so idk if thats a good time to get them done again??

[lord flashheart]

like i said a couple of times before.
have a mechanic check your radiator cap as well.. cuz its possible that its not doing its job.
besides that, radiator caps are like 7 bucks and take 10 seconds to change (if that).
FYI over heating issues are important to get resolved on these engines since there are only 2 cylinders per head
the head is more susceptible to warping and blowing a head gasket.

[lord flashheart]

and also having the heads done isnt considered "maintenance" its more of a "repair"
maintenance are things that subaru recomends doing on a regular interval
such as: timing belt
spark plugs
oil changes
injector flush
distributor cap
radiator cap
transmission flush etc.
repairs are things that go wrong and are not on the service interval and
are offen caused by lack of maintenence, wear and tear (abuse), or defects in craftsmanship.
such as: transmission clutch packs
CV axle
head gasket
throwing a rod etc.
then there are services that are more of a "as needed services" which may or may not be on the service interval but are
components that wear out on a regular basis.
such as: clutches
brakes
tires
shocks
gaskets
sensors etc.

[99soobiegt]

well looks like im calling out of work tomorrow cuz its doing it again :( and my heater is making a really weird noise so i was wondering if it could be my heater core? maybe its clogged and thats why its not going thru properly? idk just a guess at this point i just want it fixed cuz its making me really mad!!! >:O

[ouch1011]

My 97 outback is doing something very similar. When driving around town I never have any problems. As soon as I get on the highway for about an hour, all the coolant gets pushed into the reservoir. When I pull into a town and get in stop and go traffic, it will appear to overheat, but as soon as I give it a little gas and start moving, the temp drops almost suddenly. My theory is the head gasket. Combustion air is being blown into the cooling system and whenever I stop or let off the gas, the circulation of the coolant slows down and an air pocket forms at the sensor so it is only sensing hot air. Then as soon as I rev the engine and start moving, the coolant hits the sensor again because the water pump is spinning faster and the temp gauge drops back to normal. Anyone else have thoughts on this theory?

Oh yea, 169,00 miles - owned since 60,000.

Pretty much hit the nail on the head with that one, at least as far as air getting into the cooling system and causing the overheating (exactly the way you described). Whether or not it is the head gaskets causing that is another story. I've seen (and repaired) several Subarus that had radiator cap/radiator erosion problems causing the same issue. If the sealing surface around the radiator cap in the radiator itself is eroded, the cap won't seal, and it will just push all the coolant out of the radiator as soon as it heats up.

[lord flashheart]

turn on your heater. if it only blows hot part of the time then you know its most likely a air pocket in the system. if it stays hot the whole time then you know its another issue.
btw all the things ive suggested are easy fixes.
go try some. we cant diagnose it for sure untill
you start ruling out some possibilities. most mechanics
wont charge you a dime to check the radiator cap.
and from the sound of it i think its still your best bet.

[99soobiegt]

yeah it was blowing out hot air then it would get cooler then hot for a while and it would stay hot, but im gunna get a cap and im gunna change the hoses too just for kicks and giggles hopefully its nothing too serious :/ ill let u know how i make out and thanks for the tips

[99soobiegt]

alright so radiator flush done, new cap done, hopefully it works or im back to square one

[99soobiegt]

so did the flush replaced the cap and its still overheating :( im clueless on what it could be now i guess a block test is next >:0

[lord flashheart]

if it goes from hot to cool and then hot and doesnt stay consistant and it over heats intermittently sound like an air bubble. cuz when the air bubble gets into the heater core the heater doesnt blow as warm as usual. then when the bubble passes the heater core it gets hot again. even if you think you got all the air bubbles out subarus can be more difficult than the average car to get air bubbles out of

[99soobiegt]

yeah i have no idea cuz after the flush i let it run with the cap off to get the bubbles out for like a half hour and then put a new cap on and let it run for another hour and it was running cool like its spose to and then after about 45 minutes it got hot again and when it was heated up and running cool it was blowing out cold air even with the heat on and then when i was overheating it was blowing hotter air but not by much

[lord flashheart]

you should have the heater on high when its running with the cap off.

[lord flashheart]

even perhaps cycle it from hot to cold.

[lord flashheart]

did you check that screw that so and so mentioned?

[99soobiegt]

i had the heater on full blast with the cap off and it worked like i said for maybe the first half hour and then the bubbles just stopped coming up so i put the cap back on, but no i havent checked the screw, ill do that and i was also thinking maybe bypassing the heater core but idk if u MUST have it...like if i just followed the hoses from where they go into the core and then using a rubber coupling and didnt use the heater core(just an idea someone suggested but like i said idk if a heater core is totally needed)

[99soobiegt]

so i got it tested and its the beginning stages of a headgasket issue idk if its worth fixing i was given an estimate to do the heads, have them machined, and then timingbelt. w/p and pretty much a full tune up for around 2500...i need to know if thats worth it to get fixed cuz if not im just going to part it out and finance a new subaru

[ouch1011]

2500 is too high, you could get a better price elsewhere.

[lord flashheart]

$2500?!?!
twenty five hundred?
two five zero zero?
holy crap! i think our shop would charge like 900 to 1100
be careful who you take your shit to. there is a shop down the street
and they are always doing shady things. ive seen them put used spark
plugs in a car and charge them for new ones.
always get second opinions. especially on expensive repairs.

[99soobiegt]

i know 2500 is alot thats why im contemplating selling it i mean id be getting heads done having them machined and checked to make sure the block isnt cracked along with the timing belt, and water pump but ive gotten a couple qoutes one for 2500 and then another one from kinetic motorworks in hampstead and they said theyd charge me 4 cuz its a subaru and i guess motor work is a pain the ass lol i mean either way to do the TB/WP and heads im looking at the 2k range :( and i know if i went to a subaru dealership it would prob be even more

[99soobiegt]

it sucks cuz the body is in really good shape just some light light surface rust only on one QP and then it needs a new driver side mirror other than that its amazing 140k drives mint, and the paint is really good, i got offered 2600 for it from a subaru mechanic so if he buys it i think im making out pretty good considering i only paid 1800 for it lol

[BG5guy]

i dont know where u are located, but the subaru dealership i used to work for charges 1500, and they are they number 1 service department on the west coast. Thats way to high, shop around.

[99soobiegt]

im located in new hampshire :( and ive gotten a couple qoutes for it like i said one was 4k and the other was 2600 i just feel like no one wants to tackle the job and if i was more mechanically inclined i would do it lol