Reloadit

Hey DC, after I let the car run and get to full temp and cycle with the cap off as mentioned before, it overheated again and filled the overflow reservoir.

Now, my funnel coolant filling kit came in the day before after waiting a month for it to show up from Amazon and I have used it. I let it run and cycle with the funnel 1/3 full which clearly allowed it to burp and bleed the air. I could see tiny tiny tiny little air bubbles pretty much the whole time.

After running it for another 40 minutes at operating temperature with the fans kicking on and off I squeezed the top hose plugged the funnel and then put the cap on and turned to car off per directions of use.

It has kicked out about 3 cups of coolant into the overflow over the past few days. It kicked most of it out after some 80mph freeway driving. It hasn't overheated. I have extracted the overflow without putting it back into the radiator. I was planning on seeing if it keeps kicking coolant out or if it was just too much coolant from the funnel filling kit.

If it turns out I have gas leaking into the cooling system and I decide to get it fixed what would be the wise job/overhaul to have done while it is torn apart and what kind of warranty should I be expecting to get for this kind of work.

I could buy a new Subaru but if I had my choice I would rather have my 99 over my wifes 2014. It has only a total 0f 122000 miles on it. I've looked at rebuilt engines and I have seen the engines from Japan available.

Just trying to get some ideas of my options and what to expect. I sure can't sell it without disclosing the issues.

I would check that fluid level after it sits the night. It should be in the same place every drive cycle from full cold to full cold. It can take a surprising time to reach full cold.

 

Another item that can cause the overflow to not function correctly is the radiator cap and it's fitment to the radiator neck. I've heard of aftermarket China radiators where the neck is so far out of spec that no cap will function correctly on it.

 

The shake at 30-40 is likely wheels or tires.

 

If you keep your oil pan from fighting a rock for space the only things that should strand you would be hoses and belts. Those can be inspected and replaced. For oil seals I would keep an eye on it for leaks and only replace as needed plus carry some extra of each kind of liquid with you. Brake hoses and parts can be checkd and replaced as needed.

 

If you go to a dealership with an open ended list like that it will cost several times the value of the car. If you can find a reliable local independant shop it will cost about half as much. Hence my inspect and replace as needed policy.

Thanks DC. Yesterday I hovered over the radiator with the cap off and RPM set at 2000 until it started circulating. I used a turkey baster to extract fluids before overflow. I ordered the kit Silverton recommended but seems like it must be out of stock because the arrival date keeps changing and Amazon gave me a refund for the same amount as the kit.

When the fans would kick on, the fluids lowered and I could put more fluid in but when they turned off, the fluid would start overflowing again. I ran it for 4 or 5 cycles where the fans kicked on, just adding and extracting fluid to keep it from spilling. I drove it before it cooled down completely and when it was cooled down completely, iced over windshield there was about 3/3-1 inch over the full line.

I'm going to keep extracting the overflow amount and adding it back to the radiator and if I do get the kit as it still says it will be delivered Tuesday, I will hook that up and let it run and burp until it's 2.5 heart is content.

I do have one question on this kind of burping/bleeding. Do I put the cap on while the car is still running or turn it off and cap it?

Oh, and about the shimmy, we have beat that up here too and it started right after I had the CV joints replace which the shop got the wrong ones and installed them and then had to get the right ones. At the same time I did put on new tires and the tire store has checked everything over and over and maintains it is not the wheels or tires. Took it back to the used car dealer I purchased it from and who did the CV joints and they said they couldn't find the cause of it, they felt it but said to bring it back in if it gets more obvious.

OK, thanks fellas. I marked a spot on the overflow container up high enough so I could see the actual mark and tell if it is depositing coolant or extracting it more.

I'm 40 minutes after driving it right now and I am about two inches above the mark, one inch from overflowing the overflow container. I don't know when the suction occurs or if this excess in the overflow is just going to stay in the overflow or what.

Here is my question at this point. If I were to take the car to a dealership and have them give it a "makeover", do they have such a thing where they go in and replace all critical gaskets, hoses and censors or something and if not, what do you fellas recommend a man do. Mind you, it has a new timing belt, water pump and CV joints though I suspect they are somewhat defected because there is still a slight shimmy from 30-40mph.

That car only has 120,000 original miles and the head gasket was apparently changed at the dealer once before from the original owner.

I'm curious to know what should be done to keep this car reliable for my fishing and hunting adventures in the mountain often out of cell service and what one might or should expect to pay. Thanks fellas.

https://www.amazon.com/OEMTOOLS-87009-No-Spill-Coolant-Filling/dp/B01A2CQSU6

 

Something like this makes bleeding a much simpler process. Fill the bucket just over the ramp, run the car for 40 minutes or until the fans come on and then turn off, you can do that part twice if you want but just once is usually good enough. But it won't really matter how much you attempt to bleed it if air is getting in, say via the head gasket.

 

I believe there are test strips available at most auto parts stores that can check for combustion gases in the coolant, I'd do that and/or a leak down test, just to give myself piece of mind, or to know wtf is going on.

I looked the coolant overflow hose over and didn't see any damage so I cut off the end that connects to the radiator and reconnected it with a tighter fit in case it was lose there.

I ordered the coolant kit.

Maybe you or Double can explain the overflow normal behavior to me. Does fluid transfer back and fourth all the time?

Sounds like you have covered a lot of bases.

 

The small tube from under the radiator cap that runs in to the overflow should extend to the bottom of the overflow tank without any holes. If it does not go to the bottom of the overflow unbroken it will not be able to pull coolant back from there into the radiator when it cools. That could make it push into the overflow, fail to draw it back, puch more the next drive cycle, etc.

I will take a very close look at the hose today. I did make it home and back to work this morning without changing the coolant level in the overflow. The bleeding air/burping seems to be a tedious undertaking regardless.

Thanks again and I will let ya know what I find.

Hey fellas, I made it to the bitter cold this winter without any issues and then when it got to the point of remaining below freezing for a couple of weeks, I overheated on a 20 minute trip to the frozen desert to shoot.

After a couple of weeks of burping/checking the fluids, taking fluid out of the overflow and putting it back into the radiator, I'm at a loss.

It's a factory OEM thermostat and cap not a year old. This morning I sucked the fluid out of the overflow before starting my car. I have a line on the overflow tank that I can actually see the level. I opened the radiator cap and it did have a vacuum and it the fluids seem low. I decided to drive it to work and though it didn't overheat I did lose heat for a second at a stop light. Drove the 10 miles to work and the overflow fluid was still on my mark so it didn't dump any.

I'm still not seeing any leaks or fluids on the ground outside of the pouring out of the overflow when it overheats. Oils seems fine, exhaust seems fine.

I've been pulling the plug above the top house and filling through it as well as through the radiator cap. Whenever I try to warm it up with the cap off, it starts dumping fluid out of the cap hole. I've never seen the fluid circulate in this car.

The waterpump should have been replaced when the mechanic shop replaced the timing belt, they were paid to replace it.

I wouldn't have thought the TStat could do this either until I lived it. There isn't much in a Subaru to make muck in the system. Aluminum block and heads, aluminum radiator and crossover pipe. Rubber hoses. If it was a 1970 iron V8 I would vote for flush it, in this case I would let it ride and keep an eye on it.

And that's exactly what I was thinking while my buddy was telling me about the flushing of his v-8s. I will let it ride and see how she does. Thanks again DC.

Update, I replaced the thermostat and cap with OEM from my local dealer and the temperature at operating temp is slightly lower on the gauge and I haven't had any issues for a few weeks now but with it being cooler can't know if she will overheat again or not.

A buddy suggested I do a full radiator flush, adding the solvent and doing it. He thinks it will clean out settled muck that could plug up the system causing it to dump coolant into the reservoir leading to the over heating.

Before I do something like that, I would like to get some opinions on a full flush. I don't want to make matter worse. As far as I can tell there has been no stop leak in the system.

I could just wait until it gets scorching hot again and see if it ever happens again, but my buddy thinks the OEM thermostat and cap wouldn't have been the problem, but he has been known to be wrong before.

For thermostats and radiator caps I only go OEM, there are so many stories of aftermarket not working correctly.

Yes, I get the feeling I should have waited for the OEM thermostat. The dealer had neither the cap or thermostat in stock when it started acting up. I ordered the cap yesterday and should be in tomorrow. It would probably behoove me to go ahead and have them order the thermostat and pay the extra $25 for it.

I get the feeling it was the cap all along causing my problems but will know for sure in a three or four months of the new OEM cap.

Could be a sketchy radiator cap. Part of it's function is to build pressure in the system so it doesn't boil as easy, but not so much pressure that your hoses pop. When pressure gets high it dumps into the bottle, and is supposed to suck it back when it cools. Perhaps the cap has something borderline with the spring and gasket that makes it dump to the bottle easier sometimes than others. EDIT: I did see a video where an after market radiator had the filler made wrong so the cap could not possibly seal correctly. I think that was Uncle Tony's Garage. Just to say that all parts these days are junk and we have to second guess them.

 

If the system was actually tight you could go over night without losing a PSI. That could be the cap. It could be something else. If you put that pressure in with the system actually full of coolant and no coolant comes out on the ground or into the cylinders or oil, then I would say it is the slight bit of air above the water going out from the cap to the bottle. It could also be something about the test gear you are using as well.

Guess who is going to buy an OEM radiator cap. I replace the cap when I replaced the thermostat and it was a Napa cap with the quick pressure release which I wasn't super confident in that.

This summer, my 1999 Outback over heated on a fishing trip and it seemed to have dumped much of the fluid into the overflow reservoir which in turn overflowed in the engine compartment.

I managed to get it to suck the overflow back and and topped it off with filtered water to get myself home.

I replaced the thermostat with a fail safe that supposedly stays open if it fails.

After several months it did it again today. When I replaced the thermostat, I spent a week burping and bleeding the air out but then I got lax and stopped checking after a couple of weeks of the level holding steady. I don't get the feeling I am leaking fluid, I sure don't see any leaks.

I put a pressure tester on it today and it took about 10 minutes to go from 15psi to 14psi with no sign or sound of leaks. I tested it without the car running.

The oil is clean, no off colored exhaust. No loss of power except with a nagging hesitation during the hottest months when I start it up when it is already at operating temperature and then take off it will hesitate then which has been a long running problem.

I'm just wondering if there is something that would malfunction and cause the overflow reservoir to unnecessarily draw coolant out of the radiator causing my problem or if it just stands to reason I have a tiny leak and eventually it gets low and then BAM overheats, dumps into the overflow and spews out of the overflow?

I just drove 4000 miles and it wiped my memory so forgive me if I'm repeating myself.

 

When you first get in turn the key to run, but give it a three count before you try to start it. If it starts better that way it is a little slow to build fuel pressure. If it was 1997 it would hold the pressure for days so starts would be smooth. If the check valve in the pump, or the pressure regulator weep a little, or an injector or its seals leak a tiny bit, then the pressure bleeds down to zero when parked and it takes the pump a bit to catch up. If it is really noticeable dig in to it, otherwise just let it have that slight pause in key use at startup.

 

I forget if you have measured fuel pressure during driving. If it is a little low all the time, perhaps it is correcting for that with fuel trims except during tip-in.

I've been concerned about the fuel trim all along. I did just put a brand new battery in it, the top of the line and my old battery though only 4 years old tested pretty poorly. I notice some difference.

I haven't tested the fuel pressure while driving. I did replace the fuel pump when I first noticed the problem. I will give it to the count of three.

The hesitation only happens when very hot outside and it has been running for a while. I'm thinking it is also more extreme when the AC is running when I start the car and pull out of parking spot.

I also screwed up adding refrigerant to my A/C and overcharged it so now I am gradually lowering it because when it is 105 outside the AC starts cutting in and out and it makes the engine jerk and junk. It seems like the directions on the refrigerant can are too complicated for me. It was blowing cold, I just thought it should be blowing colder and screwed it up at a very bad time to screw it up. Hopefully after work I can drive it home with the AC running.

I'm going to look into the fuel trim more, it was suggested by someone here when I replaced the timing belt.

Doublechaz, I went ahead and replaced my Mass Airflow Sensor for $40 from Parts Geek hoping it would solve the slight hesitation I experience. I was pretty optimistic for several days but now we are hitting record highs in temperatures and I am still having some issues but have it narrowed down a bit. I feel like there is some improvement. Here is what I have left going on. When I am driving around during the heat of the day running errands, it only seems to hesitate right after starting it up and going in reverse so mostly when I am in a parking space leaving a store. It doesn't seem to hesitate at stop signs and lights from an idle. I haven't parked in a way I could take off forward instead of reverse but could set that up to test that.

I know my battery is a little weak and I am noticing it seems to take a little more effort to start that I feel it should. It always starts, it just seems to take a few more turns before she goes.

No check engine lights ever. I haven't replaced anymore vacuum lines because I haven't found any that even looked rough much less lose. I know there are dozens of possibilities but just seeing if you or anyone can use the info to maybe narrow it down to only a dozen possibilities. I've had weak batteries on Subaru's before that caused some very strange issues so I will never rule them out after a car being down for over half a year just because the battery was too weak to make everything perform as designed.

Too HOT to FISH.

That is a lot of difference, but there is a lot of turbulence up there with the cross bars on.

 

I don't do that well around town, but that is because I installed the binary gas pedal mod. Highway only I can get up around 29.

I've been taking it salmon fishing for the past 4 weekends which is a 220 mile round trip and then driving it around town till I'm down to 1/4 tank and fill up for the next trip. The trip takes me through the mountains and some very windy roads. When I had the crossmembers on, I couldn't get better than 22 on pretty much the same travel.

I have done damn near everything you can think of trying to improve my gas mileage. Pcv, air filter, fuel filter, checked for carbon build-up, tire pressure, removing junk, etc.

 

The only two things I’ve been able to see a difference in mpg with have been changing my spark plugs and having the roof rack off. I’m going to get a new front O2 sensor soon and see if that helps as well. Do the spark plugs if it’s been a couple years. I got 4 oem’s and didn’t spend more than $15.

I'm pleased to say that I am back to getting 24 to 24.5 miles to the gallon after removing the roof rack cross members. It clearly makes a 2mpg difference easy.

On mechanical throttles like cars our age you should be fine if the cable lets all the way off and it does not idle fast, and also if it opens all the way when you floor it. All that cable is doing is moving the butterfly valve to allow or block air. The air for idle goes through a different way. For these I have always adjusted it sloppy loose, and then tighten it until it starts to idle faster and then back off until a little looser than when it is back to normal. Then I shut down and visually verify that it opens all the way for floored.

 

There is a throttle position sensor to tell the computer what is going on. I don't think you could mess it up while working on the cable, but I'm not completely sure.

 

Nearly dying when you pull away sounds more like another vacuum leak. I don't remember how much of the vacuum lines you replaced, but originals are likely problematic at this age. A few years ago I really tore mine apart for a 250,000 mile refresh. That included replacing every single vacuum line. That is kinda a big job on our cars because some of them go under the intake, but I would definitely consider replacing all that you can, if you didn't already.

That sounds like a very good idea changing all the vacuum lines I can. I've already replaced most of the components that would otherwise affect the hesitation with no satisfaction.

doublechaz, back when I first got this car I had the cruise control issue we addressed here. Before I did find the vacuum leak that was the problem, I monkied with the throttle cable and matched it more to my 97 legacy. I'm thinking that might be the reason it now tends to stall if I drive and stop and it then almost stalls when I take off from that idle stop and it does it more obvious when it is 100 degrees outside like it happens to be now.

Any suggestions on how I might set it back to factory default settings?

Roof racks definitely make a difference.

Would you have any insight on positioning/placement of crossmembers that might allow for less MPG loss. I thought about experimenting some to see if they have less drag further back.

Some of you are aware of my slight shimmy from 25-45mph on my 99 outback that started right after shop put in the wrong CV axels (not sure if it was driven with the wrong ones) and then put the right ones in. Autozone apparently gave them the wrong ones.

The day after the CV replacement I put brand new tires on it, got it aligned. Tire dealer has ruled out the tires and alignment.

Spoke to my Subaru Dealership Service department this morning and he says after market CV Axels have a history of shimmy and I was wondering if anyone else has ever experienced a shimmy after installing after market axles.

It would have to be pretty far out to shimmy. It could also be something was damaged by the wrong axle pushing it out of place while it was loaded.

 

I had a project car with a terrible shimmy, but at a higher speed, that was caused by the damper in the front strut being completely empty of oil. I don't see how the work in question could damage that part of the strut in your case, just adding data.

I'm thinking of biting the bullet and taking it to the local Subaru dealership.

It recently dawned on me that my cross members on my roof rack could have jacked up my gas mileage. They tend to really whistle when it is very foggy and it seems like they are known to lower mpg by 1-2 mpg. I put them on a little before the shop replaced the timing belt and cv joints.

You might remember I was getting water running down below the dash on the passenger side, but that seems to have stopped as far as I can tell. As I have used the heater so much, it may have blown some debris out because I can really hear leaves and such rattling whenever I turn it on.

If I can get the shimmy fixed and the lugging out from a stop which doesn't happen now that it is cold, I will be very happy with my outback.

100% this. This doesn't just apply to mechanics. If any business has wronged you, or done subpar work, why keep giving them your money? If it's because it's cheaper, then you are just paying them to continue ripping you, and others, off. Find someone that does good work and pay for that good work. It's not always convenient, or cheaper, but think about it in these terms; you've worked hard for your money, why give it to someone who isn't going to respect you, or your vehicle, enough to do the job right? Voting with your dollars in every aspect of your life is the way to ensure that we support those who work as hard as we do, and punish those who look to take advantage of others.

 

I'll get off my soapbox now.

That's my stance too, just figured I would try giving them the chance to fix their mistake to see if they would do it without charging me. I brought it to their attention immediately thinking they might have botched the job and they told me to bring it in so they could look at it but it would take a few weeks to get the appointment. Put it off trying to diagnose the issue myself so I could be informed more when I get someone to look at it.

If you guys think a shimmy from 25-45 mph could be a bad alignment I will take it to another alignment shot and give it a whirl.

All my life I kept having a tough time with repairs until I got where I learned enough and now I have done all my own repairs for 25 years except windshields and wheel alignments. Took a few tries, but I found a shop that I trust for all my alignments. I would try another alignment shop if you can. We have to vote out the bad shops by putting our dollars elsewhere.

Chaz, do you think the shimmy that is really only obvious from about 25-45 mph could still be an alignment issue? When Les Schwab (one of the largest tire and alignment stores in the west) did the alignment with their new tires they said it was only barely out one wheel if I remember correctly. I kind of felt like it should have been more out of alignment with the CV joint replacement especially since they put a wrong set in and then had to put the right set in.

OK, just a shop in general. They can be mislead by the parts guy just like civilians can. I thought you were saying a Subaru service center did it.

 

Keep your eye on them and see what you can get squared away.

 

If they/you drove it with the wrong shafts in it I would look at wheel bearings and suspension bushings and tie rod ends that could have been stressed to death by working in the wrong position and hope it didn't do anything bad to the differential bearings. Also, it could be as simple as incorrect alignment since they would have had several alignment related parts undone to get those shafts in.

Thank you, that is most useful information. The Tire Store did a full alignment the day after the work on the CV joints. That doesn't mean nothing really because this Less Schwab has done shoddy work on multiple visits which sucks.