tmillard Posted February 10, 2018 Share Posted February 10, 2018 I have a 2007 Outback that my wife drives. to preface: She said she was not able to get heat to blow. She walked me through all of the stuff she did (basically turning the knobs numerous times in different configurations) and then at the end she said the heat started blowing and there was smoke blowing out of the vents too. I drove car to work and found that: 1. the temp gauge didn't move for the first 2.5 miles of driving. Once it started moving it moved pretty quick up to the middle range of temp and then slowly crept higher. 2. If I park and leave the car for 5 minutes and then drive again it the temp gauge will lower as the car cools down but then creep upwards. 3. It got right to the lower line of the "danger" section of the gauge but I would pull over and let it cool down. 4. The coolant was low so I add and it didn't seem to make much of a difference. 5. Even when hot, it didn't blow warm/hot air. I am thinking that I have a faulty thermostat. Before I begin troubleshooting, is there anything else I should be checking or thinking about? Heater core? Temp door cable? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
r.lee89 Posted February 10, 2018 Share Posted February 10, 2018 Smoke coming out of the vents could be a leaking heater core. Does it smell sweet when the smoke was coming out? You may have to bleed the cooling system since the coolant was low. But doing that is only a temp fix since you maybe lossing coolant. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
goldeagle365 Posted February 11, 2018 Share Posted February 11, 2018 I agree with r.lee89, sounds like something with the heater core. Maybe try bypassing the core and see if the problem (overheating) subsides or not. Unfortunately you obviously wont have heat, but if it works you at least know the issue. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GEE-OTTO Posted February 12, 2018 Share Posted February 12, 2018 How miles on that Legacy? Any moisture in the floorboard? Any visible coolant leaks? If no to all, and if you have high-ish miles prob the Head Gasket the EJ253 isn't as bad as the EJ251 but it still fails often enough to be a problem. If you are losing coolant and its not leaking externally (Heater core, hose, etc) it is getting burned up i.e its leaking out the exhaust. Could be a minute amount caused by a small failure in the gasket but could grow. That is the WORST case scenario The better case, but such a PITA is the heater core clogged or has a hole that will be easy as your carpet will be damp and your windshield will steam up. Replace the core and problem solved. The best case is a bad thermo or a pinhole in a hose. If you thermo is bad replace with a Subaru OEM Thermo do not use a gates or other non OEM supplied part. Hoses I use parts store brands (Dayco, Continental, etc). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tmillard Posted February 12, 2018 Author Share Posted February 12, 2018 ~125k miles I didn't feel any moisture on carpet or steam entering compartment. No external leaks that I have seen. I'm dropping off on Wednesday. I'll post up what it was. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tmillard Posted February 13, 2018 Author Share Posted February 13, 2018 Just burped the system without funnel. Not great way to do it but everything is closed in New Orleans today. Heat is working fine. Test drive and no overheating. Question now is how does air get in a relatively closed system? Sent from my SM-G900V using Tapatalk Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
r.lee89 Posted February 14, 2018 Share Posted February 14, 2018 Its simple any leaks like a bad hose clamp, head gaskets etc... once the coolant is lower than the top rad hose its just a huge air pocket. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GEE-OTTO Posted February 14, 2018 Share Posted February 14, 2018 Yup there is a leak somewhere! Nose expand under pressure and heat and maybe there is a clamp that has lost its full clamping force or a gasket (water pump housing, Themro, hg) is to blame. If you haven't changed the water pump ever or the timing could be a good time to have that inspected. the H6 guys have had similar problems with WPs introducing air into the system Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gbendezu Posted March 15, 2018 Share Posted March 15, 2018 If there’s no heat blowing there may be an air pocket in the cooling system. Does the heat come back when you raise the RPMs? Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tmillard Posted March 15, 2018 Author Share Posted March 15, 2018 There was an air pocket in it. Added, burped and got it squared away. Found that there was leak in radiator. Replaced radiator. About a week later, radiator hose sprung leak. Got that repaired and I think it might be fine now. Wife's car so I am not sure what she is doing to it other than hammering down the terrible New Orleans streets. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gbendezu Posted March 16, 2018 Share Posted March 16, 2018 There was an air pocket in it. Added, burped and got it squared away. Found that there was leak in radiator. Replaced radiator. About a week later, radiator hose sprung leak. Got that repaired and I think it might be fine now. Wife's car so I am not sure what she is doing to it other than hammering down the terrible New Orleans streets. Awesome! A good telltale sign that you have air in your system is normal temp but no heat (not air, your blower motor should still be pushing out air, it’ll just be cold) and sporadic moments of the temp gauge shooting up and then coming back to normal. We see it come to work every week. Glad it all turned out okay Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tmillard Posted March 16, 2018 Author Share Posted March 16, 2018 Appreciate the help! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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