LeggyGTi Posted February 27, 2018 Share Posted February 27, 2018 It's been 57 days since I bought my first Subie and it's been a bittersweet experience. I also have been so swamped with life that I haven't had the chance to update this wonderful forum that I've been accepted into! I will use this post as sort of an "Up To Speed" kind of thing since there's already some juicy backstory with the car before literally this point (in which I can finally sit down and concentrate on one thing for once) Let's take it back to day 1 just so we're all on the same page... 1-1-2018: Bought myself a cage while trying to research parts for my Suzuki Bandit 1200, the cage being a 2001 Subaru Legacy GT 2.5 Automatic. (same color as my motorcycle). The Subie had 198,418 on the gauge when I bought it. Paid nearly nothing for it ($400), drove it to the title place under no power whatsoever, she was hesitating to get to 40mph. Handled business, got Baby Girl home and immediately swapped out the original Ignition Coil Pack with a JDM unit the squad had lying around. Also threw some fresh plugs in from O'Reely's. After checking the oil and the coolant she started and ran like a brand new car. This is the same day I learned that the front passenger side rotor was warped which was causing the "Death Wobbles" anytime I decelerated with the brake pedal. Considering this a minor operation that could be handled later, I turned my attention back to performance with passing emissions in mind. Everything seemed swell enough to attempt to go try to pass so my buddy and I went. We get there and find out that the Check Engine Light bulb is blown. /facepalm Took Baby Girl home and ripped that dash out as if it was prom night and fresh skins were for the taking, I've never changed a light bulb faster in my life! Got the dash all tidied up and immediately returned to the emissions testing site and passed with flying colors! The icing on the cake for Day 1 was the feeling of walking into the title place again that night and walking out with a fresh license plate for my car! TLDR: Day 1 was a clusterfuck but successful overall. 1-4-2018 Plugged the OBDII scanner in just to make sure things were cool and I got the P0420 code...great! 1-5-2018 OBD tells me we have a misfire in Cylinder 3 right after I put in a fresh air filter from K&N. 1-6-2018 All engine stress on hold for a weekend, I painted almost everything on that car flat black so it would further match my motorcycle. Grille, Tail Lights, Spoiler Lip, Peeling passenger door trim, Rims and even my hood all painted to my liking. (The hood later looked like shit so that came right off). !-8-2018 Chopped that stupid stock exhaust off so I could actually HEAR my car. New Radio Installed because OEM head unit wasn't working. !-9-2018 CEL after Cold Start after work. Misfire again... !-13-2018 Squad helped reinstall stock radio harness to allow for proper adapter to fit new stereo and subs from our other impreza. First sign of Power Steering Pump failure (Horrible Whining) 1-14-2018 Swapped out P/S Pump with a JDM unit we had in the shed. No more noise and buttery smooth steering. 1-23-2018 VERRRYY Rough start, almost had to give it some gas to get her going. Checked oil and all seemed well, aiming to do an oil change, maybe buy new block. 2-1-2018 OEM Failsafe thermostat install along with a coolant flush. 2-15-2018 Brand new Delphi Coil Pack Installed and still misfiring... 2-17-2018 Started getting hot on the way to work, overfill tank leaking and frothy, after work, topped off coolant and drove home in the 210-225 range. Starting to actually consider Head Gasket. 2-19-2018 With some helpful instruction from Youtube and the squad, I pulled my radiator, air box, intake manny, alternator, power steering, water pump and all other random components off before I removed the engine from the block. The torque converter came out a little bit but we were able to get that back in just fine. 2-20-2018 Spent the day before work cleaning the cylinder heads and inspecting the damage which seemed minimal. The head gaskets that came off of the block were effing disgusting to say the least. I had considered taking the block in for resurfacing but decided not to. 2-21-2018 Spent the day getting everything torqued down and put back together in order to be dropped in. The sun is going down, the bolts holding the battery connectors are in, all fluids are topped off....did we forget anything? No? Alright let's turn the key! I go to turn the key after priming the system for leaks...Oil begins to shoot from the top passenger side of my engine block like Peter North on a busy work day. Immediately killed the car, turned the spotlight off, shut the hood and went in the house. I was done. 2-25-2018 Started taking stuff back off on the passenger side, removed everything from the timing to the valve cover. Jacked the car up and got the head out with not too much fight. Installed a new MLS Fel-Pro that I DID spray with Copper Spray. Made sure all the galleys that had coolant on them had been dried, also hitting the piston sleeves. Head back on after some frustrating clearance and torque pattern issues (Pin E was bottoming out for some reason but I finally got it to torque to all required specs). Got everything bundled up and was able to turn key by sundown with ACTUAL EXPECTED results. Took her on a test run, no misfire, no hesitation in start up, temps good, she feels great. 2-26-2018 Drove around to run errands for most of the morning into the afternoon temps staying between 182-199 with the needle hitting the third mark and temps reading normal on the OBD. LTFT is at 4.7- 5.5 just peachy. Changed out temp sensor and now she reads normal. 5pm rolls by and I'm on the freeway in stop and go for about 1 mile before the needle creeps up to the red. I exit the freeway and come to a red light, temp gauge drops to halfway and never rises again. Park car, go inside to interview, come back out and no leaks anywhere so I start her up and take her home. She runs perfectly fine with the needle fluctuating between bar 2 and midway bar 3. Grocery store last night, just fine on temps, (a little high on the gauge but never breaking past bar 3) NOW THAT WE'RE UP TO SPEED, let's talk about air pockets, the idea of drilling a thermostat with a 1/8" hole to allow excess air flow, new radiator, switching to Zerex Asian from Peak Extreme etc. etc. I believe a new radiator and the right fluids should be the next step as I cannot verify the age of the current radiator. I've already done the hardest part which was the Head Gaskets but I'm still just a tad bit stumped. I'm ready to get back to the regular maintenance on this car like I should've been about a month ago. Ideas? Comments? CONSTRUCTIVE criticism? PLEASE HELP! I'm not afraid to use the internet either but we all know how reputable a Joe Schmo Blog can or cannot be. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Osei Posted February 28, 2018 Share Posted February 28, 2018 Welcome Do search for properly burping the coolant system. This may/may not be the problem. Many first timers have this issue as everyone is used to fill and go. Since the tstat on the EJ engine are at the bottom of the block it takes a little more work to get it done right. Tstat should be Subaru or Stant Xactstat #48457 which are the same. O. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Setnev Posted March 1, 2018 Share Posted March 1, 2018 It sure sounds like the overheating issue is due to warping of the heads or the block. My 99 did the same thing. I really thought that I blew the head gasket for a second time when it started overheating again and refused to bleed all the air out of the system. There are two very telling signs of a head gasket failure/warping of the block or heads. The first symptom is to listen under the middle of the dash where the heater core is. If you hear gurgling, you may be low on coolant (air bubble), or the coolant is being forced into the heater core by the combustion chamber. The second symptom is to remove the radiator cap when the engine is cold and make sure the radiator is topped off. Stand back and have someone start the car. If coolant comes out of the radiator opening like someone turned on a garden hose pointed upwards, the combustion chamber is forcing the coolant out of the system and you have a bad head gasket or warpage in the motor. I have done more head gasket and rebuilds than I can count and each time, those two symptoms existed. Instead of guessing, go to Autozone and rent a block tester and buy the testing fluid. The radiator coolant level needs to be about 2 inches below the filler neck. Run the car with the radiator cap off until it gets to temperature. Follow the instructions included with the tester. The testing liquid is generally dark blue and will turn to yellow/green if it detects exhaust fumes in the coolant. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LeggyGTi Posted March 1, 2018 Author Share Posted March 1, 2018 3-1-2018 BABY GIRL HAS NO MORE OVERHEATING ISSUES!!! I woke up around 9 this morning and topped the coolant off and went back in the house. Around 12:30pm I went outside, popped the radiator cap off and started the car. I began to massage the upper hose and waited until the car started getting hot. About 40 minutes later the temps finally got to about 199°. So I'm keeping an eye on the temp gauge inside (reading normal at halfway) and the fans kick on the first time. Coolant begins to drain so I added more slowly. Bam, temps drop to 189°, fans turn off. I waited again for the fans to kick on, again (reaching 203 about 10 minutes later) and the coolant level drops just a little more. I topped her off and put the cap back on the radiator and cleaned up my tools. I decided on a test run so I jumped in, turned the heater off and started the cruise. I noticed she would normally start getting hot anytime I put my foot on the gas right around the corner from my house. I had made it to that point and the needle was staying put in the middle so I took the party to the freeway. It's been a few miles and by the second exit sign she's normally kissing the red but the obd is reading 196° with a normal gauge reading. About 30 miles and one pulled pork sandwich later, she hasn't hit a lick over 203° and when she does get there here come the fans and the 184°-196° readout on the scanner. My system has been effectively burped thus solving my continued overheat after that head gasket swap last weekend. There's some undesired play with the temps gauge. It dances a little and it's nerve-wracking but she won't even hit the third line until the fans kick on and then she's back to normal again. Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-N920A using Tapatalk Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RustyRuu Posted March 2, 2018 Share Posted March 2, 2018 go take the cap off for a couple times on first starts, if you are missing any and have to keep topping it off, maybe get a subaru, only subaru, rad cap. It is responsible for relieving pressure from the rad and then scavenging it back from the overflow on cooling down so it can seem like you are losing it but it is just the rad cap malfunctioning and not re scavenging coolant back from the overflow. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RumbleRumble Posted March 6, 2018 Share Posted March 6, 2018 add some pictures Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LeggyGTi Posted March 8, 2018 Author Share Posted March 8, 2018 3-7-18 This car is freaking solid! I received my OEM radiator cap yesterday and topped off the unit with some of the new Zerex Red I flushed with the other day. Today I changed the front rotors out with some cheapos from O'Reilly's along with new pads. To sum it up, my first brake job went extremely well. Just got back from an hour long cruise and the temps stayed between 185° & 196° only hitting +200° only in traffic at lights, at which she dropped right back down to 199 after the fans kicked on. The restore has taken a little longer than expected but now I finally sorted out all the serious problem areas that were present when I bought the car. ...Now it's time for activities. Good day and thanks everyone for your input/advice on the matter. Next up: Unequal-Length Headers and saving up for drilled and slotted rotors and pads all the way around. Around May, I should be ready for window tint and yellow fog lights. June is going to be mudflaps and possibly a scooped hood from a Baja Turbo. Other goodies I may throw in are a jdm Legacy "L" badged grille and some jdm hid headlights. Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-N920A using Tapatalk Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.