victorpetrella Posted June 7, 2009 Share Posted June 7, 2009 I have a 99 Legacy 2.5 GT and it is overheating... It was leaking from(what we thought) the lower hose, so we replaced that along with the thermostat. It was good for about a week or so, and it started again.. It is leaking and the gauge is reading all the way hot, so I am not driving it currently... Any ideas as to what it is? Thanks Victor. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KnifeyMcShanker Posted June 8, 2009 Share Posted June 8, 2009 Smell under the radiator cap. Does it smell like gas or exhaust? Is there coolant in the oil or oil in the coolant? This sometimes looks like milkshake. If so, you've got a blown head gasket. It's pretty common on these motors. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bdubs Posted June 8, 2009 Share Posted June 8, 2009 Where is it leaking from? Hose connections? Radiator? Engine? With the headgaskets concern being the main trouble area to look at, it may be something simple such as air being in the system. These cars are real finicky when it comes to bleeding air out of the coolant system. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
victorpetrella Posted June 8, 2009 Author Share Posted June 8, 2009 There is no oil mix up, so that is good. And as far as the leak goes, it looks to be coming from the radiator/lower hose area, but it is hard to be certain. And how do we get the air out of the system? That my be what the problem is. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dante2699yahoo.com Posted June 8, 2009 Share Posted June 8, 2009 Check the radiator cap Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
victorpetrella Posted June 8, 2009 Author Share Posted June 8, 2009 Replaced that along with the hose/thermostat. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Giro Disc Posted June 8, 2009 Share Posted June 8, 2009 IS your cars exhaust blowing white smoke? Could have blown you head gasket its common on these cars around 100k miles. There are only a few places you can leak from and all are viable except for the head gaskets besides the exhaust. Does your heater work? Johann @ Girodisc Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
victorpetrella Posted June 8, 2009 Author Share Posted June 8, 2009 The heater does work, and there is no white smoke. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bdubs Posted June 8, 2009 Share Posted June 8, 2009 It seems the thermostat may be stuck, and not circulating. Turn the car on, let it get to operating temperature and feel the upper and lower radiator hoses. If they are getting rock solid, that's your problem. To get the air out, make sure the car isn't hot, warm is okay. You can open the bleeder screw at the radiator cap (if you have one, if not, just open the cap) Turn the car on, and squeeze the upper and lower hoses. You can do this a few times if you have to. Add coolant as the level goes down, and the thermostat opens up. For the first couple days, just check your coolant level and add if needed. If this still doesn't solve your problem, you may have gotten a crappy thermostat. It happens. Return the one you have, and get another. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Platinum_Racing Posted June 8, 2009 Share Posted June 8, 2009 I would take off the thermostat housing and make sure it is flat. Sometimes those things can become warped, especially when you take them off and put them back on. Sometimes you can get away with using a warped thermostat housing if you use gasket sealer, but it's always best to get a new housing. Subaru housings aren't that cheap. I've seen some that are crazy expensive (Like the one for my truck). Also, make sure you replace the gasket whenever you replace the thermostat. They are cheap (As are thermostats, as you know). Use a PLASTIC scraper to remove all gasket material from the engine before installing the new gasket/thermostat. If you're reusing a factory housing, scrape that down too.... If that doesn't work fill up the radiator with water and run the car to see if the radiator is leaking from somewhere. It might be coming from the hose clamps. If it is, replace the stock clamps with actual screw type clamps. These are also very inexpensive, and work way better than most stock clamps (Which are even cheaper for manufacturing purposes). Once you find the leak do a radiator flush (You can jsut use water out of a garden hose to flush the system through, then fill it back up with premix coolant or antifreeze/water. You don't have to do the flush, but since you're going to have to buy coolant anyway, you might as well take the few minutes to do a flush... That's just me. To get the air out of the system, start when the car is cold. Remove the radiator cap and start the car. Let the engine warm up a bit, then start adding coolant (Or water if you're doing a flush). The coolant won't shoot out, as it is not pressurized with the cap removed. If you rev the engine, it might overflow a bit, so it's best to just let it idle. Once the engine is warm, the thermostat should open. When it does you should notice the fluid level in the radiator will drop, and if you can still see coolant, it should start circulating feverishly. If the coolant is relatively still and the engine starts to overheat, the thermostat is no good. This is common even with new thermostats, as some are defective from the get go... So you can't rule out a new thermostat as being a good thermostat... Trust me. If the coolant level drops and circulates as it should, top the coolant off until the coolant level is about 1/2"-1" from the top of the radiator cap... Or until you can no longer see the fins inside the radiator. Now the air should be out of the system, since the system is no longer pressurized, letting all air bubbles out of the engine. Sometimes the waterpump can be "Air Locked" meaning no water can circulate because the impellers are spinning in a pocket of air... Thus not pressurizing the coolant. This only really happens in high performance, totally custom vehicles where the fluid in the radiator isn't higher than the water pump. In your car (And all other modern vehicles) the fluid level in the radiator is higher than the water pump itself, gravity feeding the coolant into the pump and forcing the air out. Such a condition is extremely rare in modern vehicles, unless you run the car with virtually no coolant in it. In such a case, the condition would go away once you refilled the radiator. Let us know how it turns out... Good luck! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
victorpetrella Posted June 9, 2009 Author Share Posted June 9, 2009 Thank you for the post! Very helpful. Now I have one more question... I replaced the lower hose and clamps because we thought that was where the leak was coming from... But it is still leaking. Could the bad thermostat be the reason? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bdubs Posted June 9, 2009 Share Posted June 9, 2009 Yeah, it could be the reason. But, try to burp the system first. You introduced a lot of air into the system changing it. The hose was leaking because the the system was so pressurized, it was finding any possible way to escape. Under normal conditions, they won't leak if the clamps are properly tightened. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Platinum_Racing Posted June 10, 2009 Share Posted June 10, 2009 If it still leaks check for cracks around the lower hose neck on the radiator. There could be a leak in the radiator itself. They are easy to replace, and cheap if you buy them from a junkyard. If you decide to replace the radiator, make sure the donor vehicle has the same type of transmission as your car, as the radiator will have a section devoted to cooling transmission fluid if the car is an automatic. Replacing the radiator in an automatic car is just as easy as any other car, all you have to do from spending a bundle on transmission fluid is make sure to hold the transmission coolant hoses up and keep them suspended when you remove them to prevent a bunch of fluid from coming out. Last time I replaced a radiator it cost me $40 without the electric fans. different junkyards will have different prices, but they shouldn't charge over $75 without the fans. Sometimes the fans can go for $30 a piece, so it's best to keep the original fans if they work fine. If you get a junkyard radiator, make sure to run fresh water through ONLY the engine coolant side of the radiator before you install it. You have no idea if there's gunk in the donor radiator, so it's best to flush it out before installing it. Make sure not to get any water in the transmission coolant side of the radiator. Plug these hose necks with something easily removable before you flush the radiator with water. When you put the radiator in, use new hose clamps for the transmission coolant lines, and torque them down extremely tight. Generally the tranny coolant lines will have metal necks, so you can really torque the clamps down without worrying about cracking them. If you don't make sure they're tight, they will pop off under the transmission pressure and you'll have to replace a bunch of tranny fluid. I know from experience. Some older GM vehicles used steel lines (Much like brake line or fuel line) for the transmission coolant lines, but I'm all but certain that they've all been switched over to rubber hoses in this day and age. To the best of my knowledge Subaru has always used rubber lines (At least on all the ones I've seen, including my Subaru). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
one bad bg Posted June 23, 2009 Share Posted June 23, 2009 victor, i dont know where you are globaly but if yuo live where it doesnt snow, just take the thermostat out completly and put the rubber gasket back in there. i live in ohio so i run all spring, summer, and fall with no thermostat with no problems and then put a brand new one in for winter. thermostats are crap if you buy one from autozone or alike stores. i would recommend buying one from the dealer directly, it wont be too much more and if you overheat and crack a block like i did, you can "autopsy" the car and if declared fault by thermostat, you can hold the dealer resposible Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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