subyfiend Posted July 22, 2009 Share Posted July 22, 2009 Hello, I am new to the site & have gotten recommended by one of the other sites I goto to come here for issues with Legacy's. I have been into Subaru's for at least 6yrs or so. I lived in CO where I was apart of many subaru clubs, recently moved back to IL. I will try to keep this short, I own a 1997 Legacy L (EJ22) with 220,900K on it. I have a few problems that are going on with it that I would like help with diagnosing. 1. The AT oil temp light flashes upon start up around 20 times, after countless of shops etc I found out its more likely a solenoid issue with the car. This hasn't caused much issues over the years of owning the vehicle & I occasionally hear a pinging noise when in reverse which I was told was the transfer case. Like mentioned not a big ordeal for the car, its run great over the years and I have put almost 100K on it since buying it. 2. More recently the check engine light has stayed on completely, it was for about a wk going on & off. I had the code run and its the Knock Sensor, an issue with the car thats not too big of a deal. Now a ? in regards to that can that 1. cause the car to be overheating & 2. would that have anything to do with the way it accelerates?? (ie lack of power) 3. Overheating, this is the part that is causing me to become frustrated with it. I took it in and they replaced the thermostat, they came back & said it was still overheating and it was the HG's. I took it to the dealer in town who said the same. Now I have done hours of research online & have found out that is a huge problem with this car. At first the coolant would sputter out the reservoir tank while doing thi. Now I have noticed in the period of 2wks since the initial diagnostic that it doesnt do this, in fact there isn't much coolant in that tank. The bottom hose remains cold, the top is hot, and the fan to the passenger side is running fine. Ok for the symptoms which happens to vary quite a bit...it tended to go about 2 miles & would immediately start to overheat(all the way to top) even after turning the heater on it would do so. Now if I shut the car off for a few minutes & started it up it would take a bit to overheat once again. I have noticed if I turn the heat on right away as the needle reaches the normal point it won't overheat. Now such things as the accelerating issue, etc have caused it alsot to start to overheat & immeadiately go down upon decelration. Very strange for me, & leaving me wondering what the issue really is. I don't wanna think its the HG's if it isn't. Especially considering tonight I drove it at least 30+ miles & it barely had any overheating issues. Of course the heat was on majority of this time, when I got home then it started to overheat. 4. Which may be tied into this whole ordeal, electrical issue in regards to the passenger side turn signal blinking fast when foot off the brake, slow signal when on the brake. Acceleration seems to play a role in this problem as well. Thank you for your time & if anyone is from the Chicagoland area & knows a very reputable shop (assuming this is worht fixing, etc) please let me know. I greatly appreciate any help I can get, whereas looking for a newer car has become a huge hassle, if this is worth fixing then I don't wanna deal with that hassle. This car has been great for me, with the minor axle breaking (ya mud isn't my cars friend let's just say that ) & the ballancer bolt issue, this car hasn't had any major problems at all. In fact those were 2 of my worst!! ~Shelley Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ouch1011 Posted July 23, 2009 Share Posted July 23, 2009 The initial overheating symptoms sound like it may be a head gasket issue (that is exactly what mine did when they failed). The current overheating issue sounds like a lack of coolant circulation, probably from low coolant in the radiator. Does the heater blow cool air when the engine overheats? With the engine cold, pull off the radiator cap and unscrew the air vent on the passenger side of the radiator, and slowly fill with coolant until coolant comes out of both the vent and the filler neck. The lack of power is definitely due to the knock sensor code. When that code is set, it significantly retards the ignition timing until about 3000rpm. What I've experienced with other Subarus with knock sensor codes is that the car is just a dog until about 3000-3200 RPM, and then its like someone flips a switch and the car gets power again. If the car is overheating, this could cause the knock sensor code (overly hot engines tend to knock more), but it is very unlikely that the knock sensor code would cause the overheating. When my head gaskets went and the car overheated, I experienced the AT oil temp light flashing as well. That means that a diagnostic code has been set for the AT. On an OBDII car (which yours is) you would check for codes using a scan tool. My guess, its probably set a code for high engine coolant temp (the AT oil cooler is in the radiator, if the engine overheats, it will overheat the trans fluid too) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
subyfiend Posted July 25, 2009 Author Share Posted July 25, 2009 The initial overheating symptoms sound like it may be a head gasket issue (that is exactly what mine did when they failed). The current overheating issue sounds like a lack of coolant circulation, probably from low coolant in the radiator. Does the heater blow cool air when the engine overheats? With the engine cold, pull off the radiator cap and unscrew the air vent on the passenger side of the radiator, and slowly fill with coolant until coolant comes out of both the vent and the filler neck. Ahhh yes you were the one who asked if it blows out cool air when it overheats. Well it will blow out cool air with the heat on full blast til about a little above the middle, then it will kick in the heat as it completely overheats. Sometimes as it overheats it will eventually start to go back down to normal, go back up and do some other weird stuff. I also was told to check the oil cuz if it had water in it from the HG issue, it doesn't it looks normal & is at the regular level. I guess its safe to say it is HG's Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ouch1011 Posted July 25, 2009 Share Posted July 25, 2009 You won't necessarly see any coolant in the oil when the head gaskets fail. It depends on how severe the failure is. On mine, the failure was severe enough cause overheating if I drove the car at any more than a granny pace, because the combustion pressure would leak past the gasket into the cooling system and push the coolant out into the recovery bottle. But, as far as I could tell, it wasn't severe enough to allow coolant to push back into the combustion chamber with the engine off, so no coolant in the oil. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FredNaToR Posted August 12, 2009 Share Posted August 12, 2009 Hey I've had a similar problem with a similar sub, (also new to this forum stuff and not sure if I should post a new thread). Well I haven't had problem number 4 nor problem number 1, but I'm having major over heating problems. Mine started when I was having a little fun in the snow. It started over heating. I let it cool down once I got to the place I was staying. In the morning I turned the car on, opened the radiator cap and filled it up with cold water. Drove back to my home which is a 3 hour drive of mountain climbs, and it was fine. It went away for a few months, then it came back with a vengence. I couldn't figure out what was wrong with it. At the time my speed sensor went out, got it repaired at the subaru dealership, and they told me that my valve cover gasket needed to be replaced (I did notice that oil was leaking from somewhere around that area). I didn't fix it for about a year, but have not been driving it more than a mile or 2 always going under 40 mph. I just replaced my valve cover gasket, took me about 6 hours. It worked for about 20 minutes, then it started over heating again. It's driving me crazy, I am a little more advanced then a beginner to mechanics (was able to replace the VCG after finding a thread here), but not quite a person who knows a whole lot. Anymore advice? Should I replace my Head gasket now? if so can anyone relay another thread on how to do so? I have replaced the thermostat, radiator cap, and VC gasket. I have a 97 legacy 2.5gt. around 220k miles as well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KnifeyMcShanker Posted August 13, 2009 Share Posted August 13, 2009 In all honesty with a 2.5 liter with that many miles the HG should have already gone... but might as well start somewhere cheaper and replace the thermostat, see if that does the trick. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ouch1011 Posted August 14, 2009 Share Posted August 14, 2009 Chances are that the HGs have already been replaced at least once on an engine with that mileage. Mine had already been done once when I did them at 150k. Unfortunately it really does sound like one of the head gaskets has failed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FredNaToR Posted August 14, 2009 Share Posted August 14, 2009 hey ouch1011, did you have it done at a shop? I bought my legacy when it had 133k on it. The previous owner didn't say anything about having it replaced yet, but I figure from what I've researched and read that your probably right about it already been replaced. I'm down about 30 miles south of salem, so if you could suggest any reliable shops for a fair price, or suggest any tips for me to do it myself, it would be great. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jonathan Posted August 15, 2009 Share Posted August 15, 2009 My guess is that your radiator is at least partly plugged up with gunk. I can't prove this online, but it is probably worth your time to drain the coolant, pull the radiator, and then simply add water to the radiator inlet and watch to see how much actually makes it out to lower hose junction (tilt it so it doesn't leak out the top). Yes, even the 2.2 do sometimes blow head gaskets, although it isn't nearly as big an issue as with the Phase I DOHC 2.5 motors. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ouch1011 Posted August 16, 2009 Share Posted August 16, 2009 No I am a professional mechanic so I did them myself along with a bunch of other gaskets and seals. When I bought mine, the previous owner didn't say anything about having them replaced either. Just not something that comes up I guess unless it was done recently. But I know they were replaced because they had replaced the stock composite gaskets with metal ones (but not Subaru ones). Everywhere I looked says that the stock Phase I 2.5 head gaskets are composite, so I have to assume that since the ones I took off are metal that they must have been replaced. I would suggest the shop I work at but honestly it is very rare that they even suggest doing head gaskets, usually just suggest replacing the engine because they've been burned too many times by blown head gaskets and overheating damaging the engine and causing it to blow the engine a couple hundred miles later. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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