im new and not sure

[curtislegere]

okay so my names curtis and im new to subarus , i heard about the headgasket problem

 

i have a 97 legacy gt 2.5 litre 5 spd had a new timing belt and clutch and head gaskets and water pump and engine seals at 200k its at 260k now.

 

so i was driving home from my gfs i was doing maybe 110 kms and i passed a car reved to maybe 4k, then my heat gauge when all the way up but no steam and it didnt run any different, but the belt has been squeaking for awhile soo i kept going for maybe 30 seconds then it dropped like crazy, i forgot to say when the heat went up i lost all my heat, so it dropped i thought it was fine then it did it again, the squeaking which is deff the belt comes and goess too.

 

so i went home opened the hood and it looks like the rad cap let off some pressure out of the expansion tank cuz there was rad fluid in the general area, checked my oil no bubbles or foam, and it runs great but it keeps playing heating games with me, and i filled the rad back up played with the rad cap maybe it was frozen, and i took it for a drive it was fine, but i should mention when its idling if i turn the heat on the lights dim, and i dont get heat if i dont rev to 1000, it idles at 600

 

any thought of what it could be? heater core? rad cap? need a new rad?

[Osei]

You have air in your cooling system.

 

Do search on procedure for "burping" the system.

 

You may have a pressure relief valve on the upper pass. side of radiator. If not, elevate the front. Remove radiator cap and squeeze lower hose to push fluid about.

Let car idle. If you have a radiator funnel, keep it full of coolant. The air will bubble up. Keep adding fluid until the level does not go down.

Will take anywhere from 1/2 hour plus..

 

O.

[97400obw]

As far as air in the cooling system that's probable but you don't mention how long you've had the car and how much you've driven it. Unless something was just done to it to cause the water to be low that may not be your only problem.

 

Watch for air bubbles in your radiator and oily crap floating around for a HG, it may have an exhaust smell coming from the radiator too.

 

It could possibly be the thermostat too. I check mine by heating water and use a thermometer to see what temp it opens up at.

[curtislegere]

hey yeah sorry ive driven it prbly 600km i have 30 day warranty on the car i bought it from a used car dealership i love the car though i dont think i can give it back, and no crap in the oil, i drove it almost all day today and it drove fine after i burped it like the other guy said, i even drove a little hard today nothing but to be safe ill order a new thermostat and rad and new fluid, but the head gaskets were changed 60k ago with the water pump, and appearntly changed again before i bought it, which is prbly why it was a little low on fluid and why it may of heated up and formed air bubbles

[97400obw]

If you have 30 day warranty just keep an eye on it. That may have been the problem but just because it had a HG job done doesn't mean it can't happen again. Mine had one done about a yr before I got it. Got the receipts with the car.

 

If it wasn't done with Subaru head gaskets or the proper torque sequence done it has good chance blowing a HG again.

 

With any luck yours was done better than mine and that it was just low on fluids. I'd keep and eye on it and look in the radiator while the engine is idling to check for bubbles, look for a dark oily residue in your overflow tank too.