1997 subaru legacy overheating

[pr1mus]

Got a 97 subaru legay (2.5l) and it blew the rediator cap the day I
drove it home from where I bought it. The price was so good, YOU
COULDNT GET ME TO RETURN IT. ($3,500 fools) This could have been
somewhat expected, the car sat in a 62.25 degree showroom for several
months, and was then thrust into a rather frigid 17 degree ohio
winter. The reson it leaked was the cap’s rubber seal had dry rotted a
little and cracked a little on one edge. made it home fine, but I have
had the coolant purging/ overheating problem a lot recently.

The radiator shop claims the head gasket, but i’m not ready to jump on
that train quite yet

I am now very sure I am putting the coolant in wrong, and would like
to know the official proper way to do it. I suspect I am leaving air
bubbles in the system plus I didn’t unscrew the little blue air
bleeder cap on the left hand side the past 4 refills.

ANYTHING would be appreciated, especially proper refill techniques

 

[Porgy Tirebiter]

Got a 97 subaru legay (2.5l) and it blew the rediator cap the day I
drove it home from where I bought it. The price was so good, YOU
COULDNT GET ME TO RETURN IT. ($3,500 fools) This could have been
somewhat expected, the car sat in a 62.25 degree showroom for several
months, and was then thrust into a rather frigid 17 degree ohio
winter. The reson it leaked was the cap's rubber seal had dry rotted a
little and cracked a little on one edge. made it home fine, but I have
had the coolant purging/ overheating problem a lot recently.

The radiator shop claims the head gasket, but i'm not ready to jump on
that train quite yet

ALL ABOARD!!! they are correct..head gasket is blown...

 

[Carl 1 Lucky Texan]

ALL ABOARD!!! they are correct..head gasket is blown...

Yeah, I'm definitely packing to head to the station, but I'm hoping to
cancel my trip if I get phone call telling me the thermostat is stuck
or there's an air pocket entrained. (<g>)

You could try putting the nose up on ramps, then doing a fill, run the
motor - cap off- till you get circulation (fans come on) then , cap on
and o'flow bottle filled a little past max, let the car cool off. You
could do the routine again, or check the o'flow bottle...drive car,
recheck radiator and o'flow bottle for a few 'drive cycles', etc.

good luck

Carl

 

[Porgy Tirebiter]

Yeah, I'm definitely packing to head to the station, but I'm hoping to
cancel my trip if I get phone call telling me the thermostat is stuck or
there's an air pocket entrained. (<g>)

You could try putting the nose up on ramps, then doing a fill, run the
motor - cap off- till you get circulation (fans come on) then , cap on and
o'flow bottle filled a little past max, let the car cool off. You could do
the routine again, or check the o'flow bottle...drive car, recheck
radiator and o'flow bottle for a few 'drive cycles', etc.

good luck

It's a compression to water jacket failure Carl...if he is building up so
much pressure it's popping the cap that's all it can be.
He can get a detection kit but it will be a wasted $30.
He can't be overheating in 17 degree weather, not to the point of popping
the cap...
Usually when a Thermostat sticks, it doesn't show hot, the gauge lags.
I would run it cold at about 2500 RPM and look in the fill area for bubbles,
or if warm watch the overflow tank for activity.

 

[pr1mus]

well, I’ve done hours more of research, and found you can tell be
smelling the exhaust fumes / testing the coolant, I’m now pretty sure
I’ll be riding that train but I still want to check into other thing

 

[Carl 1 Lucky Texan]

It's a compression to water jacket failure Carl...if he is building up so
much pressure it's popping the cap that's all it can be.
He can get a detection kit but it will be a wasted $30.
He can't be overheating in 17 degree weather, not to the point of popping
the cap...
Usually when a Thermostat sticks, it doesn't show hot, the gauge lags.
I would run it cold at about 2500 RPM and look in the fill area for bubbles,
or if warm watch the overflow tank for activity.

Yeah, you definitely do not want to see regular large bubbles - or
smell exhaust!

Carl

 

[Porgy Tirebiter]

well, I've done hours more of research, and found you can tell be
smelling the exhaust fumes / testing the coolant, I'm now pretty sure
I'll be riding that train but I still want to check into other things

Depending on the miles on that engine, you are going to want to do a few
other things while in there.....
This vehicle is now 10 years old.....BELTS & HOSES......unless you have
proof they have been swapped out..DO IT.
The 2.5 is prone to oil leaks, fix them while you are in there....
Check fuel rails for bad hoses,clamps.(they leak from the factory in cold
weather..yes really!)
Ask around here, they have a lot of experiences in the problems with the
2.5L engines.
Try to NOT drive it while it's leaking coolant, your going to buy yourself a
ton of trouble.
Subaru engines WILL develop "Hotspots" when they get air into the system,
this will waste an engine.

 

[philcycles]

Subaru engines WILL develop "Hotspots" when they get air into the system,
this will waste an engine.

One thing I always liked about my Saab 900s was the purg valve:a tire
valve-at the high point of the cooling system. And it's easy to put one
on any car. Just install a tire valve in the highest hose in the
system. Voila, instant bleed valve.
Phil Brown

 

[Dotster]

I am having the same problem with my 97 outback. I took it to the shop
and the head gasket is blown! UGH!
They gave me an estimate of $1500-2000.
Does that seem high? Should I take it to the dealer?

 

[pr1mus]

Well people, we were all wrong, and the problem was fixed cheaper than
we can all imagine.

I have a good mechanic in the area who is about 60 years old and knows
(and has seen) more than your average mechanic. He tried first
flushing the radiator realy good, examined the water pump and then
realized they had been replaced, alon with the belts. He realized this
car had a previous overheating problem. This mechanic is GOOD he
actually taked the cars out driving, for good long trips, not just
having them sit in the garage idling for 5 minutes before giving the
OK. He drove it from akron to massilon and back, 2 times, the first
time there and back he overheated. The next time he planned to watch
the guage carefully, and then planned to promptly open the hood to see
if anythig was wrong. the next trip to massilon he saw the guage
beginnig to climb, and then he stoppes the car and opened the hood.
After examinig the large rubber hose coming out of the radiator on the
left hand side, he saw it was horribly collapsed form vacume pressure.
After getting it back to his shop, he did the best thing that ever
happend to this car, he put a SPRING in the HOSE. Yays for me and Yays
for him. This was the cure, it stopped the overheating, and the
temperature needly stays 70% lower than it used to. The heat still
works, the airconditiong still works, and the car no longer overheats.


If any of you live in ohio, and want to know about this mechanic, just
pm me or email at [visit link below for email address

 

[Jack Countryman]

Depending on what part of Ohio he's located in this might be of interest to
some of us. However, your sig isn't included with your message, and the
email address you use is obviously false/spam trapped, so there is no way to
contact you off list as you requested to get the information. Trolling? Or
is the whole thing made up to see what responses you could draw out?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Well people, we were all wrong, and the problem was fixed cheaper than
we can all imagine.


If any of you live in ohio, and want to know about this mechanic, just
pm me or email at [visit link below for email address]

I am having the same problem with my 97 outback. I took it to
the shop and the head gasket is blown! UGH!
They gave me an estimate of $1500-2000.
Does that seem high? Should I take it to the dealer?

 

[Dan Langille]

After getting it back to his shop, he did the best thing that ever
happend to this car, he put a SPRING in the HOSE.

A spring in the hose? I imagine a coiled spring, inserted into the hose to
give it some strength. Is that about it?

Yays for me and Yays
for him. This was the cure, it stopped the overheating, and the
temperature needly stays 70% lower than it used to. The heat still
works, the airconditiong still works, and the car no longer overheats.


If any of you live in ohio, and want to know about this mechanic, just
pm me or email at [visit link below for email address]

He is a very clever guy indeed.

 

[reversemidas]

But won't it be better to just replace the hose, cause won't the spring
eventually fail/corrode or the current hose eventually start to deterioate
or collapse further down pass where the spring was inserted? I'm just asking
cause I want to understand it better and I'm really really far from being a
mechanic.

After getting it back to his shop, he did the best thing that ever
happend to this car, he put a SPRING in the HOSE.

A spring in the hose? I imagine a coiled spring, inserted into the hose
to
give it some strength. Is that about it?

Yays for me and Yays
for him. This was the cure, it stopped the overheating, and the
temperature needly stays 70% lower than it used to. The heat still
works, the airconditiong still works, and the car no longer overheats.


If any of you live in ohio, and want to know about this mechanic, just
pm me or email at [visit link below for email address]

He is a very clever guy indeed.

 

[Blair Baucom]

In the past they used to put in springs to keep the hoses from collapsing.
As far as I know all the new hoses are formed and as you are saying, when
they start to collapse, it is a sign that it is time to replace them. I know
one of the checks is to see if they have gotten soft.

Blair

But won't it be better to just replace the hose, cause won't the spring
eventually fail/corrode or the current hose eventually start to deterioate
or collapse further down pass where the spring was inserted? I'm just
asking cause I want to understand it better and I'm really really far from
being a mechanic.

After getting it back to his shop, he did the best thing that ever
happend to this car, he put a SPRING in the HOSE.

A spring in the hose? I imagine a coiled spring, inserted into the hose
to
give it some strength. Is that about it?

Yays for me and Yays
for him. This was the cure, it stopped the overheating, and the
temperature needly stays 70% lower than it used to. The heat still
works, the airconditiong still works, and the car no longer overheats.


If any of you live in ohio, and want to know about this mechanic, just
pm me or email at [visit link below for email address]

He is a very clever guy indeed.