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weird, weird, weird - overheating or not???


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Drove in to work yesterday morning in my "98 Outback wagon with no problem. On the way home I noticed the temp gauge was going very hot. Turn on the AC to ensure that fans were working, but the AC was cool, not cold like it usually be. Stoped a gas station bought antifreeze. When I went to put the antifreeze, I noticed the overflow tank was full and the radiator was pretty much empty. This is the second engine due to overheating and cracked heads. When I saw the overflow full, I said to myself must be the water pump (which I changed about 3 months ago). Waited for awhile for the car to cool down. Then I kept going; the car would continually register hot so I would pull over occasionally to let it cool down a bit.

 

All of a sudden while riding the AC kicked into cold and temp gauge returned to normal. As long as I was highway driving it seemed ok. When I got home, I checked the antifreeze it was low again; the overflow had flowed some. I filled the radiator and it kept burping; letting pour more and more in. I was saying to myself; I must have a head gasket problem or something, because out of all the antifreeze I had used. There was no antifreeze running anywhere external. Looked in Haynes and they mentioned the cap as a possible problem. So, later that night I went to buy a new cap. On the ride to get the cap, the car ran fine. Got up this morning and I said I going to drive it to work to see what happens. The morning trip was fine; with on sign of overheating.

 

What do you think this problem is? If it was the cap, shouldn't I have seen antifreeze sprayed under the hood. Could it have been a stuck thermo or water pump? What do you think?

 

ZZZASY

'98 Outback 2.5ltr

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My question after reading your post is....

 

Are your fans working? :eek:

 

One fan should come on with your AC as soon as the switch on the dash is turned. Is this happening?

 

Just for fun :lol: Jump power to your fans and see if they are playing the game?

 

Next I'd look at the relays that control the fans. On my Forester they were "swappable" with other relays so the test was easy.

 

My main fan was not working and my heat would do strange things...

 

Good Luck,

Glenn

82 SubaruHummer

01 Forester

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Stoped a gas station bought antifreeze. When I went to put the antifreeze, I noticed the overflow tank was full and the radiator was pretty much empty.

ZZZASY

'98 Outback 2.5ltr

 

You have a phase 1 2.5 engine. The highlighted text is a classic symptom of a bad headgasket. What happens is that the gasses from the combustion chamber blow into the coolant area and cause a vaporlock (as if it had not been properly "burped"), which can cause the heads to warp if not remedied quickly. My guess is that it is time to have the head gaskets replaced. If the waterpump were the problem, then you would not have gotten enough flow to shove the coolant out into the overflow tank. . .

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Yes, the fans are working. They weren't working a few weeks ago, but I replaced the coolant temp sensor and they appear to be working now. Both fans come on immediately when I switch on the AC. If it is the head gasket, how long will the car continue to run. Because like I said, this morning there were no signs that any of this ever happened. Could it just be the coolness of the morning air that's making it unnoticable in the mornings?

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