Hello all!
Just bought my first Subaru. It's a 1998 Legacy GT Sedan (5speed) with 170,000 miles. I'm having a really weird issue with it...
The temperature seems to be inversely related to my RPMs. When they go up, my temperature goes down. After buying the car, I drove it around 120 miles home, and found that at highway speeds 70-80 MPH, at 3400 RPM, the temperature gauge was a little less than a quarter of the way up. When I "punched it" to get around traffic, I could watch my temperature gauge fall to the C almost as fast as the tach went up. Once I got back on country roads, cruising in 4th gear at 35-40 MPH, the temperature gauge sat nicely at halfway.
Outside temperature was was 9º F. Adjusting the heater didn't really seem to help (obviously wasn't blowing hot air when temperature gauge was down).
I am really puzzled by this. Although mechanically inclined, I am by no means a "gear head". I'm thinking it's either an issue of too much coolant, something with the radiator, or a thermostat issue. Any suggestions on where to start? I know it's a little cold outside, but not cold enough for the car not to run where it should. Also, should I be worried about damaging the engine by it running cold? It was only at the bottom (cold) for maybe 5-8 minutes before at least returning to a quarter temperature.
Thank you for any help!