the37 Posted June 2, 2004 Share Posted June 2, 2004 Hello all. I am a new user here and am amazed at the wealth of knowledge here. Great forums. I'd appreciate some help... I have a 1995 2.2L OBW with ~170k. For a while now I have been seeing (and smelling) smoke coming from the engine; specifically, I believe the engine is seeping some oil onto the manifold and the oil is burning. I am not sure if this problem is related to my overheating problem. Up until the middle of this March, I have never had any problems with my engine overheating. I had the TBelt replaced as scheduled (every ~60k) and serviced the car regularly. Then, driving on the interstate, I noticed my temp gague was mush higher than usual--almost to the red line. I pulled off, checked coolant, oil, etc and found no problems. I continued, but the gauge kept climbing. So I pulled off, went to a garage and removed the thermostat. This caused the engine to overheat even more quickly, much to my suprise. A week later (it sat in his garage), I replaced the thermostat and the car seemed to operate fine. Then, while using it on the highway again, a repeat of the first occurence happened. I drove it back and parked it. I have used it a couple of times since, and have noticed 1) in city traffic, the temp gague goes up 2) at high speeds on the highway it increases and decreases at what appears to be random intervals 3) cooling fans work fine 4) hot, humid weather renders the car useless. I know the coolant lines are bled, and have yet to check for emmisions in the coolant. My TBelt was replaced ~50k ago, so I am about due for another. Is this familiar? Any suggestions? I appreciate it, Mike Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DerFahrer Posted June 2, 2004 Share Posted June 2, 2004 Removing the thermostat actually made the engine overheat worse because that won't let the coolant stay in the radiator long enough to cool off. The thermostat is a good restriction in the coolant system on top of being a valve that determines when it starts circulating. You might as well have the coolant 'sniffed' for hydrocarbons to see if your headgaskets have let go under all this overheating, I've heard tales of only 1 overheating incident dooming them. As for why it's doing it, what kind of T-stat did you put in there when you replaced it? For the record, always replace it with an OEM Subaru T-stat. Aftermarket ones are nothing but trouble in a Subaru. Other than that, it's merely looking for specific problems. Could be your water pump, could be blockage in a rad hose somewhere, could be as simple as needing a new rad cap. Just double-check everything in the system, have the T-belt and water pump done, and see what happens from there. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
the37 Posted June 4, 2004 Author Share Posted June 4, 2004 Thanks. The timing belt and water pump appear to be fine. So does the rad cap. I will replace the tstat with OEM, and check for blockage. Mike Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lmdew Posted June 6, 2004 Share Posted June 6, 2004 The waterpumps have two weep holes. The one on the back side, you can't see until its pulled. If the pump is leaking, you may be loosing a small amount of coolant and it's not be sucked back in from the overflow bottle. You'd run fine until the coolant got low and then you'd see the overheat, but the overflow bottle will still be full. Good Luck! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gotsubarus Posted June 6, 2004 Share Posted June 6, 2004 You might have a stopped up radiator? Replacement radiators are worth the 120 - 150 you might pay for them, thats very little to put in your car to save the life of your car. Also the oil leak is probably your front seals! Cheak to see if they were replaced when you had the belts done... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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