1990legacy Posted January 15, 2005 Share Posted January 15, 2005 The other day, my car almost died, due to the oil being low...I knew it had a leak, but being the moron that I am, forgot to keep up with it like usual. Anyway, it overheated, so I stopped and added more oil and coolant, and made it back home fine. I changed the oil the very next day, and all seemed to be fine. Then last night, while I was sitting in traffic, the temp gauge shot up to hot, then went back down to normal after about a minute. I figured it was the thermostat being stupid, because the car wasnt low on fluids at the time. Then later on that evening, just a few blocks from home, it began running hot again, and after parking the car, I noticed that there was a puddle of coolant on the ground. The weird part is that the cap didnt come off of the radiator or the overflow container, so I'm wondering if there is a leak somewhere, and if the thermostat is possible gone bad. Any advice or suggestions would be great. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
frag Posted January 15, 2005 Share Posted January 15, 2005 If the coolant puddle is below the left (driver's side) front part of the engine, it might very well be that your water pump is giving up the ghost. I'm not speaking of extreme left but just left of the crank pulley, about where the oil dipstick is. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1990legacy Posted January 15, 2005 Author Share Posted January 15, 2005 If the coolant puddle is below the left (driver's side) front part of the engine, it might very well be that your water pump is giving up the ghost. I'm not speaking of extreme left but just left of the crank pulley, about where the oil dipstick is. I asked around and I was told that it might be the lower radiator hose...but I dont know that for sure...any idea what a new water pump will run? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
frag Posted January 15, 2005 Share Posted January 15, 2005 I asked around and I was told that it might be the lower radiator hose...but I dont know that for sure...any idea what a new water pump will run? Check the hose first cause it's easy and it's cheap. But how would a leaking hose cause overheating that lasts only a minute? It's exactly where the pump is so it would leak exactly at the same place. A new OEM pump will cost you 64$ USD at 1stSubaruparts if your car is not turbo. https://www.1stsubaruparts.com/partscat.html Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
coloradosubarules Posted January 16, 2005 Share Posted January 16, 2005 The water pump is pretty cheap....taking off the crank pulley, belts, timing belt cover, timing belt, timing belt tensionser, and the water pump can be time consuming. While you have the belt off: Change the timing belt new o-ring, rear seal and crank seal, and tighten the screws on the back of the oil pump. Water pump too. If you change the water pump yourself be sure to burp the sh1t out of the cooling system to ensure you don't get air pockets and cook your engine. It's real easy to do. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1990legacy Posted January 16, 2005 Author Share Posted January 16, 2005 Update on the situation...changed the hose last night, but its still doing trying to cook itself the same way it was. So I'm going to venture a guess that its the water pump contributing to the problem. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
coloradosubarules Posted January 16, 2005 Share Posted January 16, 2005 Have you "burped" the cooling system? This is no joke. If you do not get every tiny bubble out of the cooling system, you will have problems. Do you know how to properly burp the system??? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1990legacy Posted January 16, 2005 Author Share Posted January 16, 2005 Have you "burped" the cooling system? This is no joke. If you do not get every tiny bubble out of the cooling system, you will have problems. Do you know how to properly burp the system??? I've never heard of that term...so yeah, I probably havent done it right. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
coloradosubarules Posted January 17, 2005 Share Posted January 17, 2005 Get the front end up in the air a tad. Remove the rad cap and bleed screw on the passengers side of the radiator (on top). Start the car, fill the radiator and let it run. The t-stat will open therefore allowing the coolant level to drop. Add more coolant untill fluid is coming out of the bleeder hole. install rad cap and bleed screw. Drive on. Your cooling system is bleed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1990legacy Posted January 26, 2005 Author Share Posted January 26, 2005 ok, so here's an update on the situation. Did all the right things, ie burping the system and whatnot. Replaced the thermostat and temp sending unit. Still overheating. So now the only real conclusion could be the water pump, correct? Is this something I could do on my own, and if not, what kind of costs am I looking at? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bearbalu Posted January 26, 2005 Share Posted January 26, 2005 The other day, my car almost died, due to the oil being low...I knew it had a leak, but being the moron that I am, forgot to keep up with it like usual. Anyway, it overheated, so I stopped and added more oil and coolant, and made it back home fine. I changed the oil the very next day, and all seemed to be fine. Then last night, while I was sitting in traffic, the temp gauge shot up to hot, then went back down to normal after about a minute. I figured it was the thermostat being stupid, because the car wasnt low on fluids at the time. Then later on that evening, just a few blocks from home, it began running hot again, and after parking the car, I noticed that there was a puddle of coolant on the ground. The weird part is that the cap didnt come off of the radiator or the overflow container, so I'm wondering if there is a leak somewhere, and if the thermostat is possible gone bad. Any advice or suggestions would be great. Coolant might have still come off the overflow tank due to overheat without the cap coming off - there is a overflow hole in the overflow tank. Radiator caps never come off. Based on your symptoms in low speed, it could be the fan as well. Does it happen on highway speeds? See http://www.troubleshooters.com/tpromag/200210/200210.htm For basic troubleshooting. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
All_talk Posted January 26, 2005 Share Posted January 26, 2005 Engines don’t like being overheated, especially aluminum ones. Often by the time the original cause has been diagnosed and repaired, the repeated overheating (or just one time) will have done other damage like blown head gaskets or cracked heads. I hope this isn’t the case here. In my experience a water pump “failure” is typically a noisy bearing and/or a leaking shaft seal. Unless the impeller has disengaged or separated from the shaft (I’ve never see it), the pump still pumps water. Before you tear into the water pump it might be worth having the cooling system checked for pressure/exhaust gasses. Is there water in the oil? Oil in the water? Maybe a compression check. Good luck Gary Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1990legacy Posted January 26, 2005 Author Share Posted January 26, 2005 Engines don’t like being overheated, especially aluminum ones. Often by the time the original cause has been diagnosed and repaired, the repeated overheating (or just one time) will have done other damage like blown head gaskets or cracked heads. I hope this isn’t the case here. In my experience a water pump “failure” is typically a noisy bearing and/or a leaking shaft seal. Unless the impeller has disengaged or separated from the shaft (I’ve never see it), the pump still pumps water. Before you tear into the water pump it might be worth having the cooling system checked for pressure/exhaust gasses. Is there water in the oil? Oil in the water? Maybe a compression check. Good luck Gary Well, it runs fine other than overheating, so I dont know that its done anything to it...yet. It can go for about 10 minutes or so, long enough to get the engine warmed up to normal operating temp. And then the needle begins its nasty upward climb. The fans work too, so its not that. So the only other thing I can think of might be a clogged radiator. However, I have heard some noises from under the hood that could be the water pump...like a small rattling from a noisy bearing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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