mkap Posted July 5, 2005 Share Posted July 5, 2005 Hello all, First time posting here, looking for some diagnostic suggestions. I purchased a 1992 Subaru Legacy Wagon last tuesday from a private owner. On Friday the car started overheating badly, antifreeze was coming out the overflow. When i turned on the heat to try to cool down the car only cold air came out the vents, which immediately fogged up the windows badly. On saturday, I drained the antifreeze and pulled out the thermostat, it was apparent that somebody had put stop leak into the radiator. I reconnected the radiator piping with no themostat and the car ran perfectly. Sunday afternoon I put a brand new thermostat into the car only to have the overheating issue 50 miles later. Pulled out the new thermostat and am currently running without a thermo. Things I know: 1 The car overheats with a thermostat in place.ie the themostat is not opening. 2 When the car overheats, I have no heat and the windows fog up immediately. 3 There are no apparent leaks coming out of the radiator itself, just coolant blowing out the overflow when overheating. 4 Stop leak was in the radiator prior to the overheating incident. Anybody ever have a problem similar to this? Any diagnostic suggestions are greatly appreciated. Thanks Mkap Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Legacy777 Posted July 5, 2005 Share Posted July 5, 2005 Are you getting heat from the vents? There is an air bleed screw on the passenger side of the radiator that needs to be unscrewed to allow air to be bled of the system. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mkap Posted July 5, 2005 Author Share Posted July 5, 2005 I get heat from the vents without the thermostat in place. The car overheats with the themostat installed. When it is overheating, the system only blows cold air. Are you getting heat from the vents? There is an air bleed screw on the passenger side of the radiator that needs to be unscrewed to allow air to be bled of the system. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blackbart Posted July 5, 2005 Share Posted July 5, 2005 Head gasket. No doubt in my mind. The air pocket got there due to the leak, the air will not let the coolant move. I found that if your have no warm air from your heater the coolant is not circulating. I bet that the next time it gets hot and you quickly come to a stop you may see the temp drop sharply. The water is forced to move foward through the air pocket. You will also feel heat from your vents for a little while. Try it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Setright Posted July 5, 2005 Share Posted July 5, 2005 Yes, unfortunately I must agree on the Headgasket leak. It may not show up in a compression test, because it's likely to be very small. Though big enough to allow compression gases into the cooling system and therefore force coolant backwards out of the system. Before spending a big lump of your hard-earned, what sort of warranty will the private seller honour? They must have known about the problem, since the cooling system was flooded with stop leak. If it's bought "as is", get a CO and HC test done on some of the coolant, if there are traces of hydrocarbons and carbonmonoxide in there, it's a leaky headgasket for sure. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mkap Posted July 5, 2005 Author Share Posted July 5, 2005 Just out of curiousity, has anybody replaced the head gaskets themselves and how much of a pain in the a## is it and/or paid to have it done, if so how much????? Thanks for the replies Mike Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Setright Posted July 5, 2005 Share Posted July 5, 2005 It's not that any of the work is complicated, more that it requires time and the right tools. The headbolts aren't hexagonal for example. There isn't too much room either, once the rocker covers are off you will have space enough to do the job with the engine in the car. Drain the coolant, remove the radiator, remove the drive belts, remove the crank pulley, remove the cam belt covers, remove the cambelt, remove the intake manifold, remove the exhaust manifold..... That's a thought, the exhaust stud bolts are gonna be problematic. If you are confident with tools and have other transport in the mean time, why not go ahead? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Legacy777 Posted July 5, 2005 Share Posted July 5, 2005 I'm not saying it's not a headgasket issue, however I would recommend bleeding the system using the bleed screw if you haven't already done that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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