vt_tj

That was it. To much air left in the system. thanks for the responses. Left the old tstat in place. Returning the napa one. :grin: :grin:

I did carfully fill the system up. I did not remove the vent plug but I did remove the radiator cap (on level ground) slowly fill the system up while squeezing the inlet hose with my hand (on and off). Then I started the car and continued to do this until I had added most of what came out. Some appears to have moved to the plastic overflow tank though. The napa thermostat and the original termostat is differenent. The original thermostat has a small hole with a check plug on the side (maybe a steam or hole or could be for preventing trapped air not sure). This thermostate didn't draw the lower suction line in like the napa. Both overheated anyway. I am wondering if I do have an air pocket sitting right on the water pump propeller. I will try once again to do this... this time removing the bleed plug. This car never made a reverse flow pump did it??

I am leaving for vacation on Friday and Tuesday the water pump goes out on my '97 Outback 2.5L. The bearings were shot and it was making a heck of a racked. Pulled the car down and put in a new Napa OEm water pump and new thermostate. Sealed the car up and drove it around the block...(short block) Time I got back the gage was pegged to HOT. ????? Thought new thermostate was bad. Pulled it out and notice it was wide open. Went ahead and put old thermostate back in. Same thing. This time before I got it out the door of the garage it pegged Hot. Brand new pump. Timing Belt has about 20000 miles on it and looks great. No major oil leaks in time area. I am puzzled. Car has 108k miles and never had over heating problem. After the first test drive I noticed the lower water hose that connect to the pump was rather sucked in. The second time around it seemed to be fine. The top hose is holding pressure but I don't know if I should be able to fill flow. Can a clog radiator cause the bearings in a water pump to go out? I haven't flowed test the radiator yet but I am wondering if that is it. When I dumped the water out of the radiator though it seemed to run out with out any issues. Any suggestions? I read the one on the timing belt tensionar being soft could cause an issue. My tensionar still took a bench vise and a little might to get it to compress for reinstallation. I am confused and tired. This is not a easy job especially after trying to get the timing belt back on correcty which leads to another point. If the timing is that far off to make the car heat that quick I would think it would run rough and hard to start. Car starts right up and on the 1st test drive ran and sounded great. thanks for the help TJ