i'm truly sorry if this has been addressed already, but i've tried to find a thread on it and haven't been successful. :cornfuzz:
my 94 legacy L wagon (no turbo, 107,000 miles, automatic) has been overheating occassionally during drives in normal city traffic. when i look down, the needle is high, but not quite in the red. when i check the coolant and oil levels, both appear normal.
here is my time line:
got radiator flush & fill in fall of 2002.
1st overheating, december 2002: was close to home when i noticed temperature gague was high. drove the last few blocks til i got home. checked fluids, no problems there. took it into the shop next day ('roos only', in denver) and gague was high (not into red) only when close to the shop, so i drove it all the way in. they topped off fluids, said no problem, drove it home and for next few weeks without problem.
2nd overheating, january 2003: drove to salt lake city without incident. noticed gague was high again while driving in the city. stopped, check fluids, & i decided the coolant reservoir looked a little low, let the car cool down, added 1/2 liter of coolant directly into the radiator, then jumped out of my skin as my car burped at me. then she took another 1/2 liter. no other overheatings while there, drove back to CO, no problems.
*no problems for 1 full year*
3rd overheating, january 2004: last month when i was back in SLC. checked all fluids, didn't have another problem while there, drove home, no trouble.
since then, i've seen the needle riding high twice. it just rides high, never reaches the red. both coolant & oil are OK. last time this happened, i was in a big hurry (shame on me!) and let her drive hot, but after 5 minutes in city traffic the needle just went back down to normal. what gives??
the other 2 issues she's been having: (1) a mild smell of gas when i start up, but that disappears pretty quickly and i wasn't even the one who noticed it. (2) sometimes my heater doesn't work well & when it's on 'vent' cold air comes out despite being on 'hot'. i never noticed this before.
this site (http://autos.msn.com/research/vip/reliability.aspx?modelid=2622) says the coolant temperature sensor might go out on 94 legacies. is that all this is? sure sounds right. should i be worried about the head gasket? is this just a cold weather problem? any other issues i should bring up with my mechanics? is it as simple as *not* going to salt lake city?
thanks very much for any input you have and please be gentle with me and sparing with the technical speak. checking coolant and oil is about all i know how to do. thanks again!