J-roo

This light is also coming on occasionally in my 94 Subaru Legacy L. I brought it in for an oil change soon after and the guy said it was probably from 'the solenoid' and was involved with and only really important for emissions. I didn't get it fixed (a few weeks ago) and now my car won't start. It made an attempt at turning over at first, but the more I tried to jump start the car from my coleman portable battery-jumper thingy, the less sounded like it was starting over and the more it started just click-click-clicking. Is that clicking from the same solenoid that has to do with emissions? I tried cleaning the battery leads, but will do it again & a little better in the morning. I might also get a jump from a car battery. Any suggestions? I have read the posts on trying to connect different wires to different bits in the engine, but that is really no help to me as I don't know which part is which aside form the radiator, battery & dipstick. Oh wait, I'm the dipstick in there. Anyway! Thanks!

it's 7 months out and i have not had a temperature problem since the radiator cap has been replaced. awesome! my NEW problem is that when ever i make a turn hard and/or with some speed i hear a rapid clunk clunk clunk noise which keeps up until i straighten the wheel out. i had this happen a while ago, and mechanic made it sound like it was because i had ripped open a front CV joint cover. well, i had that replaced, the clunking stopped, but now it's back. 1st of all, i have no idea how i ripped the cover off, but i wasn't off-roading. must be all those pot holes. 2nd, i have not been off-roading so it's odd that the noise came back, if it's because of the CV joint. anyone else have a wierd clunking that seems to be coming from the front when you turn hard or with speed? it makes me avoid those unsafe u-turns, at least. thanks for your input everyone!

well, i had a big unpleasant experience yesterday. driving down the highway i notice my heat gague creeping up. it finally got too high for me to do nothing, so i pulled over. to make a long story short, the gague would read 'HOT' whenever i started moving, though after sitting for a few minutes, would cool back down. the needle would also go up even if i just revved the engine -- not driving. after filling the radiator with all the coolant and water i had and going and stopping and achieving about 5 miles in 1 hour, i called a tow truck. i just heard from the shop. the guy said "the radiator was low, we filled it, pressure tested it and road checked it and put a new, tighter fitting radiator cap on". could this have all been only due to a loose radiator cap? i will wait and see if this all happens over again, as it was sporadic before. i hope (against hope) that it is all over... ps-- to answer at least one question: i think it's a 2.2 liter engine.

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!