Pinegrovesubaru

I determined the problem: The repair shop put in a new radiator from NAPA. This radiator had the transmission coolant tubes straight out instead of at a 90 degree angle. This made the return hose too short to be used so the mechanic grabbed a hose off an old radiator they had laying around. This hose had the check valve. The check valve was installed correctly, but the orifice in the valve is about one quarter the size of the inside of the tube (1/4"). This of course made resistance to flow, which of course created back pressure. The new hoses from the dealership had no check valve and once installed the problem went away. Thanks everyone for your input.

The only obstruction is the check valve inside the return hose. When I say "inside", I mean it is four inches in from the end of the hose. I've never seen anything like this before. Even the dealer isn't sure about this. As far as I know these hoses are the originals from factory. I have a new pair on order from the dealer. I'll get them on Friday. I also replaced the AT filter thinking maybe it was partially clogged. It wasn't. I cut it in half to check the element and it looked pretty clean. This is a brand new radiator. I'm wondering if the manufacturer put in the wrong oil cooler. Or if the repair shop put on the wrong hoses when they changed the radiator. Sounds stupid, but I'm considering anything at this point.

I have a 2006 Legacy with 114,000 miles on it. Recently when my wife was driving it the supply hose to the automatic transmission cooler pushed off, draining the AT of fluid. I reconnected the hose and refilled the transmission wi.th 5 quarts of fluid. The hose is held in place with the factory spring clamp I drove it home (about three miles) and the hose had pushed off about half way. I installed a worm style hose clamp which is now holding it on. I noticed that when the engine starts the supply hose gets very taught from the pressure, to the point that it begins to swell. The return hose appears to be heavier construction and does not swell. Inside this hose is a check valve. I removed the hose and verified that the valve is working properly and the hose is installed correctly for the flow. I have never seen the AT fluid cooler hoses under such pressure. And I have never seen a flexible hose with an internal check valve. I recently had my Subaru mechanic replace the radiator with a new one (that is another story) and he says it is the correct unit. I blew through the oil cooler to verify that it was open to flow. Can anyone give me advice on this situation?

What is the best way to get the last of the air out of the heater coil? I ran the engine for 5 minutes at 3000 rpm but that didn't remove it. I used a garden hose to try to flush the air out, but somehow still have air in. When the car is cold, and the car is accellerated normally I can hear the gurgling noise.

I too had 'flushed the radiator system' prior to this too and it did not help. This time I backflushed just the heater coil. Having the garden hose on the return side of the heater coil pushed the obstruction out of the coil. And yes, the first few seconds the liquid was very dark (which is why I think it pushed out the Bar's Leak as just the fluid is a lighter green). I encourage you to use this method. Don't rely on just 'flushing the system' because that won't push the obstruction out the opposite direction as how it accumulated.

UPDATE. I went to a junk yard and looked at a junker that already had half the dash pulled apart. The damper door is on one shaft but it had four plastic pieces molded to the shaft (one for each duct). Just for grins and giggles I tried to break this unit. I couldn't, not even with a pry bar. It is crazy strong! So I believe the likelihood of one of the pieces to break off the shaft is minimal. I checked with the dealership and had a pleasant 30 minute discussion with the Subaru certified mechanic. He had no additional ideas. But he did say to get to the heater core does require removal of the entire dash and more. He's done a few and it usually takes about eight hours. I'm sure my taking apart the dash would result in broken trim pieces and since it is my wife's car, I decided I would not attempt it. But to have the dealer do it would be over $700 and I didn't want to spend that much on this problem. Having no other options I decided to try the one last thing; I decided to back flush the heater coil. I disconnected both lines and using a garden hose and the hottest water my coal burner could produce flushed the coil. I did it in both directions and about a dozen times. And believe it or not, this fixed the problem! I'm not sure how the Bar's Leak clogged only the passenger side of the coil, but it appears that is what happened. The air coming out of the driver's side is about 120 degrees F, the air on the passenger side is about 110 degrees F. Not exactly the same, but much better than only 90 degrees F. I'm happy, my wife is happy, and a happy ending!

The 2006 Legacy has a new problem. The LED lights on the radio and temperature display will not go to 'bright' when the headlights are turned off. This makes it hard to see the displays in the daylight and impossible to see in direct sunlight. Anyone have any ideas?

"Bar's Leak" is a brand name of a cooling system additive/conditioner. It is mostly a black liquid with black pellets. I think it is a good additive and I use one bottle every time I change the antifreeze. Now that Subaru recommends 'Blue Goo', I'll use that instead. But I'll still use the Bar's Leak in the Dakota and the Jeep.

Before everyone condems Bar's Leak let me tell you more of the story. An old time mechanic recommended Bar's Leak to me thirty years ago as a way to prevent miscellaneous leaks and to lubricate the water pump bearings. I have been using it at every change of antifreeze on every vehicle I have had since 1980. I never had this problem on any vehicle, including the 95 Impreza and the 2002 Legacy. The 2002 Legacy was consuming antifreeze slowly, about a pint a month. I know the history of head gasket leaks on Subaru's, but didn't want the time and expense of doing the heads. So I added a second bottle of Bar's Leak. Then I added a third bottle of "professiona"l Bar's Leak. Then I added a bottle of Subaru Blue Goo. After a month the leak stopped. I know it is hard to believe but the heater and radiator are working fine. This was about 50,000 miles ago. The engine just turned 202,000 and besides a small oil leak it is doing fine. Now back to the 2006 Legacy problem. Two weeks ago I drained the antifreeze and replaced with new. And I only added the 4.4 ounces of the Subaru Blue Goo (no Bar's Leak). If I take the hoses off the heater coil could I use a garden hose to back flush the heater coil? Would this work sufficiently to blast out the Bar's Leak? Or should I use a radiator flush concentrate to try to loosen it up before back flushing? Today I talked to a Subaru mechanic at the Subaru Dealership. His opinion is that he thinks the coil would plug completely, not just the back half of the coil. He thinks it is a damper problem. And finally, could air be trapped in the back of the coil? I bled the system by running the engine at 3000 rpm for five minutes. But does that really get all the air out of the coil? Thank you everyone for all your input on this!

I use Bar's Leak and the Subaru conditioner ("blue goo") in the antifreeze. What do you think about the possibility that the Bar's Leak has plugged the end of the coil. That would be the passenger end of the coil (where the flow would be the lowest)? I'm thinking about doing a super flush and seeing if it helps any.

Thank you for your humorous back and forth. I traced the hoses and there is only one supply hose and one return hose going through the firewall. I tried taking off the blower motor yesterday but I couldn't get the top nut free. As I was struggling with this I noticed the AC coil would get the air first, the heater coil would get the air second. So if somehow a leaf made it though the blower, it would have gotten caught on the AC evaporator before it got caught on the heater coil. Once I realized that I decided not to remove the blower (upper nut pain in the a** anyway!) Inside the ductwork, on the damper that moves when the cold to hot knob is turned, is is possible that one side broke free from the shaft and is not turning? I'm thinking about going to a scrap yard under the guise of getting a heater coil to take everything apart to see how they assembled things at the factory. Does anyone know if drawings showing the assembly are on line? Or perhaps even a repair manual?

I have more information on this: I removed the center counsel to get a better look at everything. The motor that moves the damper between vent, heat, and defrost is working properly. The recirculate/fresh air motor and damper are working properly. The linkage for the cold to warm adjuster is working properly. I could look into the air ducts to see the heater coil but I tried. Having everything apart confirms the left duct is hot, the left-middle duct is warm, the right-middle duct is cool, and the right duct is cold. I can't imagine the right side of the coil is blocked and the left side is open, but that is how it is acting. Any suggestions as to how to get to the hot water coil to inspect it? What boggles my mind is that the quantity of the air is the same all the way across the four ducts, but the air goes from warm on the left to dead cold on the right. Thank you for any ideas that you have.

The car has 92K miles, so I don't think they will fix this under warranty.

I have no cabin air filter (removed it a year ago). I checked the cabin air filter housing and it was clean. The car is parked inside except when parked in work parking lot. Any suggestions on how to remove the center dash without damaging any of the plastic and vinyl?

I do not have dual control. I can only access the area through the glove compartment. Is there a way to get the the motor that may be bad? Is it in the center or the left side? While I was looking for the problem I came across a white electrical connector that was disconnected. It is under the carpet, at the top edge of the passenger side floor mat. I reconnected it but it did not seem to do anything. I'm not sure what the electrical connector is for, or if was apart from the factory.

2006 Legacy 2006 heater works great on the drivers side, but only blows cold air on the passenger side. The same situation happens in the defrost mode (hot air out of the left vent, cold air out of the right vent). The quantity of air varies with the fan speed, but the air is dead cold on the passenger side. I looked under the dash and behind the glove compartment and found nothing.