Arty

It just overheats in no time flat. The heater didn't work for a very, very, very long time of me just letting it sit there and idle. I tried burping it, and after I had let it cool down (engine off) for a while, I went back out to let it idle, and I kept my foot on the gas to about 2k RPM. All of a sudden, the temp gauge went just a bit below half (where my other car always sits), and the heater started working beautifully. Things looked like they were just fine, I thought maybe I'd finally taken care of it. I took it around the block, heated up again, heater went ice cold again. Can you please tell me the BEST way, step by simple step, to burp it? Like I said, I let it cool down with the engine off before trying anything.

In hind sight, it probably would've been a good idea to take a picture of the two t-stats.

The one from AZ was much, much shorter than the one from Subaru. The one from Subaru fit just fine, but it is probably half an inch longer than the other.

Which city?

Just following up- The OEM T-stat seems to only have made things worse. The part auto-zone originally gave me, and the part Subaru gave me were two completely different pieces.

So everyone knows- it loses no coolant.

Mike, you're in Northern Kentucky??

Honestly, I'm going by the temp gauge only. I have a really hard time believing it's the entire engine, since it's "cool" to the touch (just feels like it's at normal operating temp all over... block, headers, hoses, so on). The t-stat is going to be replaced Tuesday, and I may also go crazy and replace the ECTS while I'm at it. The wires all seem to be fine, and there doesn't seem to be any hot fluid... all temps seem to be normal to the touch all across the board. Could a blown HG cause isolated heating issues I wouldn't be able to see, smell, feel, etc? Or am I right in thinking the ECTS/t-stat/sender may be bad? All three, or any combination thereof? It may also be important to note that this poor car sat for over a year, never turned on or so much as touched, and I used to only drive it once a month, after I bought it when it had sat there for so long?

Ok, I'm more than sure you're all tired of hearing this question, but I think mine may be a bit different than normal. And like I said, this is a long post... My 96 Legacy GT randomly overheats. And when I say randomly, I mean there's no real rhyme or reason, no pattern, and it will sometimes overheat in two minutes, other times, 4 hours. And sometimes it will stay hot, others, it will just come down in a matter of seconds. Obviously, any time it happens, I stop immediately. This car is a real problem child, but I need it to run. I know most people are automatically going to think "Head gasket", but I seriously don't think it is................... yet. Whenever I tell most people anything about this car, they blame the head gasket and won't give me a word in edgewise (mechanics, that is). I swear I could tell these guys that my headlights are out, and they'd blame the head gaskets. This is from 5 different places, one of them being a Subaru dealership, not one of them seeing my car, only hearing the word "overheating". My reason for not thinking it's a head gasket- When it "overheats", nothing gets hot to the touch. Well, not hotter than normal, I should say. The engine is warm, but it feels like it's at a perfectly normal temperature. No steam, the reservoir tank doesn't bubble, no smoke from anything, it runs smooth, so on and so on. The other cars I've had with blown gaskets did all the above and then some. I've recently had the radiator checked, nothing was wrong. The water pump was replaced, but I never checked the belt after that. I also had the t-stat replaced, but not with an OEM subaru one. I also had the car burped a couple days ago, ran like a champ all day, then the next day, overheated after about 20 miles of normal driving. Then cooled back down after a but, ran for a while again. Same thing tonight (I don't drive it every day)... I ran it pretty hard to test it. It did FANTASTIC for a very long time. Then, I got off the freeway, only after going all over every kind of surface imaginable, up hills, down hills, turns, stop and go, everything... it overheated. For a bit. I hit the gas lightly, it went back down. Again... no steam, smoke, hot to the touch... all normal. Ran fine. I just turned it off. Another symptom worth mentioning if the heater worked like a champ the first few days after replacing the t-stat, and the car didn't overheat for a couple months of super light driving. Now, the heater blows cold air unless it "overheats", then goes back to cool when it cools back down. I could go on and on. Like I said, I really don't think it's a bad head gasket, not yet at least. My question is as follows- Might I need to get the t-stat replaced with an OEM part, might there still be an air bubble somewhere by the water pump, and, as is the case with my 95 Outback... could the ECTS possibly be sending incorrect readings all over the place? Again- no coolant leaks, no oil burning, no smoke, no steam, no hot engine, runs smooth, but gets terrible gas mileage, is a 2.5, and oh yeah- Two mechanics have looked at it and said "Not the head gasket". They simply told me something was wrong with the coolant system, wanted lots of money, I didn't spend it because I didn't need the car every day like I do now. HELP? PLEASE?!?!?!!? Sorry for the super long, repetitive post, and thanks for any help.

Just wanted to say hello to everyone... this seems like a very informative board, and I'm so glad I found it. I currently own a 1995 Outback 2,2 liter, 5 speed, and a 1996 Legacy wagon 2,5 liter, automatic. Both white, pretty much the same looking car to the unknowing eye. I love both my cars, but the second is a real trouble child. I've been interested in Subarus since about 1998, and finally got to purchase one a while back. I love the cars, but don't like the head gasket issue. That's my only complaint. I'm typically a European car guy, with my favorite companies being Volvo, Saab, BMW and Audi. My dream cars- Any year Audi S4 Either a Volvo 850 R, an S60 R, or, more than anything, a V70 R, blue. A 1996 Subaru Legacy GT 2,5 turbo, four doors, red. That's the car I'd kill to own. Ok, now that i've ranted a whole bunch of nothing, tell me more about yourselves!!!:banana: