szymon

Hi guys, My radiator is leaking. The leak seems to be under one of the top radiator brackets, under the upper cushion. The bracket is bent a bit upwards and the cushion seems to be popped out of place. All the engine parts and the hood in proximity to that bracket are covered in coolant. It seems like at least some of the coolant if not all of it is getting sprayed generally in upward direction and coolant drips down the bottom of the hood. My guess is that the mounting bracket and the upper cushion are solely a part of the mounting system and are not under pressure of expanding hot coolant. Am I right? If I am, that means that the leak just happens to be somewhere under the rad bracket and simply replacing the bracket and cushion won't help, right? Is the only solution to replace the whole radiator? Any help is well appreciated.

I would like to access the read memory mode to find codes stored in the computer form when the check engine light came on when the engine was missing. I can only find one black T-shaped connector under the dash to the right of the steering wheel. When I disconnect it and turn the ignition to on mode I get a non flashing check engine light. I would like to read the codes from the memory to help me solve the problem of the engine missing when warmed up to operating temperature. Does anybody know how to do it? Thanks a bunch.

I have a 1991 (NOT a 1992) Subaru Legacy 2.2L non-turbo engine with automatic transmission. The car runs fine when started from dead cold. After restarting the engine once it has already warmed up the there is a moderate to strong miss that shakes the car. Significant loss of power is felt if the engine is missing badly, and the engine misses throughout driving speed range. The car idles at 500 rpm when warm and the rpm does not fluctuate, the car does not stall. The CHECK ENGINE light does not come on (the car would sporadically miss before it became a consistent problem and a CHECK ENGINE light would go on but all I needed to do is turn the engine off and start it again and the car would run fine) The plugs, and plug wires are only 6 months old (coil pack looks new as well but can't tell for sure if it is). Valve adjustment and ignition timing has been done about 4 months ago when the head, exhaust, intake and valve cover gaskets were being replaced. PCV valve seems to be working although the hose is old, stiff and missing a clamp that is supposed to hold it to the PCV valve. I cannot find and EGR valve (I think there might have not been EGR on this model). Could my problems be caused by a malfunction of the fuel injection system? If so why would the engine run fine when started from dead cold? I don't know when was the last time the fuel filter has been changed, could the fuel filter be at cause? Or maybe air filter is a problem? Suggestions as to what a good next step would be are well appreciated. Cheers Szymon

Blown gasket would explain the why the engine in misfiring. I just bought this car month and a half ago from a family friend who is a mechanic. Bought it for $2500. It was misfiring badly, one of the cylinders looked bad in a compression test and my mechanic have disengaged A/C which significantly improved how the engine is working. He looked at the car ofter it had overheated on me once, but said he could not find anything and that the car works fine in his opinion. Unfortunately I cannot go back to see him because i am 700 km away now. I am contemplating whether it is worth to put more money into this machine. The car seems to be in exceptionally good shape for a 91 (except all the mechanical isses mentioned above...) What is the life expectancy on these engines? Do you think it is worth to get the head gasket changed for $1350?

I have changed the radiator cap today but the bubbles are still there. I took the car on a 15 minute ride up a hill. When I arrived at my destination I have noticed that the coolant reservoir is full all the way up to the yellow rubber cup. It was very close to overflowing. The temperature gauge was reading normal working temperature all the way up the hill. I then drove back home, all the way downhill, I have not been accelerating, only braking to slow down from time to time. At the very bottom of the hill I have noticed the engine temperature climbing above normal. I turned on the heater inside the car to blow hot air at full blast, but the air was cold. I tried switching the heater to blow cold air and then back to hot air but it did not do anything. The heater was not blowing hot air even though the temperature gauge was indicating that the engine in hot. I pulled over. The radiator fans were both working. You could feel warm air blowing on the driver's side of the grill in front of the hood, but the passengers side was cold. The coolant reservoir was still filled almost all the way up to the rim, but has not started overflowing yet. What was weird is that the engine did not look very hot. I could not feel the heat radiating from it as much as when I have just reached the top of the hill. The thick black rubber hose connecting the engine to the radiator on the passengers side was warm but not hot like when I have just finished climbing a hill. I got back in to the car and started driving again. I was on a flat now so I had to accelerate to get the car moving. I could feel the air coming from the heater becoming warm. The very last section, about 50 meters long, I had to ride up a very steep hill, the air that the heater was blowing out was warm. It was surprising to see the temperature gauge oscillate relatively fast during all of this was happening. It would climb up quite fast and then quickly drop as i stopped. The car have overheated twice before. Both of these times I just finished driving downhill and just hit the flat section of the road. The A/C is disconnected in this vehicle. Does anybody know what to think of this strange behavior? I really appreciate you help guys. Thanks a lot.

Can anybody confirm that a 1991 Subaru Legacy LS 2.2L Non-Turbo needs a radiator cap with rating of 13 lbs?

GeneralDisorder, could you explain to me how would a faulty radiator cap cause all these symptoms? Thanks to you all for help.

Hi, I have a 1991 Subaru Legacy LS, automatic transmission, disengaged ABS. The car has 246000k on it. I can hear a noise coming from the front drivers side area of vehicle. I start to hear the noise when the car has warmed up and you are driving at a speed of 40 km/h. The noise is not continuous. It is comparable to a noise made by a steam locomotive. The faster you go the faster the noise repeats itself. Past 80km/h you can not hear the noise anymore. Turning does not make the noise louder nor more quiet but you still have to be at a speed above 40 km/h to be able to hear it. I have noticed the noise about one week ago. What is interesting is that last few days when it was raining the noise went away. Today is sunny again and after driving about 15 km the noise came back. Any ideas as what can be the problem? Thanks in advance.

Hi all, I have a 1991 Subaru Legacy LS with 246000k on it. The vehicle have overheated on me twice over a period of one month. Each time a bunch of coolant leaked out through the overflow hose. After refilling the radiator and and the reservoir the car runs fine. The oil which I have changed about 650 km ago is clear/light brown. The oil is synthetic. Both of the fans turn on when the engine is hot so I conclude the thermostat and fans are working properly. When the engine has warmed up and idling there is bubbles visible in the coolant reservoir. It looks like the bubbles are mainly in the proximity of the hose connecting to the radiator. The coolant is green color but there is light/moderate black residue on the inside of the reservoir. What could the problem be? Any suggestions on how can I diagnose it?