mountainbikeak

The car has 170,000, timing belt was done last April! I'll keep a close eye on it, hopefully I don't have an interal leek also. Thanks

Thanks for the replies! I did grab oem thermostat and radiator cap, I've heard others didn't work well! After a few hours my compression went from 16psi to 4psi, obviously I have a leak somewhere in the cooling system. Also, after degreasing everything a couple days ago I finally got a look at the seals... Passenger side looks good, drivers side seems to be leaking from the exhaust manifold, didn't look like it was residual oil from something else, what would cause this? Tomorrow I'll change out coolant and install new thermostat and see how things go! Also with the block tester, would I get an accurate test from the overfill reservoir? not super familiar how to post pics to this forum, check out this to see a couple pics of the area in question. Thanks again!

Thanks for the reply... Fans come on just fine and it seems to get good circulation now, not sure about head gaskets, I sent the original owner a note, just waiting to hear back. The timing belt was replaced last year and I don't think they put any conditioner in the coolant, so I added some a few months later after realizing it didn't have any (hopefully not to late). It doesn't overheat on just normal loads other then the one time the radiator hoses were compressed. I'll look into the radiator being clogged. Retested the oil for water with negative results, again by heating it up, and the psi is holding on the coolant pressure test. Should I check anything else, spark plugs etc.? Thanks again!

I know the head gasket topic is huge on here, I just can't seem to find exactly what I need so maybe someone can help me out here! I have a 2002 outback 2.5 that I first notices overheating (not redline) when the outside temps where higher then normal and while pulling a raft, just figured the circumstances would cause this. Didn't notice any substantial rise in the temp gauge while just cruising normal until the next time i drove under load, again not red line and I turned the heat on etc. Then one day the thing wanted to overheat at low speeds,not high speeds, seemed like it wasn't getting coolant, checked it out and all the coolant flowed into the overflow and the radiator hoses were smashed (sucked in). I replaced the radiator cap, bought a new thermostat just in case (didn't install it) before a big trip with raft and gear. It wanted to heat up on big climbs but everything was normal while driving in normal conditions. (I was loaded, 2 adults, 2 dogs, gear for 5 days on the river), Coolant cycled back through ok. I have't noticed the usual signs of a blown head gasket as the heater always would blow hot air, no bubbles in overflow/radiator a small discoloration in the coolant but that could be from the conditioner, no other spikes in temp. However, after the trip i checked the oil and it seemed really high and sort of frothy and I was getting some oil leaking on the exhaust after long hauls (looked to be leaking towards the rear), I added oil before our trip but was pretty certain I didn't overflow I also didn't notice anything near the fill cap or any sort of white residue. since then a couple days ago I changed the oil/filter and have been monitoring things and haven't noticed a change in oil level but it almost looks like a hint of green coolant, can't really smell it I did a crude test dripping oil from the dip stick over a heated soda can and didn't get any signs of water, I have a coolant compression test on now and it hasn't moved in a couple hours and I did a block/gasket leak test that came up negative. (the test was super difficult because I couldn't keep the coolant low enough and it wanted to get sucked into the test tube after a minute or so) I did try through the overflow not knowing how accurate it would be from there with negative results. At this point I'm looking for advice on how to confirm if this is actually a HG leak or something else and how can i check for sure if coolant is in the oil and not my imagination? Couple things I've done in the past few weeks are: New valve cover gaskets, pcv valve (subaru), radiator cap (subaru), fuel filter, air filter, spark wire and new spark plugs. Sorry its so long, trying to streamline this to make it easier on folks trying to help. Thanks a ton,this forum has saved me on a few other issues! josh

Thanks guys... I did get the thermostat from the dealer and just wanted to make sure as I also noticed it was round. Thanks again.

I realized I didn't make my question too clear. Got the spring down, does it matter which way the loose toggle thing sits?

Pretty lame I know, I searched for something here with no luck. Which way does this thing go in or does it mater? Thanks in advance.

I've got a 91 Loyale that is acting up a bit... just wanted to check the timing on it but have a quick question that I hope will clarify a couple things for me. I know the timing should be set at 20 degrees so I should rotate the distributer so the 20 matches up to the obvious "point" in the viewing window (under timing light of course)... Sorry for the lame question. WHile under the hood just before dark it looked like I'm set near 0 degrees. Likely a reason for poor gas mileage, suspicious running habits while driving? Thanks in Advance! Also just to clarify, which is my number one spark plug? Thanks again

thanks for the help... Got things cleaned out, thermo changed and the heat is working great! Lost the gloves and extra warm hat on the way back from the shop.

Just to be sure... the two hoses that run parallel to each other going into the dash area of the car is what I'm looking for? Looks like the one on the right while looking from front to back is going into the water pump. Sorry not the most knowledgeable on this stuff, you guys really are killer for the help!

I'm going to change my thermostat this evening, figured I would go ahead and flush the system while I was at it. Any suggestions for this, will a flush kit work on a 91 loyale? Can I just drain, add water and drain until clean? Any advice would be greatly appreciated, thanks.

Thanks guys... I'm going to pick one up tomorrow just in time for some warmer weather i'm sure.

Coolant is full, could use a flush if sure... The temp gauge will read nothing most of the time, every now and again it will pop up just a bit maybe 1/8" or so. When it's up just a bit then I get some heat. Under normal conditions it will come up for just a bit, but under stress like climbing it will read for the entire climb but still only 1/8" reading.

I found a few posts on here that almost answered my question but not quite, hoping you guys can give me a hand. I've got a 91' Loyale with a manual tranny. I had this car parked for 3 years or so and started driving it again last winter. I noticed on a cold day the heat wasn't working like it use too. It was the end of winter so didn't pay much attention to it and I'm gone for most of the summer's. Now it's winter and cold again and i've paid more attention when I have heat and not. Always have just a bit (lots of air coming out vents) but when the engine temp goes up (which is usually just above the first line) then I get some good heat which is about 3 percent of the time. Could this be a sticky thermostat messing with me? Any help would be nice. Thanks in advance!

I have a 91 legacy that when I accelerate the shifter rattles. If I move the handle over just a bit it stops. Is a seal, rubber washer etc. possibly warm out? Any help would be much appreciated as the noise is getting old! Thanks