cymbri

It's has over 200,000 miles on it, it has the 2.2 SOHC, paid $500 for it knowing it had a bad water pump and is stuck in front wheel drive. It was a gamble I know... So I replaced the water pump, thermostat, timing belt, some bad gears, the spark plugs and the wires. It's still overheating, only takes a minute or so to overheat, there's no external coolant leaks, no white smoke. No coolant in the oil. It has the standard head gasket leak, so some oil burns off the engine which is expected because it's been sitting a while. I understand that there could be air in the coolant system, so i am going to try "burping" it... I'm also getting a new radiator cap. Then if that doesn't work, I'm going to try draining it and adding the coolant more slowly and carefully. Then, I'm going to see if the new thermostat works by putting it in hot water, and I am going to make sure it was installed correctly. If that doesn't work, I can purchase a replacement engine for $500, and I have low labor costs so that's not too much of an issue. There doesn't seem to be any problems with the tranny, besides the front wheel drive issue that a transfer case should fix, but I haven't driven it over 10 mph yet because of the overheating. So essentially, I was wondering if there was anything else I can do/check for before buying an engine. (It'll cost less in labor to buy a new engine as opposed to replacing the head gaskets) I'm also considering saying screw it and buying another Subie, but we shall see where the wind blows on that one.