mexsal61

Hello everyone, I am writing on behalf of my fiance. She owns a 1994 Subary Legacy Wagon. Before I met her, her heater core had failed, leaking coolant into her car. Someone just took the heater hose and "looped" it around to bypass the heater core. She added some coolant, about 1/2 a gallon into the radiator. Well, all that happened about a year ago. I drove the car for the first time the other day, for 20 it drove normal temp. But then it ran up to top of high temp...she says its done it for a year, no other propblems. I thought maybe a stuck thermostat? That lookos like a major effort to change. The coolant returns to the reservoir same color green as when you pour it in, so I don't suspect a blown head gasket. Don't really know what to eliminate first or how......the dealer and mech's say 1,500-2,000 to replace a blown head gasket! started looking on line at used engines and engine crates, but don't really think since the coolant returning to the reservoir is so clean that the head gasket is blown... any thoughts....struggling to make ends meet with 130,000 miles and one credit card left to go............;>(