Skaker

latest news, just to prove how right Grossgary was: after replacing the hose, thermostat remained closed and engine overheated again,,,, and of course VDC light turned on! (if fact it works perfectly well as a water temp warning light). I got the spare thermo from Germany and replaced the old one, seal had glued. hope this is my last message concerning vdc light in a long time.

Hello again, i am glad to announce that the winner is.... The HOSE . Ouf! Thanks Grossgary for your advice about the gaskets and the other hoses. The problem here is the parts delivery time, Subaru official service in Spain doesn't often delivers parts to other mechanics in reasonable delays. It's a shame, the most common answer you get is "five weeks"... That's why we owners of elder subarus usually buy the parts in the internet, from Germany or UK or Poland, and usually much cheaper. And let's see what happens when VDC light turns on next time...

thank you for the comments, i explain it more in detail: I could not see where it came from when i looked at the engine from above, there is no visible leakage on the top, neither from the cap, it leaked somewhere under the engine, one drop every two or three seconds. I fully refilled the circuit and carefully drove to my mechanic's 5 km away and dropped the car there. By that time it was leaving a thin track of leakage on the road and still nothing visible from over the engine... It is certainly not a head gasket problem, what i dont know is if it is the hose, the O rings of the water pump, or some "metal" cracked: water pump seals or bearing (means water pump replacement) , radiator leakage (probably means radiator change), ... or even worse (block cracked means car replacement!)... Still HOPE it s the hose under radiator. Will see tomorrow. until then,,,, fingers crossed

Yes the bearing was already noisy when the light turned on. For the overheating, mine is option 1. Leaks under the engine. Just run out of water. Thanks for the comments

Hi Grossgary, I have excactly the same symptoms on my 2002 outback h6. Vdc light turns on and engine heats two minutes later. I had run out of coolant! I hope it will be a hose, it leaked a lot under the engine, but i couldn t see where it came from... will know soon. Also once Vdc light came on and it was because of a damaged wheel bearing.... (And also it works correctly indicating that vdc is off when i switch it off and when vdc system actuates while turned on).... Conclusion: it's a misterious multipurpose light that seems to say "something is going wrong somewhere" ... .? thanks a lot for your post, i m no longer worried about the light, just about the overheating... Cross my fingers for a damaged hose instead of something broken...