Okay..first I had hernia's, heart-attack, and next, amnesia. And now, I got a Subaru..05 Forester. So I'm on this thing with the coolant change; which is totally shocking with all the nebulosities amd minutiaes involved with it. But that is not even the worst of it. The seller was not forthcoming about certain facts of keen interest concerning the vehicle's past; and even stooped to manufacturing a story, with the design of putting me off guard to complete a quick-sale. Which he did! However, I digress.
I emptied the ORANGE stuff out of it, not leaving anything to chance, as we live at a 7000-ft elevation, and don't want the block cracking up. After 3 times dropping the 1.5 gal's, I switched to distilled water, having read about all of that jazz. So I got it up to temp driving it to drop off a copy of D'Souza's AMERICA I had borrowed from friends. I guess I had all the air out this time, as it did not overheat! In fact the thermostat neck and the hose to the radiator remained cool and always did - is that normal? All the other hoses and subsidary cooling system lines get pretty hot but that part of it is just tepid to the touch. Again, is that right? Heater was vulcanic, at the same time, whereas when it overheated - to the red almost in a few minutes - the heater blew cold. Also, I have filled it, runned it, drained 4 times, and it's still coming out orange with tiny debris..sort of rust-like. Is it recommended to flush with Prestone? I have some! I'd do it!! But I wait on you experts to give me the come-on signal.
One more thing I would like to hear some opinions on..When I start it, there is a pronounced knocking noise near the front driver side coming out of the time-belt zone, and also possibly from the front of the motor (although it might be bleeding the noise from whatever it is that the outer belts are turning). There appears to be no coolant leak and it doesn't sound like a bad water-pump, just a pretty noticable knocking for 4-6 minutes before quieting down.
Now on a satellite topic, but one that is calculated to excite interest..I battled that thing with the factory alarm-system (seller did not give us a fob w/remote, only another story), searched y-tube, and found out enough to get the 7 screws out and remove the glove-box and unplug that keyless entry thing and win a temporary peace from that hidden tandem horn system. And when I pulled the covers behind the fog-lights I found out that the horns are there with the fog-light on the d-side. So I un-plugged them (I may strip 'em off and put them on my 74 Pinto wagon, just for laughs) and feeling confident in a lasting peace, I replugged the module in and after a 5 second waiting period - about as long as it takes to get asylum at the border by t-j - I got a mini-blast by the little horn on the top by the fire wall. Re-unplugged the k-e module but the car was disabled from starting, untill I uplug the other harness close to the radio labeled SECURITY SYST. and now I am free once again. I wait for responses, with bated breath..or 'baited' if you prefer!
