ChemicalSoldier

Poor girl died on me into work today. Wife brought my Dodge to tow it back to the house. So now it'll sit. Either I fix it (don't have the tools, shop, etc), sell it, or donate it for $500 on my taxes next year. One saving grace, is that a family friend that's a car dealer has a 2012 Outback on the lot that I'm going to purchase. So I'll still have a Subie. Thank you again to everyone. It lasted five days, it was a gamble and another lesson learned.

Did a Vin Check. It's a 2.2L not a 2.5L Trying to fall asleep and realizing the lower radiator hose didn't look correct. Did a quick search and sure enough it might be the culprit of a leak.

Tested for head gasket leak with the blue radiator suction bulb. Nothing, stayed blue. Tested it on the exhaust pipe, turned green almost immediately on its way to yellow. Up on the ramps she goes. Put in the new thermostat. (Please note I'm using water to fill this thing up. Real coolant is expensive.) Poured it in the top hose, reconnected, filled radiator. Drove it around the block. Overheating again. Decided to yank the thermostat altogether (used the O Ring to keep the seal). Filled her back up with water. Now that the thermostat shouldn't cause any issues (cause it ain't there), tried the head gasket test. Stayed blue. Previous owner did put a turning clamp on the lower hose where it connects to the elbow for the thermostat. Couldn't tell if it was leaking, just tightened it down cause it didn't look a good way of sealing it. Might be leaking when system is pressurized. There is condensation coming out of the exhaust which screams bad head gasket, but the test is negative. Lower hose is hot now of course. I gotta go to bed or I would have driven it. That'll come tomorrow. 60 miles round trip. Not an OEM cap, but it does hold a seal. I'll take a pic of it tomorrow. I removed it to see if it helps.

One of these will tell me which direction to go in.

Thermostat should come in today. Does it hurt the subies to run them without a thermostat? I know it'll take longer to warm up, but I'm thinking is the free flow will help narrow it all down. Got to work, bottom hose cold, top hose hot with only air in it. I put a pressure relief cap on it, and when I lift the red tab, it begins to release pressure.

Driving it to work currently. Put it up on ramps to burp the coolant system this morning. Temperature gauge keeps going from hot to normal. Back and forth, back and forth. Heat comes on and off Lower Radiator hose is cold

Nope The radiator hydrocarbon test should arrive in the mail today. I did notice that the top radiator hose never filled with coolant, even when sitting in the driveway and attempting to burp the system.

That's I'm fearing. Gotta test it to be sure.

UPDATE: Went on a beer run, temp gauge maxed out, lost heat in the cab, overflow tank is frothy and cold, lots of extra white exhaust out the back while driving. Ordered a thermostat and head gasket test kit that should arrive tomorrow. Going to do the test kit first before I put it up on ramps for the thermostat.

Head gasket tester comes in tomorrow. Just in case.....

After cutting an inch off, I also put a zip tie on the new connection to the radiator cap area. Saw bubbling on the hose. Just needed a better seal to discover a likely culprit. Flipped the hose (think of a straw with a hole in it) cause every store is closed currently, and ran the engine at 3,000 RPM for a solid two minutes. Coolant smoking is almost gone. Probably burning off what had leaked before. What a new wonderful new world I have stepped into by owning a subie. Hopefully it's a long one. 3Pin I researched the Subie and figured that the head gasket would have been replaced a long time ago, it's one of the reasons I grabbed it. Yea, 321k on it. I baby the throttle since it's a manual, it's a commuter, I'm pushing 40, it's pushing 25. If I want to go fast, I'll drive my main like I own it. Mike104 you nailed it. Simple but not obvious things to try. I'm a diesel guy, not a gas / Subie guy. But, it looks like I will be after owning this little wagon. Loved it before I bought it.

On a different forum a member suggested cutting an inch off the reservoir hose that connects to where the radiator cap is. I did that and currently I'm letting the car warm up, then I'll up the RPM's to see if that was the issue. Will update on results.

1996 Subaru Legacy Outback 2.2L, 320,000 miles and running strong.Trying to narrow down a coolant loss issue. I've searched and searched every forum I could find on google for majority of the day. New radiator. (Installed by previous owner)Replaced the radiator cap yesterday. Appears to be holding pressure when I use the relief valve. UPDATE: Frothy stuff in reservoir is gone. (Ordered a blown head gasket kit to test) I can see the coolant circulating when I rev the engine by hand and by looking into the radiator.No milky oil on the dip stick.UPDATE: Engine temp ramps to overheat level then back to normal, back and forth while driving. Fans kick on like normal.UPDATE: Loosing heat in cab, then comes back. Upper hose hot with air. Lower hose is cold. UPDATE: Fixed by flipping the tubeAround the radiator cap and overflow area, it seams to be loosing coolant and steaming up. Can't see any visible leaks, but the steam and slight coolant is there. Only steams from the cap and res area. No coolant smell from the exhaust. (I've seen major head gasket leaks on other rigs)FIXED SEE ABOVE: Other than pulling the hoses and res out, I'm at a loss. Never owned a Subaru, but I'm getting a huge education on their quirks. So yes, I'm a new member. Planned on using the Subaru as my commuter car cause tossing over $100 a week in fuel into my Dodge is getting old, not to mention I'm an owner/operator of my own semi so my fuel bill is outrageous as it is.Any help would be appreciated.