Webber

Thanks, Muppit. I'll try and see what happens. If it works, I could at least get it into a repair shop to get it tested. Mark

Two years ago I had an overheating issue only when I would drive up hills. I pulled the radiator out, hoping it wasn't anything else. It turned out the radiator was 65% clogged and that was at 220,000 miles. I bought a new radiator and hoses for around $150 altogether and fixed the problem. Back then, I just filled the radiator with 50/50 and let the engine idle and topped it off after the thermostat opened. Problem solved. Two years later, the effort I'm going through to extract air bubbles seems a little extreme compared to the past. I'm unfortunately becoming a firm believer in the head gasket theory. I was thinking of throwing some stop leak in the radiator, hoping it would be able to limp it into a repair shop for a diagnostic. If necessay, I'll rent a auto transport and have my 68 Chevy tow it in for the test. The debate is; fix the head gasket myself at 266,000 miles on the odometer, or find something else. This Subaru has been a great car. I've only had to change the altenator, starter, timing belt, and water pump; everything else came with the car at mile 0. I also would like to thank everyone for their posts. It has made this diagnostic process so much easier. It also makes me proud to be a part of the Subaru community. I'll keep you posted on what happens with the car, but I won't be able to take it in until next week. And if any of you are having the same issue, I'll be sure to post the results.

I think I burped it correctly; I filled the radiator with the bleeder valve open; started the vehicle; until the thermostat opened; and added fluid until full. I let the car idle and squeezed the radiator hoses as well as the heater core hoses to get all the air out. At this point, I put the cap on and held the accelerator to 2,500 RPMs for 2 minutes. I shut the engine off a few minutes after all this and at this point the heater has been blowing out hot air and the temp gaged stayed below the halfway mark. I let the car cool down and during this time the reservoir stayed at the same level. I opened the radiator to see if I needed to add water. I added a little bit and started the process over again. I just recently took it for another test drive, and about half a mile away, the heater inside the car started to cool and I immediate headed back home. When I reached my driveway, I was in the red and cold air was blowing from the heater. I'm starting to become a firm believer that it's the head gasket. The problem is the nearest mechanic, besides my amateur self, is 20 miles away. I live in a rural area. So I'll need to tow it over country roads to get it pressure tested, and at this point, I don't know if it will show up on the test if it needs to move to react the way it does. Bummer, huh? Now, I'm doing some research on the topic to see what the next step is.

Samething happened to me the other day after working on my Subaru. It turned out my battery cables' terminals needed to be cleaned and reconnected to the battery posts. My positive cable seemed to be the main cause of the issue. Use a battery post cleaning tool and get a good metal to metal contact. I hope it works out. -Mark

Thanks Keith for the answer I wasn't hoping for. I also appreciate the technical description of what was actually happening. There's nothing worse than having a brain teaser with no answer. I guess my 2.2L engine did well; It has 266,000 miles or more on the odometer and this will be the first head gasket replacement. What do you think the difficulty level of this job will be? I'd rather do the work myself to save money, and because I know I can once I get started. My wife wants to chuck the car and start over with another one, but I'd hate to have to go in debt again or inherit someone else's problems. I had a feeling it was the head gasket, but couldn't understand how it was affecting the heater; plus, it was much easier to live in denial.

I have a real puzzle on my hands. I've been reading other people's posts and trying solve this case, but I need to call in the experts. The crime a bizarre overheating Subaru; The victim is a mature 1990 Subaru Legacy. About 3 weeks ago I was commuting to work and I noticed when I reached my destination my car was overheating. The radiator was low on water. Simple solution, at the time, let the car cool, add water until full, and drive home after work of course. The car ran great for about 4 days, no problems. The car began to overheat, but the strangest thing happened, my heater inside the car went cold. As the temp gage rose to red, it stopped suddenly and dove back down to normal; at the same time, the air from the heater became hot again. This yo-yo effect happened 2 or 3 times; now it just goes into the red and the hot air turns cold. Here's what I've tried... 1. Changed the thermostat twice, have a new stock thermostat from dealership. 2. Changed water pump, plus timing belt, No regrets; the belt needed it after 170,000 miles of use. 3. Bought new radiator cap. 4. Took radiator out and had it tested, everything checked out great. 5. Tried bypassing heater-core, overheating still occurred. 6. No oil on water, no water in oil. 7. Pulled some off my hair out. 8. Burped system and this seemed to work, but after driving for a mile, it filled the reservoir, and at the same time, the heater air turned cold. When the car over heats, it's always after driving never at start-up and pro-longed idle. Also, the upper radiator hose is extremely hot, but the rest of the radiator is cold to the touch as if the engine isn't even running. The lower radiator hose is also cold. I'm going to try and bleed the system again this morning because it seems like there is a pocket of air between the two hoses, possibly because all the coolant is now in the reservoir. But, after the engine cools the radiator takes back the coolant from the reservoir. Any suggestions to this mysterious overheating? I saw some similar posts from 2002?, but the end result was never revealed.