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Showing results for tags 'overheating'.
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I have 2001 Subaru Outback 2.4L Automatic wagon with about 190K miles. It runs great, however when it gets below 40 degrees farenheit, it has a few symptoms that are not present when the weather is warm. 1. Strong odor of gasoline, so much so that I cannot turn on heat unless the car is moving and wind is forcing the order to leave the engine area. 2. Overheating when driving more than 5-10 miles, regardless of uphill or downhill. At the end of last winter, I replaced the thermostat, drained old coolant, then refilled the system with 50/50 coolant to make sure I had a proper mix. Sure enough, I drove about 10 miles, and immediately saw the engine begin to near the red line. After this, I brought it to a mechanic and asked them to look for any problems and possibly check the water pump. They gave it back to me and told me the water pump wouldn't fail the way it is engineered, and they claimed that it had to be a head gasket problem. I don't believe they actually checked anything out because they didn't charge me after leaving it with them for three days. So, I saved up a little cash and it was around May, when things started to warm up. When I was ready to bring it in to have the head gasket replaced, the weather had consistently risen to 50-70 degreees farenheit and I was no longer having overheating issues. I was testing it on hills, and with AC on full, trying to get it to overheat with no success. So, I figured even if they replaced the head gasket, I couldn't verify that their work was successful until it got cold again, so I didn't do it. Now that we've had a couple weeks where mornings are below 30 degrees, all the symptoms are back, and they seem to be worse when it is really cold than just cold. I don't have anyway of proving that the gas odor and the overheating are related, but I never have one without the other. If I lived in a warmer climate, I don't think I would even be aware that there is an issue because it drives great in the summer and I have no issues, even on long road trips with the car packed and AC on full blast. Other info... I didn't see any excessive rust or metal particles when I flushed the coolant, I've always changed the oil regularly and i've used synthetic oil since it cleared 100K, no major mechanical failures but have replaced starter, alternator, knock sensor, belts when worn. Timing belt changed at 125K. Flushed & changed transmission fluid at 150K. I've regularly replaced spark plugs, spark plug wires, & distributor cap, but I've never replaced the fuel filter or anything fuel related because I was always afraid of a spill and stinking up the garage and having to hear my wife complain for weeks while the smell went away. Please help me!! I've aked every mechanic that I've randomly run into and they only tell me that it's either thermostat, water pump, or head gasket, however none of those suggest that it would work fine in the summer but overheat and stink in the winter. Any insight and explanation could help. I'm at a loss. I don't want to spend $1500 for a head gasket replacement and find out that it was some other anomoly that only costs me $50. I love my Subbie and hope to get her to at least 300K miles. -
Ok so here I am again and getting driven insane!!! I love my subaru but am ready to trash heap it! lol 1991 Legacy Wagon intermitent overheating Fluids look great, thermostat replaced twice by me, newest being OEM, Not losing water/coolent, yes the car is actually getting hot so not just the gauge, fans come on when ever I check for it, but a new development, this last time that it overheated for no reason the heat/ac fan inside the car sudenly stopped working! All fuses that I know of are fine ( both under the hood and under the dash). So for the upteenth time yesterday it over heated, refused to cool off even after letting it coolf or a while and restarting it, so I left it sit overnight thinking I would have it looked at today. Instead I thought I would try to see if it would run, and *poof* not even hint of overheating on the 10 mile drive home!!! Could all of this be due to a bad computer? or would a bad heater core poss cause this? Help!! lol -
I have had my 2001 Legacy for about 6 months and I have done a ton of work on the engine, mostly just to keep it from overheating. It has been overheating since about a month after I bought it. I first put a new thermostat in it and that seemed to work at first. After a few months of driving on that, it started overheating again and I had one of my friends who is a Subaru mechanic work on it to get it to stop overheating and he can't figure it out either. He is also about to get married and his fiance is pregnant so he doesn't have the time to come over to check it out and I can't afford to take it in to a shop. So I am hoping one of you great Subaru enthusiasts would be alble to help me out here with some suggestions and tips possibly. I have had the water pump changed, timing redone, timing belt changed, new radiator hoses-top and bottom, new thermostat (actually TWO new thermostats, I just re-replaced it today thinking that the problems went all the way back around to the thermostat again, but it overheated once it was up to temp for about five miles.) I noticed that the two radiator fans run constantly and shut off after turning on, so they are on and off non stop, they never really run constant. The lower radiator hose seems to be leaking due to coolant not being able to be passed through the thermostat, which is why I changed it again today. There are no signs of a head problem; no water in oil at least... I'm lost, scared and confused without my little precious car to drive around... please help... -
This is the first time my legacy has ever done this but here it is, my 2001 legacy started to overheat on me twice today, first time was going through the drive thru and it spiked up to 3/4 of the way then immediately went back to normal, after which I got on the highway traveled 75 miles, then had to go through a town with some stop and go traffic then it happened again. I have been noticing that the over flow tank has been filling up somewhat and today after these two occurrences it was over flowing. What I was thinking is that it could be the radiator car is bad because it is the original one so I replaced it and haven't really drove it since. The head gaskets were done about 60K ago and the thermostat should be fail proof meaning that if it were to go bad it would stick open. I'm just looking for some input on this, like I said I may have fixed it with the new radiator cap but haven't really drove it yet. -
Okay this is a strange one when I got this car it didn't have a thermostat and the electric fan didn't work,so I threw a cheap T-stat in and fixed the fan. About 1000 miles later the T-stat quits working acts like its stuck open. So I parked it for a while and it sat through the winter, I go to put in a new Stant O.E type thermostat and when I pull the old one out its closed so I take the new and old t-stats and boil them while watching the temp. Old t-stat starts opening at 150 and the new one starts opening at 190. I figured that the old one was just weak and that's why it wasn't working so I throw the new t-stat in and go for a drive, now it's overheating so I get out and feal the radiator hoses both are cold. I thought maybe the heater core was clogged and was making it not circulate properly so I bypass it, still overheating. Water pump shaft is solid and water pump doesn't leak radiator has been replaced less than 500 miles ago. What I am wondering is why would a 39 degree differance in t-stats be this big of a deal? I am thinking that the water pump may have a spun impeller but that seems unlikely but, then again the only other thing I could think would be a problem would be a clog in the block somewhere but I would think that would make it overheat all the time. Please help this is ticking me off -
Bought a 90 legacy & discovered it had an overheating issue. Aftermarket temperature gauge (came with vehicle) reading 210 as operating temperature, but would drop to 170-190 at 50-60 mph. Trouble shoot fans, both fan motors are dead. Replaced both fans. No change in temp. Curiously, the both fans run all the time, even at cold start up. Trouble shoot coolant, coolant is ok. Trouble shoot thermostat, get OEM aftermarket brand supposedly designed to keep temp at 170. Drained coolant and installed new thermostat, fillled with fresh coolant (but did not start at engine block..'burped' ...just filled into radiator) and temp now runs at 200. Will attempt to burp system today. Is a fun car, but the cooling thing is really strange. Any thoughts would be appreciated.