vic622 Posted February 23, 2010 Share Posted February 23, 2010 (edited) 1998 OBW, 335,000km (~208,000mi) No idea of headgasket history prior to me buying it last summer. Subaru Rad Stop leak added when I bought it - coolant only in overflow B4. No known history of overheating. No known history of head gasket replacement. It's possible I had overfilled the Coolant overflow a month ago. I did a road trip this weekend, ~1000km (~620mi) total. On the last leg today (~500km or ~320mi), I stopped for Gas at about 2/3 the trip, all okay. No sign of temp rising entire trip. At the end of the trip, I stopped at home & I smelled antifreeze & noticed some (very little) of steam coming from the hood & a little bit of coolant on the ground (less than 1/4 cup). I popped the hood & there was signs of some coolant close to the overflow and some on the valve cover. I opened the overflow & checked, but with the Subaru stop-leak it's always hard to tell the level. I turned the igiition switch to run & it was reading hot. I started the motor up & turned the heater fan on hot/full blower. No bad sounds. The temp came down very quickly, maybe 1-2mins to normal running temp. I added coolant to the overflow, but before I could add 1/4 cup, it was showing full (hot). I brought the revs up, no signs of burping. Temp remained stable. I drove it 1/2 mile & the temp started to rise to just above 1/2 way on gauge, so I opened the heater/blower to full & the temp came back to normal operating. Do you figure the head gasket is cratered? If its toast or close, can I limp it to the dealership (the one I trust) that's about 60km (35mi) away? Edited March 7, 2010 by vic622 mileage corrections Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nipper Posted February 23, 2010 Share Posted February 23, 2010 Cant tell from what you say, it may be as simple (and old enough) for a bad thermostate (whic should come from subaru). I would replace the cap too and see what happens. nipper Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vic622 Posted February 23, 2010 Author Share Posted February 23, 2010 Cant tell from what you say, it may be as simple (and old enough) for a bad thermostate (whic should come from subaru). I would replace the cap too and see what happens. nipper So drive slow to dealership, keep an eye on the gauge, look for smoke ... Get a Rad Cap & thermo (thermo gasket?) & replace ASAP, see if it helps? While I'm there, is the hydrocarbon test a for sure for HG or only if its piston to coolant galley? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ericem Posted February 23, 2010 Share Posted February 23, 2010 So drive slow to dealership, keep an eye on the gauge, look for smoke ...Get a Rad Cap & thermo (thermo gasket?) & replace ASAP, see if it helps? While I'm there, is the hydrocarbon test a for sure for HG or only if its piston to coolant galley? Just drive the vehicle, if you notice temps creeping put it in N and rev the motor to get the coolant circulating. The dealership should be able to diagnose the headgasket issue no problem as long as you don't mind dishing out $1000-2500 to do the job and usually at the same time you would want to replace more then the headgasket like the timing belt, water pump etc. When the engine is cool, remove the rad cap and make sure it is full of coolant. For a 60km drive it should be fine. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vic622 Posted February 23, 2010 Author Share Posted February 23, 2010 Just drive the vehicle, if you notice temps creeping put it in N and rev the motor to get the coolant circulating. The dealership should be able to diagnose the headgasket issue no problem as long as you don't mind dishing out $1000-2500 to do the job and usually at the same time you would want to replace more then the headgasket like the timing belt, water pump etc. When the engine is cool, remove the rad cap and make sure it is full of coolant. For a 60km drive it should be fine. Just thought of this - Do I need to remove the rad cap to burp these? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nipper Posted February 23, 2010 Share Posted February 23, 2010 Just thought of this - Do I need to remove the rad cap to burp these? Not to top it off. Just have the car running when you add coolant. And cool. nipper Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steves72 Posted February 23, 2010 Share Posted February 23, 2010 (edited) vic622 I just wanted to let you know that your conversion from Km to miles is way off. 335,000 km is close to 190,000 miles. 1000 km around 620 miles - etc. If you are uncertain of the cars prior maintenance history, call your Subaru dealer and see if there is any service history on the car in the data base. If no history is available, and with the mileage on that car, plan on doing the timing belt for your own piece of mind even if head gaskets are not required. Edit: not ~190,000 miles ... how about 207,000+ I should not try and do this in my head. Steve Edited February 23, 2010 by Steves72 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vic622 Posted February 23, 2010 Author Share Posted February 23, 2010 (edited) vic622 I just wanted to let you know that your conversion from Km to miles is way off. 335,000 km is close to 190,000 miles. 1000 km around 620 miles - etc. If you are uncertain of the cars prior maintenance history, call your Subaru dealer and see if there is any service history on the car in the data base. If no history is available, and with the mileage on that car, plan on doing the timing belt for your own piece of mind even if head gaskets are not required. Edit: not ~190,000 miles ... how about 207,000+ I should not try and do this in my head. Steve My problem, too, shoulda got out the calculator I have a very limited history for the car. I know the timing belt & I think, the tensioners, were done at the last major service - that was for the guy I bought the car from. He had it 4-5yrs. Prior to that there are no dealer records. Looking at it, Subaru mech & I figured that it didn't look as though the heads were ever removed. Edited February 23, 2010 by vic622 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
idosubaru Posted February 23, 2010 Share Posted February 23, 2010 thermostat and radiator cap are cheap things to make sure are good. but there's a high chance of it being a head gasket. if it fails the HC test then they're bad. if it passes it, they can still be bad. that's probably rare, but I've seen it happen. older cars have a screw on the passengers side of the radiator to bleed air when burping. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike104 Posted February 23, 2010 Share Posted February 23, 2010 Currently going through this exact issue. With engine cold remove rad cap and check level. If its low, do the chemical test for combustion gasses in coolant. If it passes that do rad cap and thermostat. If it doesn't pass, its most likely the HG (Phase I engine). At that mileage you may want to decide what to do, engine R&R or new car. Good Luck! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vic622 Posted February 25, 2010 Author Share Posted February 25, 2010 Currently going through this exact issue. With engine cold remove rad cap and check level. If its low, do the chemical test for combustion gasses in coolant. If it passes that do rad cap and thermostat. If it doesn't pass, its most likely the HG (Phase I engine). At that mileage you may want to decide what to do, engine R&R or new car. Good Luck! Luck wasn't on my side this time ... its the HG. I took it in and the mechanic did a drive and there was foam in the overflow & it smelled of exhaust. I've got a used long block coming in on Friday & it'll be R&R'd on Monday. It'll come in at about 1/2 the cost of doing the heads, not great when you're off work, but better than some of the other options. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
themoneypit Posted February 25, 2010 Share Posted February 25, 2010 on these phase I 2.5s, when the HG's go bad, and the exhaust is going into the coolant. you can buy a stant lev-r rad cap from the parts store. install it and leave the lever up. this allows the exhaust gas to burp easier into the overflow tank, but not the coolant. the car will run fine, and you wont notice any difference. i drove my 97 OBW for 4k miles this way before finding a 2.2l to swap into it. if you go this route, just make sure when you put the cap on that the lever is facing the battery when tight, or the hood will not clear the lever, and will actually close the lever. cheap and easy temporary fix if you cant afford to do the job right away, or if its your only means of transportation.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vic622 Posted February 25, 2010 Author Share Posted February 25, 2010 on these phase I 2.5s, when the HG's go bad, and the exhaust is going into the coolant. you can buy a stant lev-r rad cap from the parts store. install it and leave the lever up. this allows the exhaust gas to burp easier into the overflow tank, but not the coolant. the car will run fine, and you wont notice any difference. i drove my 97 OBW for 4k miles this way before finding a 2.2l to swap into it. if you go this route, just make sure when you put the cap on that the lever is facing the battery when tight, or the hood will not clear the lever, and will actually close the lever. cheap and easy temporary fix if you cant afford to do the job right away, or if its your only means of transportation.... I like that - Self-burping rad cap! Luckily I'll only need to drive it a bit for the next few days until it goes in the shop, Monday for the long-block transplant. Thanks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike104 Posted February 25, 2010 Share Posted February 25, 2010 on these phase I 2.5s, when the HG's go bad, and the exhaust is going into the coolant. you can buy a stant lev-r rad cap from the parts store. install it and leave the lever up. this allows the exhaust gas to burp easier into the overflow tank, but not the coolant. the car will run fine, and you wont notice any difference. i drove my 97 OBW for 4k miles this way before finding a 2.2l to swap into it. if you go this route, just make sure when you put the cap on that the lever is facing the battery when tight, or the hood will not clear the lever, and will actually close the lever. cheap and easy temporary fix if you cant afford to do the job right away, or if its your only means of transportation.... thanks for the tip! I need to drive mine for a couple of weeks til cash/engine/shop workload all align! I have been doing the turkey baster thing for a while now (from overflow tank to rad) so this will help. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
themoneypit Posted February 25, 2010 Share Posted February 25, 2010 when i did mine, i started w/eng cold. turned heat on high, ran up to temp and got all air bubbles out. installed cap, left lever open, made sure overflow tank was at proper level and worked great. i checked fluid every week and had to ad a little once in awhile. but was better than the random overheats it would do before... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
themoneypit Posted February 25, 2010 Share Posted February 25, 2010 I like that - Self-burping rad cap!Luckily I'll only need to drive it a bit for the next few days until it goes in the shop, Monday for the long-block transplant. Thanks. well pick one up and put it in the glove box... im sure the used long block will end up doing it at some point too.... thats why i went the 2.2l route. i was tempted to buy a used 2.5, but figured its russian roulette.... take a few H/P loss for more reliability and im all over that like white on rice Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vic622 Posted February 26, 2010 Author Share Posted February 26, 2010 when i did mine, i started w/eng cold. turned heat on high, ran up to temp and got all air bubbles out. installed cap, left lever open, made sure overflow tank was at proper level and worked great. i checked fluid every week and had to ad a little once in awhile. but was better than the random overheats it would do before... How hard were you able to drive it? I live in the mountains & have more than a few 1 mile uphill grades in the area. I drove it 60km (~40mi) each way yesterday at 80kmph (~50mph) with the heat on full blast and didn't have a problem, how long I could do this without a catastrophic failure ?!? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vic622 Posted February 26, 2010 Author Share Posted February 26, 2010 (edited) sorry, double post Edited February 26, 2010 by vic622 double post Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vic622 Posted March 7, 2010 Author Share Posted March 7, 2010 So all is repaired and the OBW is back on the road I got a longblock from Whitey's in Spokane (Almost 90,000 miles less than my old block) & mated this with my intake & sensors. The front and rear seals were very clean - saved having to change them. Got rid of the dead mouse under the intake, didn't think it would make it go any faster Put on a new timing belt and idlers-tensioners while we had it out - neither block had good stuff, and the old block had a Dayco belt, now its Subaru. Discovered that the front top leak on the old block wasn't only the ps-pump but also the pressure sender unit. One more thing fixed, one less to leak Did a road trip Thursday-Friday (~2hrs) and it pulled fine -at least as good and maybe better than the old longblock - with no signs of overheating. All is good Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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