Brief history: car was getting hot. turned out radiator fan was not coming on. In the midst of trouble shooting this, wound up filling the radiator with water. Went to drain radiator and the drain plug was clogged; had a bunch of gunk (looked like gray clay) in the drain screw. Did a prestone radiator flush. Followed all instructions. The question I have now is when I filled up the radiator with antifreeze, it only held about 1/2 gallon before it overflowed. Is this normal? What is the radiator capacity on an 84 gl hatchback fwd?

 

Thanks!

Shad

CLAY !!!!!!! yucky Should hold a gallon and half when all purged..

This sounds bad.

 

Did you also include the radiator in the flush? EA82 is about 6 liters iirc/gallon and half as stated.

 

Overflow after half a gallon is...wow. Something is very wrong! Maybe the engine is cleaned out ok but something near the fill neck of the rad is still plugged?

 

I remember pulling some of this nasty crap out of an overflow tank (bathroom sink, 30 minutes) and a radiator (garden hose, an hour and lots of tipping and spinning). Did a similar flush and detergent (you can buy some at autozone/etc) to the motor as what you described, seemed ok until the ECU got fried a week or two later! I no longer have that Loyale. That was a $300 Loyale I got because the radiator burst a small leak (probably due to the crap in the system, not unlike what you have). JB Weld and lots of cleaning later it was a great car while it lasted.

It's an ea81 engine, but should still hold more than that...

Can't really explain your problem.... :/ But I will say that I hope it's nothing severe. Just before Easter, my EA81 started overheating and the radiator was overflowing and bubbling and whatnot. Couldn't drive more than 10 minutes before it happened. The coolant didn't have a "clay" look or feel to it, but it obviously had oil mixed in it. Turned out my head/block was cracked.

 

Might not help you much, but it's just my two cents. Hopefully it's not as severe for you and you can get it fixed. For me it worked out in the end, since I got a newer, better Subaru. But still....

It's an ea81 engine, but should still hold more than that...

 

I keep forgetting they changed the engine but not the model name.

 

But yes, you are correct. Should still be more than 0.5 gal

Don't feel bad. Most days I do well just to remember where I am...LOL:D

$46.00 shipped.

 

Grabbed one of those off ebay not too long ago. Decent quality, unbeatable price.

 

If they are the same for ea81's as ea82's, I'd just throw a new rad. in if you can't get it flushed.

 

Link here:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/400282694272?ssPageName=STRK:MEWNX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1497.l2649

 

Hope you can get it sorted.

$46.00 shipped.

 

Grabbed one of those off ebay not too long ago. Decent quality, unbeatable price.

 

If they are the same for ea81's as ea82's, I'd just throw a new rad. in if you can't get it flushed.

 

Link here:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/400282694272?ssPageName=STRK:MEWNX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1497.l2649

 

Hope you can get it sorted.

 

The picture looks different; the bottom hose outlet is slanted up. I guess I couild get a flex radiator hose. Wonder if it will mount to the chassis correctly?

My ea81 takes about a gallon, maybe a tad more in the overfill with a radiator pull. And that's in an ea82 car, I don't know if the rad/heater core is bigger there.

My ea81 takes about a gallon, maybe a tad more in the overfill with a radiator pull. And that's in an ea82 car, I don't know if the rad/heater core is bigger there.

 

The engine is an ea81. Rad shop wants $85 to rod and flush. If I can get the one for the ea82 to work, I will go that route...

The picture looks different; the bottom hose outlet is slanted up. I guess I couild get a flex radiator hose. Wonder if it will mount to the chassis correctly?

 

You are correct; the lower hose inlet is at a steeper angle than the stock radiator. I found that instead of using the normal hose to go from that inlet to the water-pump pipe, I used another upper hose that goes from the thermostat to the radiator.

Fit just right. Is a little strange they got the design off a bit there, but aside from that, no other surprises. = )