After getting my AC working I volunteered to help a friend out installing a backup sonar system on his mini van. He lives about 90 miles away so I though it would be a good exercise for the Loyale to stress test it since I am planning on a trek to Eastern Wa for the 4th and if there are any issues, I want them sorted out before I trek across the state.

 

I drove from Bremerton to Sammamish the long way around. Car behaved really well the first 60 miles. Then I noticed that it appeared that when the AC was on, the temp gauge would rise. This continued for about 20 miles or so. Each time I put on the AC the temp gauge would move to the halfway mark and when I turned it off it went to about the 1/8th mark, slightly above the C. 

 

It wasn't until about the last 10 miles or so I noticed the temp started to climb to the 75% mark. I finaly just turned off the AC and it held steady at 75%. I was able to pull over at  McDonald's and then looked under the hood. I could see something had splashed on the undersde of the hood - it looked like coolant. I could find any leak. I started the car and again couldn't find a leak. I filled it up with my reserve bottle of coolant mix that we all carry in the trunk .

 

It took almost the entire bottle. I drove the last 10 miles and again when I got to Samammish, the temp was at 75% and the overflow was bone dry. I turned the car off and let it sit thinking it was some sort of small leak. We went to O'Relliy's to get some things for my friend's van (in his van) and I got some coolant and stop leak (no lectures about using stop leak please). Anyway I put in the stop leak and the coolant mix and then started it up. Nothing hapned until after about a minute I revved the engine and had a gusher of fluid from the upper radiator hose. Stop leak won't fix that one . I got the hose at O'Reilly's, replaced it and when I drove home I was aggressive with it.  This was the original 1993 hose so my bad for not replacing it when I did the lower hose 5 years ago. This is one Subaru part I can truly say I got my money's worth!

 

 

So for a great bit of the time I was driving with a burst upper hose and what must have been almost no coolant. Why didn't my engine overheat?  It never once hit the H. How is this possible? Could the air flow alone have been enough?

 

You very well could have been overheating. With the temp sensor being on the top of the engine in the intake, it would have been quick to run out of fluid. It's location has air flowing all around it, so with out the probe in fluid i can't see it having an accurate reading. The location of the sensor is pretty horrible, I personally would like seeing them in a coolant passage way on the block or head, it would be way more accurate for the engine temp.

As for your second question, could air flow have been enough? Maybe, being that Subaru took their design of these flat engines from vw, which were air cooled. Subaru putting them up front would give them more air flow then the original air cooled vw design.

You very well could have been overheating. With the temp sensor being on the top of the engine in the intake, it would have been quick to run out of fluid. It's location has air flowing all around it, so with out the probe in fluid i can't see it having an accurate reading. The location of the sensor is pretty horrible, I personally would like seeing them in a coolant passage way on the block or head, it would be way more accurate for the engine temp.

 

 

you can buy sensor bungs that fit inline on a radiator hose. if you can get one with the right pitch for our sensors and a block off plug for the original hole from a hardware store you can cut two inches out of the hose, install the bung and just lengthen the wiring to reach it. Done it with  other cars that had the same issue. with one the sensor was at the very top of the cooling system so we drilled the block plug we used to fill the old sensor hole and tapped it for a petcock. made bleeding the air out of the cooling system a snap (which had been a real pain with those cars) . you let it idle with the petcock open until the thermostat opened and it started streaming out full time (no more air gaps) and closed it. 

Bottom line is my car kept running and got me where I needed to go.

As for your second question, could air flow have been enough? Maybe, being that Subaru took their design of these flat engines from vw, which were air cooled. Subaru putting them up front would give them more air flow then the original air cooled vw design.

just so you know, the thought that subaru copied volkswagen is completely false. the horizontally opposed design subaru drew inspiration from was the old Goliath

http://www.ultimatesubaru.org/forum/topic/115952-something-unusual-1958-goliath/

That's why they take so long to warm up.

 

Rex

Interesting! Maybe Goliath copied vw.... Or vice versa!

The point is, flat 4 engines have been used air cooled. So obviously the design works well to keep cool with just air flow.

As for your second question, could air flow have been enough? Maybe, being that Subaru took their design of these flat engines from vw, which were air cooled. Subaru putting them up front would give them more air flow then the original air cooled vw design.

this is actually a common misconception. subarus are not wasserboxers. they are a take off of the Goliath engine. And I know, no lectures but, get a new rad, you ruined yours with the stop leak. they should call that stuff "stop working" or "stop looking for the real problem with my car"

 

 

 

ok so the Goliath thing was covered...ill read next time

Edited July 2, 201312 yr by Subruise

The point is, flat 4 engines have been used air cooled. So obviously the design works well to keep cool with just air flow.

Kinda. but not really. EA82s have been used in aircraft too, but i wouldnt trust mine. and i built it. Also the chassis of air-cooled vehicles are an important part of the equation.

 

drive a beetle with bad seals and youll know what i mean, they cease to cool pretty fast, and since theres no empty coolant lines to fool the gauge, you see them overheat. plus they have cooling fins etc. apples and oranges.

 

bottom line here, keep a hg set on deck, youre probably gonna need it now

Your cylinder head bolts could have loosened sufficiently to allow the combusted mixture to enter the coolant passages around the cylinder.  Your radiator could have now collected enough gunk to not be working at 100% capacity.  You may have a mouse nest in front of your radiator and behind the A/C radiator.  This overheating issue probably will not go away by simply adding some mysterious concoction.

Your cylinder head bolts could have loosened sufficiently to allow the combusted mixture to enter the coolant passages around the cylinder.  Your radiator could have now collected enough gunk to not be working at 100% capacity.  You may have a mouse nest in front of your radiator and behind the A/C radiator.  This overheating issue probably will not go away by simply adding some mysterious concoction.

 

I replaced hthe 20 yr old hose and it seems to work better. I am going to inspect the condenser fins too.

Edited July 2, 201312 yr by MR_Loyale

If there wasn't any water in your engine then your temp sensor would not have been reading right, a Subaru engine can't work as an air cooled in the car like a VW because VW had a body that was designed to cool the engine and the VW engines were made to be air cooled

Just my $0.02

A water cooled engine will in no way, shape, or form, function as an air cooled engine. You just got lucky that no damage occurred. 

The point is, flat 4 engines have been used air cooled. So obviously the design works well to keep cool with just air flow.

 

Logic failure.

Aircooled engines have been made in many configurations including V-12s and straight 8s so by your logic it is obvious that all those engine layouts also work well with just airflow.

and air cooled engines are finned to increase surface area and have rough surface to do the same because the more area exposed to air the more cooling. subaru engine castings are quite smooth by comparison.

Edited July 2, 201312 yr by CarpeNoctem

Logic failure.

Aircooled engines have been made in many configurations including V-12s and straight 8s so by your logic it is obvious that all those engine layouts also work well with just airflow.

Well if they (straight 8's, v12's) were made air cooled, then yes it's obvious that those layouts worked. They did it right? You guys make it sound like I'm saying "run your engines without coolant! Your good!". All I said that maybe the layout helps with cooling considering that the most common air cooled engine ever made shared the same layout. Is that the only feature of the setup that allowed it to be air cooled, as pointed out, no.

I can agree that the layout of it in the GL probably helped save you from a disaster. With two heads low to the ground they were getting more air to them than a comparable inline four cylinder would, with the head sitting on top of the block.

I think the takeaway here is replace your damn radiator hoses before they get 20 years old. Subaru saved my rear end. Does anyone here have any doubt had this been say a Chevy, I would be footing it home?

I think the takeaway here is replace your damn radiator hoses before they get 20 years old. Subaru saved my rear end. Does anyone here have any doubt had this been say a Chevy, I would be footing it home?

an ea82 will also run with a broken timing belt.....

an ea82 will also run with a broken timing belt.....

 

Sounds like you have a story to tell about this. Please do tell.

An EA82 has two timing belts,as long as the passenger side breaks the distributor will still provide spark and the engine will "run",just on two cylinders.

 

also what moron would put an EA82 in an airplane when EA81's and EJ22's are plentiful?

Edited July 3, 201312 yr by Uberoo

you can buy sensor bungs that fit inline on a radiator hose. if you can get one with the right pitch for our sensors and a block off plug for the original hole from a hardware store you can cut two inches out of the hose, install the bung and just lengthen the wiring to reach it. Done it with  other cars that had the same issue. with one the sensor was at the very top of the cooling system so we drilled the block plug we used to fill the old sensor hole and tapped it for a petcock. made bleeding the air out of the cooling system a snap (which had been a real pain with those cars) . you let it idle with the petcock open until the thermostat opened and it started streaming out full time (no more air gaps) and closed it. 

 

 

figured I'd jump in with a pic of  the inline unit