Hello everyone, need some advice 97 subaru legacy outback 182k on it. overheating, just installed new radiator and thermostat, refilled and fired up let run at idle until temperature came up then held about 2000 rpm and temp started rising. Thinking it may be the water pump considering upper hose is hot lower is cold.

Also need direction on where water pump is, can't find my repair manual right now, I am more of a novice mechanic.

What T Stat did you use?

Did you fill system from upper hose first?

The T stat sits in the bottom of the water pump.

 

O.

Subaru engine will airlock if not filled and burped properly.

 

Why did you change those parts?

Was it overheating before the change?

Did you rule out Head Gaskets?  Look in your overflow bottle, is there black oily stuff in there?  If so your HG are most likely gone.

 

2.2 swap is a great option.

I am limited to orielly's parts right now. I did not fill from upper hose as the radiator has the air bleed screw on the top left. The old radiator had a leak and it was over heating before the change, there is no coolant in the oil or vise verse and no white smoke coming out the tail pipe.

water pump is under the timing covers, to replace it you need to remove the timing belt. It is recommended that you change the water pump, timing belts, cam seals and crank seal , the tensioner and all idlers. A good gates kit is available on amazon, don't buy the cheap china kits on ebay.  Your motor is a double cam engine and is an interference motor. This means that if you must time the belts properly or you will bend valves if you starter crank the motor. If you are a novice mechanic , this may be more than you will want to take on. 

1.  properly burp the air out of the system.

 

2. it is most definitely not the water pump - i will bet $1,000 it's not the pump as long as a 3rd party escrow account is used because i'm 100% certain to win.  obviously we're not going to bet, that's just an illustration that this is more than an unfounded anecdotal interweb opinion. 

 

3.  if you're still having issues - then describe: 
A.  where was the radiator leaking - *exactly* where was it leaking.  like post a picture or tell us the exact part that was leaking. 

B.  how long have you owned the vehicle?  

 

If burping doesn't fix it then it's likely the headgaskets based on the limited information we have so far. 

 

. The old radiator had a leak and it was over heating before the change, there is no coolant in the oil or vise verse and no white smoke coming out the tail pipe.

 

oil/coolant mixing and white smoke are not the normal initial signs of headgaskets so those points don't mean much on their own at the moment. 

Edited January 27, 201610 yr by grossgary

The easiest hg test in the world. When its up to temp watch for bubbles in the overflow tank. Sniff the bubbles. If it smells like exhaust, yep, yer head gaskets are gone.

Hello all, thank you for all the suggestions, have had internet problems sorry about late response but ended up being air locked. Now just need to get the front roots and pads changed out and regular maintenance done.