I have a 91 Loyale with a problem the has me scratching my head.

 

Since I inherited this great car its had this weird (at least to me) problems. In the summer thetemp runs at the high end of the normal range, if I turn on the A/C it goes into the red. And in the winter time the temp barely gets into the normal range and no warmer. I did have a problem with the A/C cutting out but solved that problem with a fix I found on this forum. but the issue with the heat/no heat I don't believe had any bearing on the A/C issue

 

So

1. Runs hot in summer, with A/C on it overheats

2. I tested the electric fan and it runs, whether our not it come on when I'm driving I don't know, though someone told me if the a/c is on the fan should run.

3. Barely gets warm in the winter.

4. Shop Put in an aftermarket thermostat years ago with marginal change.

 

Any suggestions?

Could be you are low on coolant, hopfully other than that do yourself a favor... get SUBARU oem thermostat and new radiator.. if it was never change before.. or you could be having a head gasket failing.. open radiator cap and look for air bubbles ;( not that hard of a job to do.. I did it last October

 

my fan kicks a little above 1/4 #kinda easy way to be sure# take off belt driven fan.. via lay on your back under the front with a screw driver wedged between a nut and stem of fan bring with you a 10 millimeter wrench.. hook up alternator belt only if ya want start it up and wait for your electric fan to kicks on..

 

Other than that check the forms of head gasket

I had a similar issue with a junkyard turdadiator.. not saying my episode could be the same as yours After doing my head gaskets...

There is a wealth of info and help here..

Below is a link to my episode..

 

http://www.ultimatesubaru.org/forum/topic/155547-my-compression-test-resultsea82/

Edited July 21, 20169 yr by Len Dawg

+1 to previous response. And read through the linked thread.

 

Coolant system must be full of liquid, no air.

 

Running these engines over normal temperature is not good for headgaskets. Running them over normal temperature while low on coolant damages headgaskets.

 

 

Barely gets warm in winter - how do you mean this?

I think a new radiator will solve the overheating problem. The one in the car is now 25 years old. 

Dave it barely gets into the normal range in winter using the dash temp guage.

I'll do the checks for bubbles and such and change out the thermostat with an OEM one. If no change I guess the next step is the radiator, like the post Sid it is 25 years old

the gauge on these are weird.  I've had several over the years.  Some gauges read normal at about mid scale, some read normal a little below 1/4 scale.  Once I've cross checked with a real thermometer, I have found the dash gauge repeatable / trustable.  But the calibration from car to car is all over the place.

 

Yes, do the bubble check, then thermostat, then radiator.  If the radiator is original, it probably won't last long anyway.  My 93 came with the original radiator, and it sprung a leak not long ago.  If it had been a CT car, it would have rotted out long ago, but it came from CA.