Many japan brands now have temp lights. They are here to stay,. At least they didn't do what Ford did with oil pressure gauges, which due to low oil pressure claims in the old trucks, they put a resistor in the gauge along with just an idiot light sender which would peg the oil gauge at normal with pressure of 6 psi or greater.

Yeah, cars in the war of slant 6s had air in the radiator to handle the expansion, and iirc, most didn't have recovery tanks. I actually added one onto a car or 2. The whole system was setup to keep the air in the the top of the radiator, so it wasn't a problem. Of course, part of what made it possible is that everything was bigger. You have to have a decent volume of space to hold the air and for the water to not mix and drag it back through the system..

I get that a temperature gauge is a waste of space for a lot of drivers, but most most of those drivers, a warning light is useless too, they ignore them.  Then they just don't understand why their engine needs to be replaced and why it costs so much.

 

But for those of us who do understand the temperature gauge, it is very useful.  I drove out of Death Valley to the California side one day when it was a 124 degrees at Furnace Creek.  No car pulls that grade with their AC on in that heat without getting hot.  I was in my Saturn.  With the AC off, the temp would return to normal, with it on, it would rise.  I put the AC in recirculation, then run the AC until the engine temp got up to about 60% of gauge scale (40% was normal), there were no numbers on the gauge.  I would push the AC button to off and let the fan recirculate the cool air as the engine cooled down to normal.  About the time the the cabin started getting uncomfortable, the engine was down to normal and I would repeat the cycle.

 

Could not of done that with just an idiot light.  I noticed the 2017 Outback they gave me this morning as a loaner while the Legacy is getting its new valve body in its transmission has a temp gauge, and it is not the limited model either, just the basic model.

The good news.  Informed yesterday; Subaru dealer and Subaru of America satisfied the car had proper servicing, so they will pay for all repairs under the 60,000 mile power train warranty.  I will keep it for awhile. Within the last 2 months had new rear brakes installed; new battery and new Michelin tires.  I figure with a new head gasket I will be good  to go for a good piece of time.

The 95 likely had one actual transmission failure and the other two were the installers fault. The cooler lines and cooler probably weren't flushed or replaced and all the debris went right into the new ones.

The 95 likely had one actual transmission failure and the other two were the installers fault. The cooler lines and cooler probably weren't flushed or replaced and all the debris went right into the new ones.

Some smart people on this forum.  The thing that really pissed me off about the 95 transmission failure was the fact I thought I felt hesitation from gear to gear; or skipping.  Anyway, I took it in to have it checked before I left on my trip.  The shop (dealer) said everything was fine.  Not!

sometimes you have to take a service writer or tech for a ride to demo the problem. And when you pick the car up, do a test drive nearby so you can leave it if it isn't right.