Hi, guys! We just picked up this 1998 Forester, previous owner parked it because it was overheating. It sat in the weeds here in Hawai'i for three years, and started right up. It also started to overheat on the way up the hill.

I suspect the heads are warped because the coolant, after being forced into the reservoir, will not suck back into the radiator as it normally should. 

No steam out the tailpipe. 

No oil in the coolant.

No coolant in the oil. 

The heater works.

I suppose I should pull the plugs to look for evidence of coolant there.

How else can I check for evidence the head gaskets are leaking?

And lastly, maybe it just needs a new radiator? 

I took the radiator out of my parts car and installing in this one. The coolant connections for the tranny lines are on the bottom of the radiator instead of on the driver side, but with some longer hoses I think I can get it connected okay. So we'll see what happens. 

Blown head gaskets. The longer you wait, the more damage you will do. 

/thread

GD

if you can find one, EJ22 swap it, that engine in the car sucks. 

*technically* speaking you should verify there's no leaks, radiator level is full, it's properly burped/no air in the system, and the thermostat/rad cap properly operate. 

but practically speaking it's going to be the headgaskets.

I know a fellow on near Honolulu that has a great 2.2 for you to do the Swap with.

Much less than doing all of the engine work to fix the HG on the DOHC engine.  

Saturday morning here,  decided to take the thermostat out, and it's already gone. My first impression was head gaskets; maybe it's just the water pump? I know, probably not because previous owner most likely warped the heads. 

On 7/16/2018 at 1:40 AM, lmdew said:

I know a fellow on near Honolulu that has a great 2.2 for you to do the Swap with.

Much less than doing all of the engine work to fix the HG on the DOHC engine.  

How can I get ahold of him?

PM you