faunjoustino Posted January 17, 2022 Share Posted January 17, 2022 ---- 1999 Subaru Legacy Outback 2.5L H4 AWD Automatic ---- Hey all!! This is a continuation of my dads car that sat for 2 years outside in Montana. Just looking for pointers as I things here and there. Just this past weekend I finally started the car! Good news is that it runs pretty darn good considering what its been through. What I've done so far: - Changed the valve cover gaskets, spark plug gaskets, grommets for the bolts. - Spark plugs - Oil and Oil filter - Thermostat, Radiator cap and coolant. - Drained old fuel and added new fuel So after 2 years she started up and ran fine, fans kicked on and I burped the system for bit then capped it off and drove it around the block a few times. Everything feels pretty good, lots of power (for 160Hp that is), breaks work but need to be changed, power steering squeaks a tad when fully locked out to either side. Couple issues. 1. When shifting from Park into reverse, there is a bit of a lunge or soft clunk and you can definitely feel the car shake a bit. When driving through the gears its good but could be a little smoother. So I'm not sure what is all to be concerned with there. 2. I was test driving and I noticed the temp gauge started to move a tad bit past the middle so I drove back a 1/4 mile and parked it and saw a trail of me dripping coolant all around the apartment complex. Popped the hood and found the upper radiator hose spraying coolant out the side. I grabbed the hose and it came right off and there was a piece of the upper radiator port broken off inside the hose and I squeezed the hose and the plastic part of the port stuck in there snapped so it was very brittle and from my memory of when it was overheating 2 years ago in Montana, that hose was spewing coolant. so time for a new radiator. Any precautions I should take when swapping the radiator out seeing as how there was broken pieces in the hose and I'm worried some may have gotten in the engine? however It seemed fine while driving back other than I noticed the temp gauge rising. and should I go OEM with the new radiator? they are currently like $300 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GeneralDisorder Posted January 17, 2022 Share Posted January 17, 2022 (edited) Why waste all that money and time when it needs head gaskets? You don't make any sense. Pull the engine and do the HG's or swap it. Don't waste time and money doing a bunch of sh1t you will just have to redo to replace the HG's. That's just stupidity. Koyo or CSF for the radiator will be fine. Get the hoses from Subaru. 99 was the first year for the phase-II automatic. They are known to have delayed engagement issues. Some people have luck with Trans-X additive. As far as how smooth it is - it's a Subaru not a Cadillac and you don't really want an auto to just lazily mush into gears - that causes friction and heat and wear. A positive, crisp shift that doesn't snap your neck is what you want. GD Edited January 17, 2022 by GeneralDisorder 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1 Lucky Texan Posted January 17, 2022 Share Posted January 17, 2022 also, check condition of u-joints for that clunking. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
faunjoustino Posted January 17, 2022 Author Share Posted January 17, 2022 (edited) 1 hour ago, GeneralDisorder said: Why waste all that money and time when it needs head gaskets? You don't make any sense. Pull the engine and do the HG's or swap it. Don't waste time and money doing a bunch of sh1t you will just have to redo to replace the HG's. That's just stupidity. Well I don't have the thousands of dollars for a HG or the swap at the moment. And there is a difference between being stupid and being ignorant. this is why I ask a bunch of questions so I can learn and not be a dumb a s s, but from what all I've been told and what I've tested in the past couple days I cannot say it has head gaskets issues with 100% confidence. With all the info I've provided to you guys and all the info you guys have given back you always said its "most likely" a HG, but "most likely" doesn't mean definitely and until I eliminate the other obvious reasons it would over heat I cant say it for sure quit yet. Until the already broken radiator hose broke off even more it maintained temp and drove fine, I don't think its the head gasket at this point but I still have more testing to do before I know for sure. at this point a piece if the cooling system is broken so we will just have to see what happens in another week. once I know its NOT the cooling system failing and if it overheats after this then I think its obvious and I will be getting a full diagnostic after I swap the radiator regardless if it overheats or not. I know for a fact the HG's were changed 3 years ago and it seems that I didn't overheat it to the point where I blew them. Edited January 17, 2022 by faunjoustino Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lmdew Posted January 18, 2022 Share Posted January 18, 2022 Good Luck! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GeneralDisorder Posted January 18, 2022 Share Posted January 18, 2022 Changed 3 years ago and they didn't do the (obviously questionable) radiator? Zero confidence in that repair.... GD Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
idosubaru Posted January 18, 2022 Share Posted January 18, 2022 Ignore shifting clunking (for now and probably for a long time). Bushings or delayed engagement which are both usually benign with no risk of breaking down yes the cooling system needs to not leak. aftermarket radiators Subaru hoses like GD said what made this car go to pasture for 2 years and not get used? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
laegion Posted January 18, 2022 Share Posted January 18, 2022 (edited) 13 hours ago, faunjoustino said: ---- 1999 Subaru Legacy Outback 2.5L H4 AWD Automatic ---- Hey all!! This is a continuation of my dads car that sat for 2 years outside in Montana. Just looking for pointers as I things here and there. Just this past weekend I finally started the car! Good news is that it runs pretty darn good considering what its been through. What I've done so far: - Changed the valve cover gaskets, spark plug gaskets, grommets for the bolts. - Spark plugs - Oil and Oil filter - Thermostat, Radiator cap and coolant. - Drained old fuel and added new fuel So after 2 years she started up and ran fine, fans kicked on and I burped the system for bit then capped it off and drove it around the block a few times. Everything feels pretty good, lots of power (for 160Hp that is), breaks work but need to be changed, power steering squeaks a tad when fully locked out to either side. Couple issues. 1. When shifting from Park into reverse, there is a bit of a lunge or soft clunk and you can definitely feel the car shake a bit. When driving through the gears its good but could be a little smoother. So I'm not sure what is all to be concerned with there. 2. I was test driving and I noticed the temp gauge started to move a tad bit past the middle so I drove back a 1/4 mile and parked it and saw a trail of me dripping coolant all around the apartment complex. Popped the hood and found the upper radiator hose spraying coolant out the side. I grabbed the hose and it came right off and there was a piece of the upper radiator port broken off inside the hose and I squeezed the hose and the plastic part of the port stuck in there snapped so it was very brittle and from my memory of when it was overheating 2 years ago in Montana, that hose was spewing coolant. so time for a new radiator. Any precautions I should take when swapping the radiator out seeing as how there was broken pieces in the hose and I'm worried some may have gotten in the engine? however It seemed fine while driving back other than I noticed the temp gauge rising. and should I go OEM with the new radiator? they are currently like $300 When I replaced the radiator in my '03 Outback I bought an O.E.M. Denso unit but not from the dealer, and it was about half the price. Edited January 18, 2022 by laegion Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
faunjoustino Posted January 18, 2022 Author Share Posted January 18, 2022 14 hours ago, GeneralDisorder said: Changed 3 years ago and they didn't do the (obviously questionable) radiator? Zero confidence in that repair.... GD I understand your skepticism but the HG's wered changed and sometime after the repair the car was in an accident and hit a tree, and since the radiator is curved like a banana at the bottom I would think that had something to do with it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GeneralDisorder Posted January 18, 2022 Share Posted January 18, 2022 1 hour ago, faunjoustino said: I understand your skepticism but the HG's wered changed and sometime after the repair the car was in an accident and hit a tree, and since the radiator is curved like a banana at the bottom I would think that had something to do with it. Not likely if the upper hose nipple sheared off. That radiator was questionable when the repair was done. That's OFTEN how these radiators fail - almost never having been in an accident. I replaced a 2014 radiator a few months back where the same thing happened - upper hose nipple got soft and turned a brown color and just sheared away from the tank. The Super Blue coolant in conjunction with higher temp thermostats is causing this to be a more frequent occurrence. Radiator lifespan is down to about 8-10 years and 10 is pushing it. GD Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
faunjoustino Posted January 18, 2022 Author Share Posted January 18, 2022 12 minutes ago, GeneralDisorder said: Not likely if the upper hose nipple sheared off. That radiator was questionable when the repair was done. That's OFTEN how these radiators fail - almost never having been in an accident. I replaced a 2014 radiator a few months back where the same thing happened - upper hose nipple got soft and turned a brown color and just sheared away from the tank. The Super Blue coolant in conjunction with higher temp thermostats is causing this to be a more frequent occurrence. Radiator lifespan is down to about 8-10 years and 10 is pushing it. GD Yea I get how it looks, from what I was told my dad didn't have the money to fix anything beside the HG's and the job was done as a courtesy and was strictly the HG's no timing belt or water pump. but again all the things I've been told about the car and what was or wasn't done, is all just hear say and I cant trust any of it to a certain degree so I'm just drawing my own conclusions based on what I know and what the car does, we will have to see what happens once I install the new radiator and luckily I only ran Super blue through it for about 2 days and I've driven less than 3 miles since she's been turned on. I haven't taken her on a longer drive or even over 30mph so we will have to see what happens with further trial and error. once I install the new radiator I will drive it across town and see what happens. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
el_freddo Posted January 18, 2022 Share Posted January 18, 2022 3 hours ago, faunjoustino said: once I install the new radiator I will drive it across town and see what happens When you do, only fill the cooling system with distilled water (until you can definitively rule out HG overheating issues) unless you have freezing weather over your way. If that’s the case you’ll have to do a decent flush of the cooling system to clear out the blue. Once that’s done add some green anti freeze coolant of your choice and go for the drive. If you use the distilled water you’ll still need to do a decent cooling system flush to remove all the blue stuff before adding the green you intend to use. On 1/18/2022 at 8:08 AM, faunjoustino said: Well I don't have the thousands of dollars for a HG or the swap at the moment. HG jobs don’t have to cost thousands. Many on the forum have done their own including myself. Do some research on the procedure as there’s lots of tips for the EJ25D to get it right. It’s not a hard job, it just freaks ppl out because they don’t understand the procedure or what’s required due to their belief they can’t pull down and engine and then put it back together again. If spinning spanners and torquing bolts is beyond your learning abilities then yes, a HG job from a reputable mechanic will cost a few grand. All the best with the radiator swap. I hope for your wallet it doesn’t show up with dead HGs! Cheers Bennie 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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