October 10, 20223 yr Friends Legacy 2.2 has over heated a couple of times. When I fill the coolant, it runs fine for me. I know the HG leaks are sometimes hard to find. There was oily black stuff in the overflow bottle. A good indicatoe to me it's the HG. I've run it over 100 miles, short trips and the temp gauge is alway just under half and steady as can be. Small coolant leak that I have not found? HG that need to be run hard to leak? Would the Subaru Coolant conditioner be any good on a 1999 2.2? Thanks, Larry
October 11, 20223 yr if the hg leak is still small, it might take a while for it to show up again after refilling the coolant - as in 500-1000 miles.. all depends on how bad it is currently. I have had overflow bottles look nasty before and there was nothing actually wrong... just needed a good cleaning. I bought a dryer vent lint brush (something like this: https://www.amazon.com/Ettore-48400-Dryer-Cleaning-Brush/dp/B00972B60K?source=ps-sl-shoppingads-lpcontext&ref_=fplfs&psc=1&smid=ATVPDKIKX0DER ) to clean out the overflow bottles... a little bit of Dawn dish soap gets any oily residue out, the long brush can get all the way down to the bottom - rinse thoroughly with cold water to kill any remaining soap before putting it back and refilling. I would honestly be more concerned about the water pipe that runs along the top of the block leaking - usually at the point the small tube splits off to feed the throttle body.. I have had way more problems with that than with headgaskets.
October 11, 20223 yr Sure sounds like a gradually-developing HG leak to me. Look on the bright side: at this stage, you can plan a HG replacement in an orderly fashion. Leave it too long, and you'll be in a panic to fix it.
October 11, 20223 yr 7 hours ago, lmdew said: Would the Subaru Coolant conditioner be any good on a 1999 2.2? I can't imagine any downside to trying. It's gonna set you back what - five bucks? - and certainly won't make it any worse.
October 11, 20223 yr 13 hours ago, lmdew said: Friends Legacy 2.2 has over heated a couple of times. When I fill the coolant, it runs fine for me. I know the HG leaks are sometimes hard to find. There was oily black stuff in the overflow bottle. A good indicatoe to me it's the HG. I've run it over 100 miles, short trips and the temp gauge is alway just under half and steady as can be. Small coolant leak that I have not found? HG that need to be run hard to leak? Would the Subaru Coolant conditioner be any good on a 1999 2.2? Thanks, Larry How much/how quickly is it leaking, is it external or internal leak, is it the original gaskets? If it's a slow, external leak, on the original gaskets then you have a really good chance of it working. I wouldn't try if you suspect a reasonable amount of internal leakage. If it's leaking a lot or the gaskets were previously replaced - chances aren't great. If it's an internal leak - it has zero chance of working. This is when I think it can cause problems. This might not be 100% accurate but for example - Normally coolant conditioner is suspended in solution and doesn't "react" until it's exposed to a leak. So it doesn't do anything to cause issues. In an improperly working cooling system the conditioner may be exposed to air pockets, exhaust gases, pressure/temp fluctuations that may encourage it to react internally where it's not suppose to. This may or may not matter or it might take more than one bottle to cause issues, I haven't tried that enough to say. But I'd probably try to diagnose how much/how quickly it's leaking and if it's internal or external before attempting it.
October 11, 20223 yr Author Water pump leak, it looks like! 213K The belt looked pretty good from the side covers. We'll see when it's opened up. - Water Pump - T Belt - Idlers - Cam and Crank Seals and the oil pump oring - Valve Cover Gaskets That's what I suggested.
October 12, 20223 yr at 213K it is due anyway, if it hasnt been done recently. (and if it has been, then shame on not doing water pump as well)
October 12, 20223 yr too obvious to mention, but start simple. check hoses at radiator/engine for green crusty residue from tired hose clamps and leaks (happened to me causing momentary HG freakout) leaks can burn off on engine without puddling on the ground. did owner ever notice puddling or smells? Edited October 12, 20223 yr by brus brother
October 12, 20223 yr 6 hours ago, heartless said: at 213K it is due anyway, if it hasnt been done recently. (and if it has been, then shame on not doing water pump as well) Oh, piffle. I have yet to replace a water pump, either due to failure - or unnecessarily.
October 12, 20223 yr Author They never noticed leaks. I think I have a good used pump instock. Just need a new gasket if they want to go cheap as possible. We'll see.
October 16, 20223 yr Author Had a new T-belt and pulley in stock. I hit the yard for the T-Belt cover rear sections. Man I hate folks who don't do good maintenance. In the yard, the Drivers cam bolt was way over torques. 3' 1/2" breaker bar to get it off. I used the old t-belt in the yard to wrap it around the pulley and tie it to the frame. Nuts. Then when I uplled the water pump off the legacy, they had used a paper gasket. Hour later the flange was ready for the new Subaru metal gasket and water pump. Oil pump changed as the two lower t-belt cover tabs for the bolts were broken off. More poor maintenance. New Cam seals today and it should be back together. Good coolant system flush. It had the dirty dirty dirty coolant for sure. She should be back on the road.
October 31, 20223 yr Author Well, after a Holiday in Kauai I got it all put back together yesterday. I added Prestone Cleaner to the cooling system as the old coolant was very dirty. Ran great for 15 miles, temp gauge steady as could be. I was going to head out and put another 30 miles on it and the temp gauge started climbing. I turned around and went back home. Fans kicking on high even though the temp gauge was back to normal. Leaking water, coolant from the radiator. I shut it down and pulled the fans to get a better look. Top row of the radiator on passenger side leaking pretty good. I don't know if the previous owner had stop leak in the coolant system. Needs a radiator for sure, but I still think the HG are going. I let the owner know we could try a new radiator, but if its the HG I'd recommend a different engine. This one has been overheated and run low on oil to many times. I feel like it's one step forward and two steps back. Just trying to help them out. Waiting to hear what they want to do.
November 1, 20223 yr Author I put a bit of JB weld on the radiator. Leak has slowed enough to run it. I'm going to flush the engine to get the coolant cleaner out and then put in new antifreeze and the Subaru coolant conditioner. I'll run it to see if the HG are OK. If so, I told them they would need a new radiator.
November 4, 20223 yr Author 60 miles on it. Temp solid and below half. No leaks, but new radiator ordered.
November 7, 20223 yr Author New radiator should be here Monday. Sorry to say, as I thought I believe the HG are leaking. It's still pushing coolant into the overflow and not pulling it back in. I'm going to put the new radiator in and another bottle of Subaru conditoner and let them know it will most likely need a different engine. Up to them what they want to do. Larry
November 7, 20223 yr dont discount it just yet.. it could very well be just the leaky radiator. It wont suck coolant back in, because the system is not sealed properly - and it could be pushing it out for the same reason. get the new rad installed and see how she behaves before going down the "needs head gaskets/engine replaced" route.
November 7, 20223 yr Let’s get to the most important matter here. Did you shred the waves in Kauai ? We just had one come through that had work done at a somewhat reputable shop and the water pump practically fell off. I mean loose bolts. Paper gasket. Cowabunga Larry !
November 8, 20223 yr Author RT Rotator Cuff Surgery the end of August kept me out of the waves. The beach was great. Can't beat PMRF Barking Sands. I'd walk 2 hours and see 3 people on a busy day.
November 8, 20223 yr wow... that is totally not acceptable. Friggin FedEx.. i hate having to get stuff through them.. they have really gone downhill
November 8, 20223 yr dang! I do have a low opinion of radiator packaging - but limited to 2 experiences. But that is p!55 poor handling right there.
November 9, 20223 yr 12 hours ago, lmdew said: Free Replacement on the way! hopefully not with FedEx again, LOL
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