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Overheated Loyale


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I was told by the main driver of this 92 Loyale that it overheated. The vehicle pulled over, shut the engine when "smoke" was coming from under the hood. I also found out that the vehicle was driven with the temp gauge in the red for at least 3-4 minutes and then it idled for another minute.

 

A friendly driver stopped by, then got some water, poured it into the radiator and it all came out at the bottom.

 

This EA82 engine was just installed a few days ago and the the car has been driven for about 200 miles since then.

 

My question is, what's the likely cause of that overheating? Can a radiator burst? A hose that went bad? All hoses are new. Also, I have another radiator from a parts car - actually just the rear row, the bigger one.

 

Could it have damaged the heads? I know that the ones installed on there did not have any cracks. How can I verify that there is no permanent damage? Pull compression? Anything else? The car is currently at a shop a few hours away, so I cannot take a look at it and my anxiety level is pretty high. Main thing, I don't want to damage the engine which I just got and which ran beautifully.

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Running that much time in the red, you can probably count on damage to the heads.. they do not like to be overheated..

 

"all the water came out the bottom"

 

sond like the radiator went crap.. soob radiators are not exactly the world champions of cooling anyway..

 

only sure way of checking for permanent damage is to pull the heads off and look them over, maybe have them magnafluxed

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Update -

 

I never got a chance to look at it (it is out of town) but the shop said it is not the radiator. Seems like incompetent install, the people who installed the engine apparently did not properly tighten the metal line which goes from the radiator to engine. It is that silver looking metal line.

 

They said it idles fine, but I will make the shop which did the install pull heads and check them. Chances are, they need replacement. <sigh>

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I'm a little confused here. There are no metal cooling lines connected to the radiator. Automatic transmission cooling lines go to the radiator but have nothing to do with cooling system. A/C condensor lines go from the drier to the condensor but also have nothing to do with cooling. I would have someone look at it in person before any work is authorized.

 

Qman

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You said the engine was just installed; what was rebuilt?

 

This last winter I pulled apart an EA82 that had been over heated, died on the HWY, dude poped the clutch at 65 MPH. He kept driving untill it died again. He pulls over and waits for the temp guage to go down to about half. Starts it up again and drives home (another 10 miles).

 

The next day he calls me to come 'take a look at whats wrong'. He trys to start it and coolant starst SQUIRTING up rythmicly from everywhere and it sounds like a bong with all the bubbling in the overflow tank.

 

Well when we pulled it all apart there really wasnt HUGE amounts of damage that was expected. The lower end held together fine. Minimal scoring on the cylinder walls, heads had no visible cracks, valve train looked ok.

 

Point is I dont think in 5 minutes of driving overheated that there is any irrepairable damage done. You werent mixing oil and coolant (which is HORRIBLE on the power train!) and as long as you had good oil pressure I think you still have a reliable subaru on your hands.

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Sounds like the water pipe that fits into the water pump body. It's silvery, and leads to the radiator hose. There should be an O-ring on the pipe-to-water pump side -- I also found a goodly layer of silicone sealant on the original when I pulled mine.

 

If that's what it is, it shoulda been tested before the original shop let it out their door. I don't think I'd even want to let them put a wrench on my engine again, even to check the heads....

 

-- Mark

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The car ran fine for at least 200 miles as far as I understand. It only started having problems on the way back.

 

It is really aggravating to helplessly watch these developments from afar. It was out of town, that far away.

 

I should have it back in a few hours. I will do a compression check first of all, if the compression comes up as 170 PSI in all cylinders, should I assume that the heads are not cracked?

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Honestly I think she is fine, short of whatever cuased her to overheat. Engines are VERY robust. They continue to supprise me at every turn. I used to think they were very touchy and suseptible to seriouse breakage but the more I work on/with them the more this gets disproved.

 

Subarus are rough and tough and I'm sure your engine is fine :)

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Update, the car got here, I test drove it and all seems fine. Waiting for the engine to cool off so I can pull compression check. If compression is good, does this definitively tell you the heads are OK and not cracked?

 

The fix was - some "mechanic" charged $115 to "find why overheated and reconnect cooling line". Including $2 for coolant. No parts replaced. Sounds excessive? The main driver of the car thinks they got a great deal.

 

I usually do't' let "mechanics" touch my vehicles but this was beyond my control.

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A compression test is NOT a deffinitive answer to headgasket or head cracks. However I HIGHLY doubt this engine has sufferd such severe damage.

 

Sounds like a typical invoice. A bit on the high side but what did they charge for labor? Then theres good old uncle sam stepping in for his share (read: taxes) While they didnt necesarily get ripped off its nothing I (or you I'm sure) would pay to have the waterpump tube fixed.

 

I bet you see another load of RTV like you found before =P

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After the vehicle cooled overnight, I pulled compression on it.

 

Passenger's side: 125 and 115.

 

Driver's side: 75 and 90.

 

Sounds like the heads need to come off and re-installed. It should be way higher than this. What's the normal compression? 175? The last time I pulled compression on this engine, I got 175 on the driver's side. Before the engine got installed.

 

 

Another question: There is a hose that's disconnected and I cannot figure out where it should be plugged in. It is a T to a hose running from the transmission to the engine block. That T is right near the EGR valve, slightly ahead of it. It about 1/4" in diameter and it is sucking air in. Without it, the car seems to idle poorly.

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