86subaru Posted March 8, 2005 Share Posted March 8, 2005 i replaced the thermostat in my 88 dl spfi d/r wagon from napa 192 degree , when i start it up and drive 5-6 miles the temp gauge goes up into the red before the thermostat opens up , then it is ok and goes into the center of the temp gauge and stays there , my question is , is the thermostat sticking ? or should i replace it ?,[ it stays in the red for 5-10 seconds ] thanks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
robaru Posted March 8, 2005 Share Posted March 8, 2005 Red is bad, my vote is to replace it. Did the old thermostat have that problem?Do you have all the radiator fluid topped back up to the proper level. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
86subaru Posted March 8, 2005 Author Share Posted March 8, 2005 the old thermostat was bad ,because the temp gauge would not even go 1/4 of the way up , yes all fluids were topped off , i think i will replace it again , 2 months i did this ,napa type , 192 degree , so maybe 180 would be better ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
boing Posted March 8, 2005 Share Posted March 8, 2005 Hi 86!! It didn't take me long to learn that you should NEVER let the temp get into the red. Because of the aluminumn engine alot of things happen.... like gaskets start to blow things crack ...etc.. I strongly recommend that if it gets close to the red..... pull over and let it cool down. I have a question for you... Do you have more than 50% coolant in your radiator? I've seen some weird heating and cooling problems happen when you get up beyond 65 percent coolant so you might try taking some coolant out and adding good clean water. It's possible that the thermostat is malfunctioning so replacing that isn't out of the question. I recently put 3 (count them.... 3) thermostats in my 3 door coupe before one worked at the right temp. The two before that didn't open until after 250 degrees on the stove and obviously in my car. Car parts are getting weaker and lamer in the after market world (my opinion and experience). It would be interesting to see if you took the thermostat out completely and see if it does the same thing.... if it does the same thing it wasn't the thermostat but an air block (grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr, some of those can get bad ) or perhaps too much coolant. One more thought.... perhaps the temp sensor is turning the fan on late but this will give you something to think about. Please let us know so I can know too. boing Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
86subaru Posted March 8, 2005 Author Share Posted March 8, 2005 i could have put to much pure coolant in , i will drain some out and put in water , and try it then , coolant temp sensor is new from dealer ,just went out and the over flow is over flowing after i shut the car off ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
karinvail Posted March 8, 2005 Share Posted March 8, 2005 I was told - (and I don't know if this is 100% true or not, but sounds reasonable to me) - that when you work on anything with the cooling system, when you put the water/coolant back in, then you start the motor and let it warm up the first time with the radiator cap off - then when the thermostat opens up, you can top off the radiator if the water/coolant level goes down. I guess this is to prevent those air locks. Don't knwow how common they are in Soob's, but I've heard of them being a real pain in other rigs. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
86subaru Posted March 8, 2005 Author Share Posted March 8, 2005 ok, thanks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
86subaru Posted March 9, 2005 Author Share Posted March 9, 2005 went out today to check it out, first off it was set for -30 which means to much pure coolant , , so i drained out radiator 1/2 gal aleast , added water , started it up drove it, the thermostat open up about 3/4 of the way on the temp gauge and opened and closed normally , i am going to let it set ,and strat it again and see where it opens again Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Petersubaru Posted March 9, 2005 Share Posted March 9, 2005 I think you have the wrong thermostate...make sure it has a small hole on the side of it thermo ( a little flapper/wiggler inside of a hole/ look at the original one or buy a thermo from the dealer/this way you are going to get the correct thermo for that particular car...or drill a hole yourself...that is the easiest and this way you can use a cooler thermo if needed especially if your car is "pinging"....without that small hole you can never get rid of the air in the system....fiil up the system slowly when cold and it will now fill most of your cooling system...drive and heat it up/check when cool Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
86subaru Posted March 9, 2005 Author Share Posted March 9, 2005 yes it did have the little hole in it ,and it said 192 degree , but you are right ,about oem type , thanks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Petersubaru Posted March 10, 2005 Share Posted March 10, 2005 if you already had the hole in the thermo, I doubt if the oem is going to work any better unless it calls for example...my 86 carb loyale calls for 180deg...make sure that the system is completely full...if you still have problems in the future let me know...from experience I still one more idea, but it is to negative to mention rite now...goodluck Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
boing Posted March 10, 2005 Share Posted March 10, 2005 Hi 86Subaru!!! I was having an overheating problem myself and I took a trip today with hills that was 45 miles away. During that trip I had to stop 9 times to let the thing cool down. The last time it over heated (not in the red but a bit before).... when it was cooling down it gurgled and took some of the water from the overflow but.............. at the same time emptied an air pocket. I added almost a gallon of water and......TA DA . My cooling problem is almost completely solved. I drove for a bit... overheated... added water one more time and was able to drive 30 miles at normal temp. NOTE: in my case the air bubble was just before the heater core so the air was cool even while the water was boiling... after the suction from cooling down and adding water I have heat again too. How has your heater been working? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
86subaru Posted March 10, 2005 Author Share Posted March 10, 2005 my heater has been working great all 4 speeds , after letting it cool down , i drove it 65mph ,the thermostat opened up just above 1/2 , and the temp gauge moved down alittle to 1/2 way , it seems to be better Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MudisFun Posted March 10, 2005 Share Posted March 10, 2005 Did you put the thermostat in the correct way? The spring should lead to the rad and a valve that retracts to the engine. Boefore I knew any better I used the up arrow on a napa thermo but the spring needed to be up because the thermo was not before the water pump it was after. Long store short I didn't notice the problem for a month of freeway driving, still don't know why? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
86subaru Posted March 10, 2005 Author Share Posted March 10, 2005 yes i did , it fits into like a slot, but will double check tomorrow Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bratenstein Posted March 10, 2005 Share Posted March 10, 2005 Hey, I want to thank you all for this thread, too. I was having bizarre overheating problems, and it probably was due to air in the system. Now I understand and can avoid the problem. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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