My 96 legacy outback wagon is overheating.

The conclusion people jumped to was head gasket. It has passed a radiator pressure test for leaks and the emissions test for head gasket. The thermostat was also replaced. The radiator was actually pulled out and checked and found to be ok. Any ideas? Thanks!

My 96 legacy outback wagon is overheating.

The conclusion people jumped to was head gasket. It has passed a radiator pressure test for leaks and the emissions test for head gasket. The thermostat was also replaced. The radiator was actually pulled out and checked and found to be ok. Any ideas? Thanks!

 

Run the car until it warms up and then while it is still idling take a peek in the coolant overflow tank. If you see any bubbling likely it's an internal blown HG...if there is any darkish matter (oily greasy residue) in the overflow tank it is definitely a blown HG.

 

I'm guessing you have a 2.5L engine. It's notorious for blowing HGs...so much so my mechanic (who is a used Subaru dealer and mechanic) won't even sell cars with the Phase I 2.5L engine in them.

 

Cheers!

Damien

this is the start of a classic headgasket thread. they are notorious for being undetectable in terms of the typical head gasket tests. was helping a local mechanic track down an overheating issue on one of these motors since im familiar with subarus. same thing...overheated but no leaks, passed the coolant tester he had, thermostat replaced twice and tested in a pan and reinstalled. i told him the same thing- headgasket.

 

you should snoop around a littler, sounds like you already have. but you should replace the thermostat to be sure. and are you loosing any coolant? if you're loosing coolant and you don't see leaking and your passengers side floorboard aint wet, then it looks like headgasket to me.

Also, make sure your cooling fans are working properly. The first time this happened to me it was the coolant temp sensor (I think that's the name of it).

 

zzzasy

'98 OBW

The water pump needs inspecting too.

 

 

Please try searching around the board, lots if information on the symptoms of head gasket failure - like when the overheating happens and the exact behaviour.

My 96 legacy outback wagon is overheating.

The conclusion people jumped to was head gasket. It has passed a radiator pressure test for leaks and the emissions test for head gasket. The thermostat was also replaced. The radiator was actually pulled out and checked and found to be ok. Any ideas? Thanks!

 

Head gaskets, common failure. Many assume it is the thermostat at first-they are wrong. An air pocket -from the head gasket-gets caught behind the thermostat and won't allow it to open up. The head gaskets fail slowly-so you can't allways prove they have failed. You can sometimes catch them with a gas analyzer placed in the over flow bottle-basically you are checking for hydrocarbons. Find a Subaru shop and have the head gaskets replaced. Good luck.