Driving my 88 DL to work about 20 miles on the highway. Got off at my exit and all of a sudden, my heat turns cold and my temp goes into the red. I drove about a mile till I could safely turn into a parking lot. As I went to turn, the car stalled. I waited for it to cool and then checked and to my surprise the radiator was almost empty and it felt as if the t-stat was closed. I topped off the rad, waited and now the car wont start. It never overheated though. Please let me know what you think!

That does not sound good. Your "temp went into the red" but it "never overheated?" Sounds like wishfull thinking. You could be looking a warped heads or a blown headgasket (lost all coolant through the exahast?). I sincerely hope its not that bad.

I see no evidence of collant loss. It never steamed smoked or anything. Almost like the stupid owner just didn't realize that it was empty. Am I stupid for thinking maybe it will just start up if I let it sit? I remember once that was the case when I left the radiator cap off.

As long as it cranks over, there is hope (at least the engine is not siezed). check all you fluids, make sure you are getting spark and fuel to the cylinders. If it still wont start, then it's time for a compression check.

It cranks over no problem. It just wont start.

everything looks normal in the engine bay?

check for spark, the heat could have fried the ignition coil.

check cap and rotor.

 

check the fusible links under the hood (close the battery on most subaru's)

 

the heat could have caused something to fail.

Yes. Everything looks fine in the engine bay. I hope it is not a big deal. Just tried to fire her up again with no luck. Having it towed. I am bafled.

if it is turning over fine, and everything looks ok, you need to pull a plug wire and check for the spark....weak spark will not start the car, needs to be a good strong spark.

 

if the spark is weak, would suspect weakened coil

Went into the RED!!!!! and no coolant probably cooked the heads, get ready to pull heads and replace.

I think a compression test would tell you a lot about what's going on.

 

I suppose it may be possible that the heat killed at least one of the timing belts. You can check this on the left side by removing the disty cap and seeing if the rotor turns while cranking the engine. On the right side, it's a piece of cake to remove the outermost piece of the timing belt cover so you can inspect the belt and see if it is turning the cam while the engine is cranking.

I had the same thing happen... heat when cold and the temp gauge went into the red... this was in my '91 legacy.. but when it happened there was quite a bit of steam.. I pulled over and let it cool off, and topped it up with some coolant.. drove another mile and it overheated again. did this dance the entire 7 miles home.. drive a mile, temp gauge starts to go up, stop, top it off, let it cool, drive a mile, temp guage goes up....

 

I replaced the thermostat thinking it had stuck closed.. no luck. now I'm on to the water pump I guess as there doesn't seem to be much pressure in the radiator hoses when the car is running, and it seems logical that if it's not circulating it can cause the car to overheat and the heater to be cold

So, aside from the fact that the heat could have cooked something so the car does not start, my other question is: what would have failed to cause the heat blowing out plenty of hot air at 75mph to instantly changing to COLD air and the needle shooting towards the red as soon as I slowed to exit from the highway?

what would have failed to cause the heat blowing out plenty of hot air at 75mph to instantly changing to COLD air and the needle shooting towards the red as soon as I slowed to exit from the highway?

 

A long time ago, one of mine had a leak that was slowly loosing coolant. No puddles, no smoke, but it was evaporating so it snuck up on me. First notice was needle way up. Checked water, low. Add water, head home. Needle goes into red in about 1/2 mile @ 55MPH. Heater on High, idled to a parking lot, where I removed the t-stat, thinking it was stuck. More water, got home, seemed to run ok. But kept needing more water. After a 4) 16mile trips on the highway, I found out where it was going - the crank case.

 

Blown head gasket/s. Bearings and all were ok, so I put it back together. It burns about 1 quart of oil per week, (at least it doesn't leak any more:)) so the rings must be fried, but runs pretty normal anyways... Soon to be retired, as I have a couple other better engines around. I am using it to burn used oil from other cars until warm weather and engine swap.

 

Dave

Driving my 88 DL to work about 20 miles on the highway. Got off at my exit and all of a sudden, my heat turns cold and my temp goes into the red. I drove about a mile till I could safely turn into a parking lot. As I went to turn, the car stalled. I waited for it to cool and then checked and to my surprise the radiator was almost empty and it felt as if the t-stat was closed. I topped off the rad, waited and now the car wont start. It never overheated though. Please let me know what you think!

 

The heater went cold - all of a sudden, one of the coolant hoses to heater core must have come off or your heater core struck a leak (look for puddles in the car!), this would explain no heat getting to T/stat and top hose as well, and empty radiator. The no start may or may not be relatedl

The heater went cold - all of a sudden, one of the coolant hoses to heater core must have come off or your heater core struck a leak (look for puddles in the car!), this would explain no heat getting to T/stat and top hose as well, and empty radiator. The no start may or may not be relatedl

 

I don't mean to be sarcastic (or maybe I do) but if this happend while speeding down the highway, do you think he might have noticed?

Thanks to all who replied. It is looking more and more like the computer is the cause of the no-start. I have not even looked into what those things cost but maybe I will do a search to see if it is worth it.