Overheating Forester 2000 Engine

[milo2000]

Hi,

 

I had posted to this forum previously regarding a potential Head Gasket problem that my mechanic warned me about. We have a 2000 Forester at 152K miles and have run into an overheating engine issue.

 

Due to the expensive nature of a HG change, we went with the Subaru recommended coolant sealing solution (and a thermostat replacement) after the checkup.

 

For about a month, everything was fine. Last week, the engine started overheating in traffic again. On highways, there is no problem, but as soon as we hit stop-and-go traffic, it starts to overheat again.

 

I checked the coolant level, and it is fine (no leakage).

 

What else may be causing it? What should I be looking at to prevent a potential blown HG?

 

Thanks in advance.

 

Milo

[idosubaru]

when it starts to run hot are the fans turning on? if none of the fans are turning on that is your problem and a common cause of overheat at idle or in slow traffic.

 

partially clogged radiator and thermostat are other possibilities.

[Pillowsplat]

Milo, I'm running into the same problem with the heat on a 03 legacy 2.5 L OBW. I have aleady replaced the headgaskets about 30,000 miles ago. I have checked the Fans, made sure the coolant level was OK and had the radiator fins cleaned out by a professional. Still the same symptom 95 degree day stop and go temp gauge increases till I shut the AC down and it seems to recover. I ordered a new radiator from radiator.com and plan on changing that out sometime this week as well as the thermostat and coolant. I will post if that solved the problem. I also used the stop leak and it would be my speculation that it decreases the effeciency of the radiator or I have some sort of clog in the radiator. I'm at 120,000 miles I changed the coolant once and had the shop do it once. The one time I changed it out I was surprised at the amount of crud that came out the drain.

[ericem]

u try washing the radiator and checking fluid levels, and do u detect any leaks?

[nipper]

ok first thing is invest in a new radiator cap.

Secondly feel the hoses when the engine is hot, if they arent close to the same temp you have a clogged radiator.

When was the last time the coolant was flushed and replaced. When was the last time the t-stat was replaced.

Overheating with the ac on is indictaive of a clogged radiaotr. if the raditor wasnt cleaned after the HG job, that can be the cause.

 

 

niper

[milo2000]

Thanks to all who responded.

 

I found another mechanic who confirmed that the overheating was due to HGs, did not find any cracks but shaved all the HGs and replaced the water pump, etc. for about at least $1300 cheaper than the other mechanic who had quoted me minimum $2,700 to replace the HGs.

 

The temperature is back to normal. I just hope we will not run into this HG issue for a while!

[idosubaru]

wow....quoted $2,700 for headgasket? good thing you checked around because that's an outrageous price. you buy a rebuilt motor for that from CCR probably. $1,000 - $1,500 is about the normal rate, sounds like you got it done right.

 

typically the newer headgaskets are better and mitigate the problem. the only failure i recall seeing of a replaced headgasket (someone on the board here) was due to something else....like overheating due to bad radiator/thermostat/water pump which blew the headgasket.

 

you should be golden, thanks for the update and resolution.