new water pump, hoses, Subaru OEM radiator, Subaru thermostat, radiator caps and no coolant loss. the thermostat and radiator caps have been replaced multiple times with no change in symptoms. both fans work and turn on, heater blows hot.

 

did this last summer, but being winter it never got hot enough to matter. now that it's warming up the symptoms are back - the temp gauge drifts more than normal and will get high when climbing steep grades (interstates through the mountains) or when it's really hot and using the A/C. i occassionally find the radiator hose collapsed, but i've replaced the radiator caps multiple times, which is the typical cure for that.

 

maybe i need a different hose?

 

it has an XT bumper instead of an XT6 bumper, that wouldn't cause anything right?

Let me know what you come up with if you ever get this solved since mine seems to have a same problem...where does your gauge sit normally BTW..mine is at half way ..will move up to about 1/4 inch below hot then drop suddenly back to half.

half way is not normal. 1/3 is about normal for an XT6.

 

our overheating is not likely to be related since i've replaced everything in the cooling system that normally causes issue. if you're getting close to the red, you want to get on this fast. it will get worse before it gets better.

Sounds to me like air flow could be the problem. It has all the symptoms of a clogged radiator, but you say its new. AC condensor fins plugged up?

turbone - i probably should check the fins in the condensor. i did a quick peak and nothing appeared out of the ordinary up front, but i never really looked in the fins. i have the ATF cooler in the way, but i've done that on numerous XT6's without issue.

 

the radiator is definitely not the problem. same symptoms with two different radiators and this new radiator worked fine in my previous daily driver.

Having hoses collapse when you rev up the engine will cause overheating on the highway. There are very loosely wound springs that you can put inside the hose to hold it open. I have some of these in the upper and lower hoses on my EJ22 swap because the hoses have a tendecy to kink.

 

You would only need to do the lower hose, as it's the one that the pump is sucking through.

i need to check those hoses, maybe they are too prone to collapse?

hey gary, have you tried a chemical flush? prestone makes a product called zerex, or something like that. but they have three products, there are two cleaners, on is a quick flush and the other one is the heavy duty anti scaling cooling cleaner. then the third item is the system protector. it helps prevent scale build up and keeps the rest of the cooling systm in good shape longer. id try a normal flush first then go in after with the heavyduty cleaner, thenwhen you get it all together, add the protectant. its good stuff.

after replacing the faulty relay and the fans now working, it's much better. holds fine now even on hot days. with the a/c sometimes it seems the radiator hose wants to collapse still and will run hotter than normal rarely.

 

while looking at it, it looks like the hose is "too long" and causing it to crink at the bends, i think this is making it easier for it to collapse under load. i'm going to cut it down a bit so it's not so compressed and i have another hose if that doesn't work. pretty sure addressing that hose will take care of it completely.

 

thanks!

i'm baffled at this one. if i'm running the a/c on 90+ degree days it'll still run hot. didn't run it without a/c so don't know if it would do it otherwise. when it's 70's and 80's it's fine.

 

new water pump, thermostat (subaru, tried multiple ones), new Subaru radiator, new hoses, no leaks, no coolant loss, heater works fine, a/c works fine, both fans cycle on, crank pulley appears fine and alternator and a/c work fine (so the belt shouldn't be slipping)....but still runs hot. bizarre, bizarre, bizarre.

 

i'm going to check the water pump this weekend, i'm just going to pull it and replace it and compare the impellers and see if maybe they're a weak design?? seems like a stretch but not sure what else to do.

Gary..if it makes you feel any better...running Rockys AC causes him to get hot also...without a thermostat...with the one fan running constantly..the AC fan runs like it is supposed to and a freshly flushed radiator...without the AC on even in 90+ days he doesnt go above 1/4 but turn the AC on and he gets just about to 1/2 ....glad I dont mind no AC but Tommy whines like a little baby

but Tommy whines like a little baby

?????but what???? what's wrong with that???!!!!

?????but what???? what's wrong with that???!!!!

...I'm hot I dont like the road noise..the wind might mess up my mullet ..waa waa waa..LOL...Y'all wussies;) :-p

Crank pulley slipping under a load?

Timing correct?

Clutch ok on the A/C?

have you flushed the block??

 

Is there any possibility that it is a false "hot" reading?? I know that on some ea-81 digidash gauges (heard from GD anyhow) electrical drains (such as using the AC) can cause the needle to rise.. is there a chance that you aren't running hot??

 

what about the possibility of a hose getting pinched off for some bizarre reason only when you turn the AC on? or possibly, the hose is being pinched but it only gets hot with the AC on, on hot days?

 

Actually, the more I think about it the more a partial hose restriction COULD only manifest with hot running, on a hot day, with the AC on (read: cooling system approaching maximum capacity.) Do the XT6 hoses have any sort of spring inside them to prevent this from happening? were your hoses good matches to the ones that came off? heck, you know XT6s like the back of your hand; you should know if they were maybe a little long, or short, or somehow "different.."

 

its GOT to be something simple, like a restriction of coolant flow. Maybe something is stuck on the thermostat, impeding water flow through it.. have you removed the housing since you fixed your fans?? it could be as simple as a chunk of crud that wont disintegrate, stuck behind your thermostat. In any case, "tough" problems like this cooling system one often turn out to be simple things that just havent gotten noticed.. and I *think* this issue either qualifies as one of those, or is rapidly approaching it.

crank pulley isn't slipping, checked that. it's not the a/c clutch, it will go above normal even without the a/c on....has to be a steep uphill climb and fairly hot out.

 

i've replaced the thermostat like 3 times, so that's not it.

i haven not flushed the block. would that really help?

 

i'm supicious of the hoses too, the top hose was collapsing sometimes. doesn't seem to be doing it anymore though, it seemed a little long so i trimmed it so it wouldn't be "under load" so to speak. i went to put another hose on this morning but i didn't have one.

 

i think i'll try another hose first and possibly flushing the block.

CHeck your voltages. If the voltage drops the temp gauge will read higher.

 

i am a little confused here, exactly what are we calling "hot" on the temp gauge?

 

nipper

hot....3/4 of the way up the temp gauge. i could make it go to red if i wanted to, crank the a/c up on a hot day cruising up a steep gradge. voltage seems okay, it's a new alternator, haven't noticed anything else but i haven't really checked it either.

 

every day i drive home i climb a really steep hill, the temp gauge will creep up above normal every time i climb that hill if it's hot out...whether or not the a/c is on. so i think we can rule out the a/c or a bad gauge since it's so predictable on steep grades. it's just worse with the a/c on. the common denominator is temperature and steep grades...all pushing the limits of the cooling system, so it's not operating at full capacity. it did this last summer when i first got it, but summer went away. never ran hot all winter at all...now that's it warm out, it's doing it again.

 

i'm going to find a new hose (different brand than the one on there now), i just marked the crank pulley (to see if it's slipping at all), and maybe flush it.

new water pump, hoses, Subaru OEM radiator, Subaru thermostat, radiator caps and no coolant loss. the thermostat and radiator caps have been replaced multiple times with no change in symptoms. both fans work and turn on, heater blows hot.

 

did this last summer, but being winter it never got hot enough to matter. now that it's warming up the symptoms are back - the temp gauge drifts more than normal and will get high when climbing steep grades (interstates through the mountains) or when it's really hot and using the A/C. i occassionally find the radiator hose collapsed, but i've replaced the radiator caps multiple times, which is the typical cure for that.

 

maybe i need a different hose?

 

it has an XT bumper instead of an XT6 bumper, that wouldn't cause anything right?

 

There is another post like this, hence my confusion...

 

 

You need a radiator.

 

 

nipper

You need a radiator.

 

new water pump, hoses, Subaru OEM radiator, Subaru thermostat, radiator caps and no coolant loss

 

Try a reinforced hose. If you cant find one, use a coat hanger and coil it up. Might be a PITA (probably is, never done it myself:-p ) But that will keep it from collapsing.

Theres some stuff out called "Wetter Water". I've heard good things about it, but again, I've never used it. Once I get my XT6 running, I'll be using some. Its a warm runner also.

You need a radiator.

that's what i would think, but it works fine in two other XT6's and it's new OEM Subaru. i also installed another radiator in this vehicle and the temp behaved identically.

OK NOW your being difficult .....

 

 

Didi you say you had a differnt front bumper skin? I would pull that off and see what happens.

yes, my XT6 has a 4 cylinder bumper..or cover. good point nipper, so i checked into it and it was mildly interesting! the XT and XT6 bumper covers, and all other bumper parts are the same part number, there's no distinction. Subaru includes time in the R&I, O/H of the bumper to install the headlamp washers for the XT6. weirdo, makes complete sense but i wouldn't have guessed that. i want the headlight washers anyway and i have a "real" XT6 bumper (though it's in the wrong state at the moment), so that's on the to-do list and may have just got bumped up in priority!

 

my check list:

 

clean condensor fins

move ATF cooler

different radiator hose (probably Subaru)

flush block

swap bumper

Are the condensor fins straight?

 

HAve you tried a differnt grade of fuel?

 

i'll admit im runing out of ideas...

 

 

nipper

let me go through that check list above and see what happens before you tell me you're out of ideas..that's too scarry!

 

what would a different grade of fuel do?