my 81 ea81 temp is climing at a idle, but when i'm driving it stays at 160. theromastat, water pump are both new. upper and lower hoses are both close in temp, rad looks like it has good flow. the heater blows warm if that. any ideas? Thanks

Temp should be 193. 160 is too low. Get an OEM thermostat, and verify temp with a known reliable gauge or laser reader.

 

Sounds like your radiator fan isn't working. Should come on at 195 or so. The thermoswitch in the radiator can fail or the connections can corrode. Check that first.

 

GD

have oem temp stat from subaru in it already. i'll check the switch, but what do you think about the low temp when i'm driving?? the guage is good

but what do you think about the low temp when i'm driving?? the guage is good

 

How do you know it's good?

 

GD

local shop used laser and it read the same as my guage( with in about 5 degres)

Sounds like your radiator fan isn't working. Should come on at 195 or so. The thermoswitch in the radiator can fail or the connections can corrode. Check that first.

 

GD

 

this was the correct diagnosis for my car when it was doing the same thing, easy way to tell if it's the thermoswitch is to remove the plug from the back of the thermoswitch and just use a piece of wire to "bridge" the two leads in the plug together . . . if the fan turns on immediately your thermoswitch is toast. cheap and easy to fix!!! if you get nada from the fan, time to investigate more deeply.

your low temp while driving is simply due to the cold air cooling the engine sufficiently

chris

Then your thermostat isn't closing properly. 160 is too low - the thermostat should close and restrict flow till the engine is at 193 degrees. That's it's job.

 

GD

i'll test the stat tomorrow, but this is the fifth that has been put in and the same problom

stat test good, it is still running too cold. any other ideas??

Five thermostats in a row.....any chance they were installed backwards? Just a thought. Anyway, ALWAYS use OEM thermostats.

 

As to the overheating at idle. If the fan is turning and the thermoswitch is turning it on (not sure why it would turn on at 160 degrees), check to make sure the fan blows air in the correct direction...i.e. sucks air through the radiator as if you were moving forward; not pushing hot air from the engine into the radiator. It wouldn't be the first time someone reversed the wires on the fan and it's turning in the wrong direction.

truth, the man speaks the truth.i have done this twice(i did not have stock plugs on my fans)

 

Five thermostats in a row.....any chance they were installed backwards? Just a thought. Anyway, ALWAYS use OEM thermostats.

 

As to the overheating at idle. If the fan is turning and the thermoswitch is turning it on (not sure why it would turn on at 160 degrees), check to make sure the fan blows air in the correct direction...i.e. sucks air through the radiator as if you were moving forward; not pushing hot air from the engine into the radiator. It wouldn't be the first time someone reversed the wires on the fan and it's turning in the wrong direction.

Sorry if this has been mentioned

 

but

the thermoswitch in the rad

provides the ground for the fan on these

model Subes

 

therefore the rad needs grounded

 

A small sometimes ignored wire does this.

 

Make sure the wire is intact.

Sorry if this has been mentioned

 

but

the thermoswitch in the rad

provides the ground for the fan on these

model Subes

 

therefore the rad needs grounded

 

A small sometimes ignored wire does this.

 

Make sure the wire is intact.

Skip is absolutely correct on that wire. Easy to miss and more easily removed when a radiator is replaced. Easy to tell: If there's one pin on the thermoswitch, you need the ground wire. If there are two pins on the thermoswitch, you don't (ground return is in the harness somewhere).

 

 

Here's the ground wire Skip is talking about. This is on my '84 Brat. In the background you see one of the battery cables (battery has been removed since the car is in storage in my garage). I've replaced the wire with a slightly heavier one and you can't see this, but scrape off the paint to insure a proper ground.

truth, the man speaks the truth.i have done this twice(i did not have stock plugs on my fans)

Third time's the charm, ehh?

problem is still there, temp is too low when i'm driving(160-170). fan turns on when it should. i need heat when i drive, not when i'm stoped

Xoomer, do as GD says

your T stat is functioning properly

but

it is a lower temp T-stat than you need in winter.

 

I went through this with a turbo wagon I had.

 

 

Look at the Tstat it should be stamped what temp it is.

 

It may be in deg C

 

193 deg F = ~ 90 deg C

 

 

Nice picture Ed, well done.

so is it bad to have a 180*F T stat?Thats what Im running in my EA81 toy.As far as Im concerned the longer the temp stays cold the better.

Ub, no that is fine.

 

I have expierenced the heat (temperature wise)

 

it not hot enough for me using the 180.

 

The ~15 deg increase made a big difference

to me anyhow.

if this was a DD I would run a 195*F Tstat.However this is my EA81 Toy.I am trying to keep it from blowing a headgasket for as long as possible.So im fine with burning a touch more gas and not having a lon of heat as long as the headgaskets dont blow.Actually the heat mine makes is quite nice.even with several LARGE holes in which air can escape it gets toasty in there.-theres a couple holes in the body from rust and I have no shifter boot...For the most part it stays cold when Im driving it just it slowly warms up when I am stopped(need to wire in the radiator fan).Right now because the snow if it starts climbing I can throw snowballs at the radiator...and it actualy works!

thanks for the info Uber

this post

by Xoomer

was about not having enough heat while driving.

 

Sounds like you have that covered in your

situation.

Yes - what does the thermostat say on it? Should look like the left one in these pictures:

 

 

GD

thats what it looks like. 195d from the dealer. i'm at a lost cause, my xt-6 cant drive cause it cuts out so i have to drive this. i cant find no blockage nowere, should i risk restricking air flow??