Author Topic: Help! First signs of over heating.  (Read 3078 times)

Offline m_fumich

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Help! First signs of over heating.
« on: July 28, 2019, 04:54:02 PM »
We just bought a 2003 Subaru Outback. It’s got a transmission issue that we’re having looked at tomorrow. It’s our only transportation at the moment so we’re being very gentle with it. We drove to our sons house today, 45 min from our house, with a stop at the Kroger nearest his house on the way. After we left his house, we were planning on stopping at Costco which was on the way home. It’s an 18 minute drive from his house to Costco. About 3 min from Costco the AC quit blowing cold. I said something to my wife about it then it started blowing cold again. Less than a minute later is was back to not blowing cold. My wife looked at the dash and said “Does that have anything to do with it?” She pointed at the temp gauge and it was up to where I put the green line in the picture. By the time I stopped at Costco 2-3 minutes later, it had cooled off a bit and was holding just above the red mark. Driving speed when the gauge was reading hot was about 70 MPH so air flow wasn’t a problem. At no point was steam coming from the car. No boiling sound from the reservoir. No smell of coolant. Since it wasn’t boiling over, I just let it sit for the 30 minutes we were in Costco. We decided to go to our oldest son’s house 2 miles away where we could get water for the car if need be. All the way to my sons and halfway back home, the temp gauge read about where the yellow mark is. At that point, the temp rose just a bit to where I put the red mark. It’s about 10 minutes from where I get off the interstate to my driveway. By the time I got home, the temp gauge was reading where it is in the picture. At no time did steam come from the care, boiling sounds, or the smell of coolant. Any ideas?





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Online stokester

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Re: Help! First signs of over heating.
« Reply #1 on: July 28, 2019, 05:35:53 PM »
Diagnosing is difficult at a distance but I do know that Subarus of that era have an issue with head gaskets.  One of my first jobs as a NAPA mechanic was on a vehicle I knew nothing about that was overheating.  It appeared the cooling system was at fault so I flushed it and replaced the radiator resulting in a come-back with the same issue.

I was informed later that Subarus of a certain time-frame would develop head gasket leaks around 150k.  If your vehicle is near this mileage I suggest doing some search of head gasket issues.
Nick
Yorktown, VA

Offline m_fumich

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Re: Help! First signs of over heating.
« Reply #2 on: July 28, 2019, 05:41:13 PM »
It’s at 182k.


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Offline muddy

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Re: Help! First signs of over heating.
« Reply #3 on: July 29, 2019, 08:41:40 PM »
70 mph with the AC cranked... What was the outside temp? If it was 90 like it was around here. They will run hot

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Offline m_fumich

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Re: Help! First signs of over heating.
« Reply #4 on: July 29, 2019, 09:31:58 PM »
70 mph with the AC cranked... What was the outside temp? If it was 90 like it was around here. They will run hot

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No properly running car should run hot at 70 mph in 90° heat.


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Offline m_fumich

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Re: Help! First signs of over heating.
« Reply #5 on: August 09, 2019, 02:53:46 AM »
We’ve had the car for 2 weeks and it hasn’t run hot again. But from what I’ve read in the Subaru forums, that’s normal for the head gasket issues these cars develop. I could go weeks between flare ups. I’m good with that.

Just had to replace the battery. I just noticed the battery in it is for a 1990 Miata. It’s the size of a lawn mower battery but with round top post. A group 35 battery is the correct battery for the car.

The transmission will have to be replaced but it’s hanging in there for now. The labor guide gives 3 different labor times but doesn’t explain the difference between them. The cost to have a shop do the R&R if I provide the transmission is $800-$2000 depending on which labor time fits what I have.


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