Cooling help please part2

[AutobahnSHO]

I sat with the hood open a few minutes, let it cool off.
(I happened to be in an industrial area that's still under development, next to the "Delta Baggage Control Center" ((like 20miles from the nearest airport, weird)) and some lady parks her explorer in the middle of 4 parking spaces, gets a cup of noodles from the back hatch of the truck, and goes inside)

On the way home suddenly the heat turned hot and temp went down to normal, then it bounced up and down but never came back all the way down to normal...     Wife will check with mechanic back in Utah whether he replaced the waterpump or not. I don't think it's the thermostat, it warms up normal and stays at that "normal" temp sometimes.

Thanks guys, will keep y'all posted!

[Eye of the Tiger]

air

[2o6]

Headgasket's failing. Or water pump is failing.

[shp4man]

I sat with the hood open a few minutes, let it cool off.
(I happened to be in an industrial area that's still under development, next to the "Delta Baggage Control Center" ((like 20miles from the nearest airport, weird)) and some lady parks her explorer in the middle of 4 parking spaces, gets a cup of noodles from the back hatch of the truck, and goes inside)

On the way home suddenly the heat turned hot and temp went down to normal, then it bounced up and down but never came back all the way down to normal...     Wife will check with mechanic back in Utah whether he replaced the waterpump or not. I don't think it's the thermostat, it warms up normal and stays at that "normal" temp sometimes.

Thanks guys, will keep y'all posted!

Do you want to keep fixing this car?  Is the radiator the origin zillion mile one? Sounds like Subaru shuts down the A/C when the engine overheats, don't know if the programming starts shutting down the engine on severe overheat situations as a fail safe, but you gotta fix this or Subie death is imminent. 

[AutobahnSHO]

wife says the mechanic had said the headgasket was partially cracked.

Going to get it to the dealership asap. Has 82,000 miles on it but it's a 2005.  Doubt we'll get a break warranty-wise, but it also probably needs t-belt, and the 90-120k services...

[CJ]

wife says the mechanic had said the headgasket was partially cracked.

Going to get it to the dealership asap. Has 82,000 miles on it but it's a 2005.  Doubt we'll get a break warranty-wise, but it also probably needs t-belt, and the 90-120k services...

It won't be cheap, but it'll be good to get everything done.

[AutobahnSHO]

As suspected, the headgasket needs to be replaced.

They said the overheating issue though is the radiator cap, it's defective so has caused some hoses to collapse (?). $75 for the fix.

We have decided to do the headgasket anyway, and timing belt & waterpump. $2100
Car is 2005, has 82k miles, needs to be ready for duty driving from SC to NY etc...

PS-
They have to order a waterpump?!?!  I would think that the motors are common enough and were used long enough that they would have them in stock..

[Rupert]

That seems worth it.

[AutobahnSHO]

That seems worth it.

Yeah, it's a little early for the t-belt but they said basically there is no extra labor doing it now.

Even though it's "relatively" low miles for 10yr old car stuff still wears out over time. I'm not about to tackle those jobs. Wife paid the car off in 2010 so it's just free gravy for here out...

[shp4man]

I thought this was the older Subie. The later model car is worth repairing.

[AutobahnSHO]

Nah,older got engine swap Dec 2012...

[AutobahnSHO]

Sigh. Overheats again.

No heat from heater, and normal temperature range, till 15min into my drive. Then it gets hot and heater starts working. Mostly gets hot at idle or low rpms. Downshift to above 2700 and child off quickly.

Supposedly they did water pump...

[Eye of the Tiger]

What the heck, man. You had all that work done and it didn't do anything?

[2o6]

Sigh. Overheats again.

No heat from heater, and normal temperature range, till 15min into my drive. Then it gets hot and heater starts working. Mostly gets hot at idle or low rpms. Downshift to above 2700 and child off quickly.

Supposedly they did water pump...

Possibly coolant temp sensor? If it's overheating at low RPM's rad fan might not be kicking on.


But I'd take it to your mechanic and complain. You paid like 2k for a job that didn't fix it.

[Byteme]

Sigh. Overheats again.

No heat from heater, and normal temperature range, till 15min into my drive. Then it gets hot and heater starts working. Mostly gets hot at idle or low rpms. Downshift to above 2700 and child off quickly.

Supposedly they did water pump...

Well, take it back and let them tell you it's something else. The dealer probably has another boat payment due.   

Seriously, I feel your pain. Overheating problems are hard to diagnose sometimes.  hen they replaced all that other stuff did they replace the thermostat? Flush the cooling system?

[AutobahnSHO]

It did the same thing on my way to the dealership. I dropped it off, it looked like they were going to pull it in right then. But they called 2-3hrs later and asked what was wrong with it, said it wasn't overheating at all, no coolant issues, fans were turning on and off correctly.

He suspected the gauge is wrong but the car is running fine. (thermostat for radiator is different than sensor for dash?)
They didn't call back today though so we'll see.

[AutobahnSHO]

BTW thanks for your ideas and help.

[AutobahnSHO]

They said there was something plugged in the heater core/ coolant system. So to the tune of $186 they flushed the system including "back-flushed" the heater core.

On the way home (about 30min) it did the same trick. Warms up find but after ~20min of driving at lights or idle the temperature climbs rapidly, then as soon as we start driving again the temp drops. I got it on video when I took it back to them Saturday. Sigh.

On another note, they've detailed it every time we've taken it in. So shiny when it's clean!!!   

[Eye of the Tiger]

Wow. Set it on fire?

[AutobahnSHO]

Wow. Set it on fire?

NEGATORY.

It's a Subaru, first of all.

Second it's the best car I've ever owned. Only 82k miles. Still shiny. Great condition besides some overheating. Alloy wheels. Spoiler. Tint. Seat heaters. 6cd changer.

Third it's my wife's car, and it's totally completely paid off. No reason whatsoever to get rid of it.

[Eye of the Tiger]

NEGATORY.

It's a Subaru, first of all.

Second it's the best car I've ever owned. Only 82k miles. Still shiny. Great condition besides some overheating. Alloy wheels. Spoiler. Tint. Seat heaters. 6cd changer.

Third it's my wife's car, and it's totally completely paid off. No reason whatsoever to get rid of it.

Oh no, I meant the shop that keeps stealing your money. Set it on fire.

[MX793]

Sounds like whatever is in the clogging it isn't getting completely purged when the flush it and is just re-clogging the core.

[shp4man]

Sounds to me like the radiator fan isn't working. Get it to show hot on the guage and see if the fan is running.

[Eye of the Tiger]

Sounds to me like the radiator fan isn't working. Get it to show hot on the guage and see if the fan is running.

INTERMITTENT STICKY RELAY, LOOSE CONNECTOR, OR SHORT TO GROUND.
I bet the $2000 shop did basically zero electric diagnosis, other than saying yeah the fan comes on sometimes.

[AutobahnSHO]

I hear the fans on. I got out and checked and they're on.

[shp4man]

I hear the fans on. I got out and checked and they're on.

Was the car running hot when you checked?- it has to be messing up when you check. The a/c may turn the fans on, is the a/c on when it overheats?, there may even be a code in PCM memory- dont know if Subaru has that or not.

[AutobahnSHO]

Was the car running hot when you checked?- it has to be messing up when you check. The a/c may turn the fans on, is the a/c on when it overheats?, there may even be a code in PCM memory- dont know if Subaru has that or not.

Yes the car was overheating when I popped the hood. Yes the fans turn on when the a/c is on, whether the car is warmed up yet or not.
A/C has been off when it's been overheating. But I tried turning it on to see if it makes a difference. Nope.

Overheating is directly related to low idle. I pointed out that some of y'all said it sounds like fan impellers are damaged, they'll check it hopefully. (No I didn't name names or even reveal the secrets of the 'Spin)

[Byteme]

Yes the car was overheating when I popped the hood. Yes the fans turn on when the a/c is on, whether the car is warmed up yet or not.
A/C has been off when it's been overheating. But I tried turning it on to see if it makes a difference. Nope.

Overheating is directly related to low idle. I pointed out that some of y'all said it sounds like fan impellers are damaged, they'll check it hopefully. (No I didn't name names or even reveal the secrets of the 'Spin)

Years ago I had a Mustang II.  One day it started acting really odd.  The temp gauge would slowly start climbing get to thye red and then fall back to normal.  Sometimes, not always, at the same time the radio would get a bit staticy when the indicated temperature on the gauge was moving up.  I tried everything and finally found the cause.  A poor engine to body ground. 

[AutobahnSHO]

They said they can't get it to overheat (we took it back Saturday).

here's the video on my way back there. I was at a light then at 0:37 I paused it and started recording again as I slowed to another light.
I don't know why Youtube flipped it sideways- I held the phone landscape-wise.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NzK5JdXKFi8

[giant_mtb]

I had something similar happen in my Monte Carlo.  Gauge would say it was overheating even though it never actually was. It confused the mechanics just as much. Turned out to be some sensor fault.