mva5142

Nipper, Yes, I did this morning and still same issues.

Update, Bled the system good and feel that it is correct. I bought some additional block test from napa that was very dark blue. I didn't feel good that the autozone stuff was new. ALso put a new radiator cap on. Tested with car at idle before thermostat opened, and the block test liquid never changed color. Tested after thermostat opened and liquid turned green. Drove for 8 miles and then let idle in driveway. Took about 1 1/2 minutes and temp gauge started to creep up. I used the block test on the overflow tank as there were bubbles in there. No color change. Temp was just over 1/2 way and not moving. Slowly started to creep up and turned heater on full blast. Temp dropped, still bubbles in overflow tank. Checked again with the block test liquid, no color change, temp started moving up, heater started to blow cold air, temp went up faster. Turned car off, left accessory on to let fans run. Swore a few times too. Unless someone thinks different I think it is the HG. Not sure why the block test liquid didn't change color though. Maybe not not enough exhaust gases to detect, but steady bubbles in overflow and heater blowing cold don't leave much hope for anything else.

The upper hose is warm to hot. not something you want to hold onto a while. Forgot to add that the lower hose stays cool-cold for a long time after reaching operating temp. The car will reach temp and stay there for a while before the t-stat opens. You wan watch the coolant level in the neck of the radiator and tell when it opens. It usually takes me running it at 2000 rpm for a bit after reaching operating temp before it opens. not sure if that is normal.

I have a '99 OBW with 187,000 miles on it. Headgaskets were replaced at 130,000, along with timing belt, water pump and other hard to get to parts. Prior to headgasket repair, new owner put a radiator in it hoping to fix overheating. Also had a new thermostat, water pump, timing belt, tensioners, pulleys and seals at the 100,000 mile service interval. I saw the temp gauge rise about 3 days ago above normal while sitting in a parking lot with the engine running. Got a little above half and I turned engine off, left key on so the fans ran for a while. While driving at speed for 20 miles back to office and then 15 more miles home at 55-60 mph, no issues. I checked coolant ant it was low. I refilled and thought I had it burped well. I took it out and drove about 15-17 miles at 60-70 mph and temp gauge never moved fro it's normal position. I pulled into driveway and let it idle for a minute and temp gauge starts rising slowly. it got to about 3/4 to top before I turned engine off and let fans run. When I checked coolant the next morning after engine had cooled it was low. Started car and let run to operating temp in driveway. I used a kit from Autozone to check fro exhaust gases in the radiator. The type where it pulls air through a liquid and it will change color if exhaust gases are present. Kit says to use it for two minutes. I did multiple times and each time the color of the liquid did not change. I burped the system for an hour and kept refilling the radiator as the level went down. I capped the system and let run for a few more minutes before shutting it down. when I checked after it cooled down, the coolant level in the radiator was good, and it had drawn some in fro the overflow tank like normal. Thinking I had the system burped I drove it last night for 15-20 miles at 60-70 mph and temp was perfect, never moved while driving. Pull into driveway and it starts to creep up after a few minutes then stops, just above halfway. I turn the heater on and hot air comes out and temp drops back to normal. Stayed bouncing between normal and a little over halfway for 5 minutes and then eventually started creeping up very slow. Cooling fans operated as normal, came on when temp warmed up, shut off when cooled back down. The passenger side fan only has four blades and did not look to be running as fast or could feel as much air movement as the driver side fan which has 5 blades and was moving a lot of air. so I have a car that tested negative for exhaust gas in coolant, only overheats after driving for a while, and only when at idle. Headgaskets and water pump replaced 60k miles ago, new radiator 60k miles ago, most likely aftermarket t-stat 60k ago. Any help appreciated. Thanks all.

nipper, One more question if you have time. Thanks for your patience with a newbie. Does torque bind still happen in nuetral? When I pull into a parking space I usually put it in nuetral as I slow to a stop and it still does it. Not sure if the clutches involved in TB are still engaged and would cause it or would the fact that it happens in nuetral point to something else? Just want to make sure I have given all info I have and am looking at making the needed repair. Thanks again for your advice.

forgot to add thanks for taking the time to reply!

Does a flush or drain and refill help a manual transmission as well? I just checked the tires and there was about a 4-5 psi difference between the them, but haven't had a chance to drive and see if that helped. Also, the problem seems to be intermittent, as sometimes I can do circles in the parking lot and it is fine. Also, not sure if matters or not, but it is smooth as silk in reverse doing circles.

i have a 99 OBW, manual transmission, with approximatel 145,000 miles. Steering is fine and responsive, but when i turn the wheel far left or right, it feels like the tires are going over bumps or rocks. An example would be when i pull into a parking space and turn the wheel all the way in one direction. feels like I am running over bumps, so much so that my daughter on the back seat asked why the car was so rough. Took it to the mechanic and he said an inner tie rod is bad, but that wouldn't fix the issue. He said it was internal to the rack and the rack needed replacement to fix the issue. Is that accurate. After some searching on here, seems that racks aren't that common a fail point on these cars. Thanks for your time. Matt

Thanks for the chart. That helps. When it is at operating temp, in the driveway, and the a/c is on, the main fan (drivers side) won't come on, while the sub fan comes on. The chart indicates that both should be on While at operating temperature in the driveway with the a/c off, the sub fan will come on when temp gets hot enough, but the main fan won't. The chart indicates that the main fan should come on before the sub fan. I think I have two problems, one that is temp controlled and one that is a/c controlled. Am I on the right track?

not overheating at the moment. I found this as I was giving it the checkout before summer starts. Would like to get it figured out before we get a nice hot day and it starts overheating.

I searched here for a bit and still a little confused. I have a 98 OBW, 2.5l with 160k. Only one of my radiator cooling fans is working. It is the passenger side fan and it works either thermostatically or with the a/c on. The drivers side doesn't work thermostatically, but turn the a/c on and it spins for about 3 seconds and stops. I switched the fans and it was the same thing with the drivers side not working at all thermostatically and only spinning for 3 seconds when the a/c is turned on. Also noticed when I was checking that when the a/c is turned on, the drivers side fan will spin for 2-3 seconds and then stop, everytime the a/c clutch engages the fan will spin for 2-3 seconds and stop again. The 2 fans must be on separate circuits as one operates as its supposed to and the other will not. Could it be a relay that is allowing the first surge of voltage to get through and then heat/resistance builds up and shuts it down, and would that relay be causing it not to operate thermostatically as well? Or are the operations from coolant temp and a/c fan being on run through separate circuits or relays? Meaning that there are two separate issues with the drivers side fan? Thanks guys. any help appreciated. Matt

I haven't had an opportunity to check much yet. After I realized the fan was still good, my priority became getting it working so that I didn't have to worry about it overheating. Now that it is set up to run off the toggle switch, I can try to diagnose it. I really can't stand diagnosing electrical stuff, but I will definitely check the ground. Probably do as you suggest and wire a good temporary ground in and check it. If that isn't it then who knows! Thanks for the advice. I really appreciate it. I'll keep you guys updated as to what I find out. Matt

UPDATE: Well I had a chance to check it out last night. I took General Disorders advice and plugged the drivers side fan into the passnegers side connecter. The fan worked. Don't know whether to be happy or sad. I was hoping the fan wouldn't work and it would be an easy plug and play to get a new one. Now I am chasing electrical issues and I can't stand that. In the meantime, I spliced into the harness of the fan and wired it directly to the battery and ran a line into the car to a toggle switch so I can at least turn the fan on and off as I drive to keep the temp gauge steady. I bought a 20 amp in-line fuse to protect everything. I do have to admit it feels a little redneck to have a length of wire running into the car with a brass toggle switch on it to turn the fan on and off. Any advice on testing out the wiring harness to find out what the root of the issue is? Thanks Matt

General Disorder, Thnaks, the drivers side fan never comes on. As you said, the passenger side cycles on and off w/out the a/c on and it is on when the a/c runs as well. Will pull out the old volt meter tonight and try to find out something. Thanks again for you advice. Matt

Thanks for the advice. I'll check connection and make sure it is getting power and then look at replacing it. A quick check showed rock auto had one for 60 bucks, vs 120 at a local parts place. I'll probably throw a new radiator cap on as well, as the one on there is 12 years old. It won't hurt anything. I'll let you know how it goes. Thanks again. Matt

I have a '98 OBW with 126k miles on the clock. The last few days the temp gauge has started climbing when it sits at idle for a bit. Like thru a long line in the drivethru or waiting for a while in the parking lot to meet someone. It typically holds just under the temp icon on the gauge, but when it rises, it will go up to between the 1st and 2nd mark on the temp icon. Looking at it today, at idle, only the passenger side fan came on as it cycled on and off, and only the passenger side fan comes on when you turn on the a/c. With the temp only rising at idle and not while being driven, it makes sense that it is the fan, as at other times there is sufficeint air flow across the radiator to cool it down. The temps around here have been at or above 90 for a week or so and I think the problem is starting to show itself now. Anything else to look for? Thanks. Matt

I did see where he said it, but I ran across it on another forum after I posted my question here. Just typed in something about front rotors on a 98 outback and several different forums came up. Thanks again for all your help. It is much appreciated. Now I just have to fix an annoying vibration and noise from my exhaust and I'll be happy. I fixed a exhaust leak before the brakes, and while the leak is fixed, when I hung it back up, it now makes a vibration noise at idle. Annoying. Well I guess if it isn't one thing it's another.

THANK YOU!! I finally got them off. After a little research I read something about an 8m bolt to press them off. Worked awesome on all of them. I had to replace the front two rotors, the rear rotors were ok to still use. Brakes great now. No pulsing at stops. Thanks again for your quick help. It was/is greatly appreciated! Matt

1998 obw 4 wheel disk brakes. wanted to work on the brakes as they are pulsating when I stop. Working on it now and need some help. I cannot get the dis off the passenger side front. Unbolted the caliper and the caliper mounting bracket, but the disc wont budge. Haynes manual says it slides right off, but it ain't sliding. Does it slide off or doe I have to mess with the axle nut? Thanks guys Matt

Fairtax was right-partially. I did some more looking around last night. Couldn't figure out why if I braked hard, heard the clunk, let off the brake and hit it hard again why it wouldn't make the noise. After lloking around, the reason soon showed itself. My big maglite I carry under my drivers seat turned sideways and was rolling around. When I stopped hard, it rolled forward and hit the heating vent under the drivers seat which I could feel in the floorboard and when I accelarated it rolled backward waiting for me to stop so it could roll forward and smack the vent again. I feel like a doofus:rolleyes:, but did save 80$ by not buying the bushing! Thanks for the advice to check stuff again. I appreciate it! Matt

Fairtax-Thanks for the reply, I appreciate it. I'm fairly sure it isn't something located on the wheel. There is no rattle or squeal or noise from the actual caliper/brake area. It only happens when you apply the brakes fairly hard such as when a light turns read or someone pulls out in front of you. It is a single clunk and then done for each brake usage never more than once, and usually near the end of the stop. Almost like pressure or torque builds up and then clunk, releases. I also can feel/hear it pretty distinctly through the drivers side floorboard which led me to suspect the rear bushing. I am going to do a brake job on it too, as there is pulsing in the brakes as well. I think a rear disk is warped. So I will check everything out then that is associated with the brakes. I kinda hope it is brake related, as the dang bushing is 80-90$. Will let you know what I find out. Matt

Have a 98 OBW that has a clunk when braking. When you use brakes lightly no sound. When you step on them hard it will "clunk" once and then no more noise. I feel/hear the noise through the drivers side floorboard. Stopping is not affected at all, but the noise is loud and annoying. Is there anything special to changing the rear bushing? Looks like 2 bolts for the bracket and one that goes into the end, through the bushing and into the control arm? When I remove those bolts, do I need to support the control arm at all or will it stay up? Thanks in advance. Looking to do it next weekend, hopefully in someones garage and not our parking lot! Matt

Thanks for the repsonses. I actually found a mechanic here in town that would have it done by 5. I dropped it off at 3:30 and picked it up at 5. Was done and quiet. Used a NAPA halfshaft, but not sure which one. Also seemed to notice that the "shudder or vibration" I used to feel while at stop lights or signs seems to be less? Not sure if there is a correlation or if I need to calibrate my posterior vibration detector! Thanks for the advice. Looking forward to the next few days as we are finally supposed to get some lake effect snow up here. Been a crazy year so far. Cold and wet october, but a beautiful november. Now that the suby is ready to go, let it snow, let it snow, let it snow! Matt Matt

I ran some errands to day at lunch and heard a rattling grinding noise from the front of my car. 98 OBW w/ 115k miles. Intermittent at times, at times very noticeable. Determined that it does it when I turn left and not right. Crawled under the car and the inner cv joint is ripped, no grease to speak of inside the boot, don't know about the can. Can I drive it with the noise? I work 54 miles from home so it is a long trip. Anything to get me home. Don't have the stuff to replace it here. Any help appreciated. MAtt

I did a couple heli-coils for the first time two weeks ago. Pretty straight forward. Use the drill bit size called for, drill out the hole, tap it with the tap, screw the helicoil in and use the little tool to break of the tab end so the screw can go all the way through if need be and you are ready to tighten it back up. You can search youtube under helicoil and see a couple demonstrations on how it works. Really explains it better than the crappy directions on the helicoil box and shows how easy it is. Matt