man on the moon

I've used chewing gum on a radiator split. Chew it up a bit until it's gummy, and use a toothpick or similar to work it into the crack/around. Ideally let it set, but it works wet. I've also used it on hoses on the road. Superglue in theory would work, but loses it's bondingness (real word, I swear) around 150 degrees, so you're pushing it unless there is something else (like wrappingin duct tape). I've done it with only mixed success--plus it's a bear to remove, even worse than the gum. I have my electric fan on a switch as well, and for the same reason. What else...I cut a blown gasket from cardboard once (like what a shoebox is made of) for the thermostat. Didn't last long, but it lasted long enough. I've slathered my fair share of silicon sealant on vaccum hoses where they cracked. In a borrowed truck to tow a canoe trailer for a scout trip i had to wire the wiper motor direct to the battery with uninsulated wire, we wrapped it with electrical tape and screwed it to the post via the cable clamp. The wiper switch went out in a big rain storm. That was the same trip where the dashboard light died and, on the way back home, the differential gave out in yet another rainstorm, coming down a mountain pass, in the dark, in a construction zone. That was a hell of a trip, but I only fixed the wipers. Best part is that due to all the rain, we didn't even end up using the canoes. Two weeks later my roommate (whos truck it was) replaced the differential, took it on a test drive, and got T-boned...he was fine, but the truck was totalled Love the log/strut...wow. Gonna keep notes on some of these other ideas!

Here is a link to the thread offering parts and stuff through his shop: http://www.ultimatesubaru.org/forum/topic/129903-help-me-help-you-sale/

Send ShawnW (one of the admins here) a PM, he may be able to help you as he has a Subaru shop and knows a lot of dealers in the area, if you're willing to work with shipping.

I have an update about this now. I removed the thermostat around the end of August, just in time for several days of cloud/rain. Since then it's been hot, cold, sunny, cloudy, and...floody. Through it all, the motor temp has stayed happy. Now for a new thermostat, I guess??? The only real problem I've had is in stop and go traffic on sunny days, the single (original) electric fan doesn't quite do it, and there is no clutch fan with this motor. I did pick up a pair of fans from a land-rover down at the junkyard, so hopefully that will help. Gotta install them, and maybe find a lower temp switch for the second fan. I think TheLoyale had a good post about re-wiring the electric fan with a lower temp switch. The Land Rover fans are because they were slim and the right diameter. By my tape measure they should just fit between the grill and the radiator, leaving the motor side of the radiator empty and open. I'll report back when I have them in place.

You can ask for L-shaped pieces at most auto-parts stores. If they don't carry them long enough, ask for a longer section of straight hose and you can form a loop out of it--you would need about 2-3 feet to make the loop without kinking, but there will be no negative consequence aside from needing a few more ounces of coolant to fill the extra volume.

Why would you need to relocate it? No idea what thread you're talking about.

If you do end up having to cut a bolt, try sticking a screwdriver in the hole and mark the length you would need, cut a wee bit shorter than that. Hopefully you can find a straight replacement, though, of course.

As far as I know, it is not necessary to remove the intake manifold, however, doing so makes the pipe part of the job a lot simpler. Yes, it is the heater core pipe. Removing the intake manifold is not too bad unless a bolt breaks, then it's more trouble than it's worth. Might be easier to try the job with it in place first, and then only remove it if you really have to. I don't know that you'd have to replace it with a Subaru specific part, per se, any length of aluminum pipe of the right diameter should do the trick, unless you're tied tot he idea of bolting it in place.If you are worried about it rattling at all (it shouldn't( get a few extra inches of hose and wrap it around the middle to prevent too much banging.

If the coolant is low, the gauge will read very low (and hopefully you'll know why). If your coolant is full, though, the upper rad hose should read the same or within about two degrees of what the temp sensor in the thermostat housing is reading. If you make the error of putting it in the LOWER hose, then yes, you will be way off, but the upper hose shouldn't pose any problems after the 'stat opens.

letank: read the post just above yours. Hopefully the guy is still there, this thread is from 2004!

If your thread diameter and pitch are the right size, you could replace one of the coolant plugs on the bottom of the head with the temp-sender as well.

You can pick up in-line "T"s that fit in the rad hose. You would cut the hose and fit the T in the cut, secure the hose to each end. The temp-sender would screw into the T. And if such a thing doesn't exist, invent it and make a few million bucks (just give me a royalty!).

Running straight water seemed to make no difference, but that was prior to replacing the cap and one of the hoses. Running without the 'stat *seems* to make a difference, the needle is now running in the lower half of the range...however, it has been COLD AND RAINING AND CLOUDY the days since I took it out, so no apples to apples , go figure! I went to the stupid frustrating O'Reillys the other day for a couple random things/coolant/etc. Desk clerk I got was beyond incompetent, I won't tell that story now as I'm sure we all have them. BUT while I was poking around the aisles attempting to decipher what he "explained" to me, I stumbled across the thermostats (which I hadn't asked for). Turns out people are now making "fail safe thermostats" that somehow fail OPEN if you overheat. I don't know if this means they will open IF they fail, but it seems like a step up to at least have one that will jam open if you overheat, rather than jam closed. I assume it's for more of a "when climbing a mountain and not watching the temp gauge" type thing??? Not sure. I'm waiting for a hot day so I can compare apples to apples, then throw a new 'stat in there and see what we get. Suppose it could be the impellers--I could pull the radiator hose off easily enough and take a peak, no?

Not as worried about parts as just the p.i.t.a factor. That said, need some shipped down there?

I've changed the radiator cap a few steps ago. Will watch over the next few days now that I've pulled out the 'stat and see how things go. I assume if I'm still overheating after pulling the 'stat I have some big problems. And it's NO THERMOSTAT, not 'new-may-fail-out-of-the-box' until I've sorted this mess out. I'd hate to do head gaskets, first time on an EA81 though, and it looks SO MUCH SIMPLER than on the EA82. We will see, I guess?

The coolant is staying bright green now that I've cycled it and drained/refilled. As of this afternoon I have no thermostat, I'm going to see if that makes a difference. If it does, I'll know, if not, I'll run to the shop and have someone take a look at it. The trouble didn't 'start' after I lost the cap, but it did increase notably. I'm not sure if the messing around I was doing did something funky to the motor or the cap loss did it. It doesn't SEEM like it would, but I don't know. Good thought on the hose closing up. As far as I know, no, but I haven't put the pedal down and stood to look at the motor. All new hoses, and re-enforced.

I don't drive fast, hard, aggressive, etc. I understand it may run a bit warm, but it's overheating even under basic driving conditions. It's frustrating.

The bypass hoses are the same as on the EA82. I replaced the one behind the intake manifold gasket, and the one that is the bypass for the thermostat. I also replaced the water pump --> heater core hose. Both rad hoses are new within the last year. The radiator is off the shelf new to the best of my knowledge (or so refurbished it may as well be). Water flow in the radiator was so good as to be scary when I flushed it during the flush/fill I just did. After the last spike-red and boilover, I refilled the radiator once it was cool to the touch. Even with the boilover I added under a quart of water, and most days it's nothing or a cup or two, and I know I lose some regularly to sloshing out of the overflow/evaporation/etc. Due to not having a cap on the overflow tank. As for longevity, I have had this car for four years now, going into the fifth, and the EA81 motor was put in just last summer. I thought it was a 1.8 carbed engine (with the injected manifold mated on instead of the carbed one), though it could be the 1.6. My horsepower is not noticeably reduced, and the torque only slightly so. Heat has not been a problem until now, and I have run it on hotter days in worse traffic/sun (harsher conditions) than I was/have been in more recently with much less trouble. It is a new problem. It could certainly be the thermostat, though the upper radiator hose gets hot, and there is sufficient flow into the overflow tank to make me think the 'stat is open, though it could be only partially opening and/or the bypass is pushing a significant volume of water. I was going to pull it today and try driving without it, but got called into work on my day off. I am scheduled off again tomorrow, so will make another go at it. If this fails to fix it I think I'm going to make an appointment to have it seen--I need the car for work desperately, as we often receive calls that I have to respond to all over town, making the bus impractical. Running warm I can tolerate, but this latest episode AFTER all the work I've done is unacceptable. It spiked into the red over the course of a few lights and I had to pull over to let it cool down. That is not ok--just glad I had finished the call and wasn't on my way TO a job.

The lower heater hose is identical to the EA82 hose, the water pump is in the same location and the pipe runs off it at the same angle. The upper hose required a flexible hose, but has plenty of flow, no sharp corners, lots of volume. The thermostat has a little different angle and position, making the fitted hose not fit quite right, but the flexi-hose does well. ShawnW put it together for me last summer. If necessary, I will take it back again, but I like to rule out the stupid stuff before I fall back to paying someone to tell me something I should have known the first time . (I like your work Shawn, don't worry, just being independent before I bother you with simple stupid things). Good to know on the water pump. I'll pick up another belt too, though the one on the motor at present doesn't seem glazed at all, and I'm not having any trouble with the alternator/battery/spark/lights/etc. It's cheap enough and will need to be done at some point anyway. May as well toss it on the pile if I can afford it! ETA: I reversed the hoses in my mind, let me make the correction: The UPPER hose is identical between the two motors. The thermostat is in the same position relative to the radiator. The LOWER hose requires a flexi-hose as the water pump comes off at a slightly different angle and position.

When installing the rocker arms, I always use a small dab of vaseline on both ends. It holds them in place and insures they aren't shifting a wee bit when you jimmy the cam into place. Beyond that...the HLA shouldn't relax enough to allow that, and as long as the other end is positioned over the valve end properly you should be ok. Was it one HLA, or all of them?

Yes, the electric fan blows. The car has an EA81 motor in it, so there is no clutch fan. The electric fan is wired to a switch and I run it anytime the car is on. It has not been a problem until the last two weeks or so, most dramatically yesterday. Last summer the intake manifold gaskets were new, along with a new radiator and new rad hoses. Since then I've replaced all the hoses (even the one I forgot initially). New throttle body gasket. New radiator cap. Flush and re-fill this month. Radiator has good flow. Fan works. Everything was fine until the middle/end of June or so. Exhaust and coolant both smell and look normal to me. I will pull the thermostat out tomorrow and see how it runs without, that way I can be certain a new one did/didn't fail out of the box. Does the water pump have a clutch or is it a solid shaft driving it? Or perhaps the impellers are worn? I don't want to pull it off until I've checked the 'stat, but it is on my mind.

The fan has not been moved since last summer, and has not previously caused problems. This is a new problem. I will install a new t-stat, though the radiator and hoses get hot and do have a gradient--could be insufficent flow just using the 3/8" bypass I suppose.

I checked the oil cap and the dipstick. Both are good. The overflow tank is good. Exhaust has no distinct coolant smell. Watching it run with the cap off and there are no bubbles to speak of in the radiator. No obvious signs of leakage and all new hoses. New radiator cap. Even with the overheat and boilover today I might have added two, possibly three cups--and a lot of that was just gushing (not bubbling) out of the overflow tank when I lifted the hood. It's been running warm, but not as badly as it had been once I replaced that last hose the other day. Could be the intake gaskets, I doubt it's the heads. At least as the initial cause, today's overheat could have triggered head problems that will crop up in the future. However, the intake gaskets were new last summer, and my exhaust has no smoke (even cold) and no apparent smell while running. If it is that, the diagnostic characteristics were not discernable to me. Keep in mind minimal loss of coolant. Waterflows well through the radiator, though it could be partially plugged. Water in one side and it gushes out the other hose (rad set flat, and the water shoots out the other side). Just hope this overheat didn't set me up for more problems...

I suppose this would be a good spot to mention that though it is a Loyale, the motor is an EA81. Hoses and such are identical or similar, but I don't know about the water pump.

Well today sucked. The last few days it's been running warm while hot, but dead-middle in the shade or at night, which is awesome. Then today I had to run across town, and on the way back it spiked up into the red. Water pump, or something else? I don't see any leakage except out of the overflow reservoir. No bubbles, oil looks good, exhaust seems ok to me. Radiator hoses are getting warm. Does the water pump have a clutch, or is it driven by the belt directly? It was a new radiator last summer, but I suppose it could fill up with crud...though I've flushed and backflushed and water flows readily through it.