hustle Posted December 12, 2009 Share Posted December 12, 2009 Okay. It seems my radiator is clogged, but I want to see what you think. Top of radiator hose gets hot, bottom of hose and cap area are cold. There is not leakage. Heaters work fine. Does not overheat. Tstat is not stuck. When car is at full temperature radiator fans are running, but radiator is cold. I can run a stream of water through both top and bottom hoses when I force water in through the fill hole. Radiator cap, didn't try that one yet. If it is clogged how do I fix it? and please don't say it's the water pump. 91 legacy 2.2 Thanks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GeneralDisorder Posted December 12, 2009 Share Posted December 12, 2009 No overheating and the heater is working good - what's the problem? I see no problem here. GD Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EVOthis Posted December 12, 2009 Share Posted December 12, 2009 you mentioned when it gets up to operating temperature the fans turn on...do they cycle off? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
idosubaru Posted December 12, 2009 Share Posted December 12, 2009 No overheating and the heater is working good - what's the problem? I see no problem here. GD +1 you might want to describe what's going on or what you're trying to track down. people don't typically get a car up to operating temperature and start feeling around the engine bay for no reason....hey it's cooler by this bolt than that bolt, what does that mean? aftermarket thermostats are known to suck and cause all sorts of cooling issues. when you put one next to a subaru unit you can see an amazing difference visually. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nipper Posted December 12, 2009 Share Posted December 12, 2009 You do realize that hot water goes into the bottom of the radiator and cooler water comes out the top? And that cooler can seem downright cold depending upon the air temp going through that radiator. I'm with GD on this one, what is the problem? If it is cold enough outside, Blu's T-stat wont open up (but engine temp gauge is normal), but i will have plenty of heat. The heatercore is just a small radiator. nipper Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hustle Posted December 12, 2009 Author Share Posted December 12, 2009 Well, it's as if the car thinks it running cold even when hot. Constant High idle, it doesn't drop to normal idle. Dieseling when turned off indicating hot spots in the cylinders. The two coolant hoses going to the thermostat in the IACV are not even hot. I don't think coolant is circulating. With the cap off of the radiator and the engine running you can clearly see there is no flow, it's just sitting. The bottom radiator hose is freezing and top one is steaming. I can drive for 30 min and open the cap and the coolant will be cold. Actually the heater doesn't work very well either, just warm air not hot. I'm not sure if the fans are cycling...It seems they are always running once temperature is reached. Would a bad water pump/clogged radiator cause idle issues or am I wrong to connect the two? Thanks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nipper Posted December 12, 2009 Share Posted December 12, 2009 Is your CEL on? Can you see fluid flowing with the cap off? Do you have a code reader so we can see what temp the ECU is seeing? How do you know the t-stat is ok? Just for the heck of it replace the radiator cap. nipper Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hustle Posted December 12, 2009 Author Share Posted December 12, 2009 (edited) I don't see any fluid flowing with the cap off. Doesn't appear to be sucking from the tank either. I replaced cap to no change. I put in a new thermostat to no avail and checked the old one in boiling water and it opened up. I put the old one back on because it was a genuine subaru one, new one was chincy looking... No CEL code using the black connector method. Edited December 13, 2009 by hustle Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nipper Posted December 13, 2009 Share Posted December 13, 2009 oops sorry I forgot this is an obdI. What is the outdoor temp? nipper Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hustle Posted December 13, 2009 Author Share Posted December 13, 2009 What is the outdoor temp? nipper Just above freezing...I don't think this is a new issue. I haven't been driving the car for the past few months due to the idle problem. I was just hoping to get it fixed in time for the snow. It was going to be my ski car. Maybe I should just get the water pump changed anyway since I have no idea when t-belt was done last, but just wanted to rule out other scenarios before I spend. -Thanks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nipper Posted December 13, 2009 Share Posted December 13, 2009 Well if you are due for a new timing belt go ahead. But a failed water pump or a clogged radiator would cause an over heat condition, not to seem to act too cool. You should check the egnine temp sensor to see if it is reading properly. The ECU may be getting wrong data. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GeneralDisorder Posted December 13, 2009 Share Posted December 13, 2009 (edited) The radiator fans are probably running because you have the AC on (defrost mode). Turn the climate controls to OFF. You won't feel any heat in the radiator with the fans running at a near freezing ambient temp. Your idle is either the IACV or the coolant temp sensor most likely. If your radiator was plugged or your water pump malfunctioning, then you would be experienceing overheating. Water pump failure's that result in overheating but no external leakage are so rare as to be virtually unheard of - never seen it or heard of a documented case myself. I don't know why people are always so ready to blame the water pump - it's a steel or cast iron impeller driven directly from the timing belt. If they seize the belt breaks or skips. If the bearing goes they leak and make a wonderous noise. They are otherwise basically a bullet-proof item. There is nothing besides the bearings and seals to go bad in them and both will result in serious issues besides just overheating. I have yet to see a documented case of a Subaru water pump impeller comming loose from the shaft - I suppose if the coolant were nasty enough the impeller could rust away but the engine is highly likely to suffer a quicker fate at the hands of coolant that nasty than having the water pump impeller eaten away. GD Edited December 13, 2009 by GeneralDisorder Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hustle Posted December 13, 2009 Author Share Posted December 13, 2009 Excellent, thanks for the knowledge on this... I guess I'll just replace the thermostat with a new subaru one and call it good. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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