Sound like radiator???

[akc]

My car has been running great but If I let it sit for long periods of time 5-10 minutes the temp gage raises consiterabily. NOT overheating but close. It runs fine within normal temp readings just no sitting in stop and go traffic. NO loss of coolant. I can drive it for hours without the temp rising but then when I stop if I let it run it raises (takes about 5 minutes for it to start to raise). Does this sound like radiator to you? Visual inspection looks fine... but I had issues with my other subies radiator and I THINK I remember it behaving like this. Just looking for a second opinion. Want to catch this one BEFORE I have to do the heads.

 

THanks ALL

[MilesFox]

first things fiorst, make sure there is no air bubble in the system(if you had changed the fluids or hoses recently) and make sure the thermostat is functioning.

 

if the car is running warm at idle, sii if the electric fan os working. Also, feel the radiator to see if it is warm

 

a bad radiator will have cool spots where the coolant is not flowing

 

if the upper radiator hose is cooler than the heater hoses, the thermostat may be stuck close.

 

hope this helps you.

 

a new radiator is worth the investment for reliability

 

oh, and make sure the water pump is working effectively(if the radiator seems fine)

[Setright]

Radiator...mine told it was bad by tipping the gauge needle a fraction higher when I ran over 80mph with the air-con on in summer.

 

Your problem sounds like either a busted fan, or a wonky thermostat.

 

Fan is pretty easy to see....it should start up when the needle shows warmer than normal.

 

Thermostat might be almost stuck shut. At ilde, the water flow is stemmed. Cruising, when the revs are higher will increase flow and can just squeeze open the thermostat.

 

 

I am NOT ruling out a bad radiator. If it's more than 8-10 years old...it will not be working well anyway.

[brat82]

My 82 brat(1800 @268,000miles) started to have cooling problems like that, as long as I was moving in traffic or on the highway, it would run cool, but idle at a stop or stop and go traffic, it would overheat. I checked and replaced the thermostat(some of these don't work right out of the box). That didn't fix the problem, and with this many miles I figured I would just pull the heads. I was set to go on raft float trip, middle fork salmon river, idaho in 10 days. I found some pieces of head gasket stuck in some of the water ports. Did some valve work, replaced the headgaskets, and it still overheated. So I took the radiator in to be checked out, guy said it was about 50 or more % clogged, so it got cleaned out. The clogged radiator was probably the real problem.I made it to Idaho and back. That was 2 yrs. ago. Last year I went on a colo. river/grand canyon float. I drove from oregon and back with all my gear/food=1000lbs. Still get 31mpg...love these subbies...especially with the toyoyototas in the news

[crazyman03]

if the car is running warm at idle, sii if the electric fan os working. Also, feel the radiator to see if it is warm..

 

+1

 

Do you have a Electric fan or a mechanical fan? I had an electric one that went out on me and didn't realize it. Car would sit for a bit and eventually bubble over. T-stat was fine.. but if there isnt anything cooling the radiator the coolant cant cool off.

 

Check to see what kind of fans you have going. since it only heats up when you are sitting, that seems to me that you don't have a fan going...

 

 

-Justin

[akc]

Will check the fans first .. I have not looked at them should have first off. I think it works but...then the hoses.. How can you tell if the water pump is functioning correctly?

[MilesFox]

Will check the fans first .. I have not looked at them should have first off. I think it works but...then the hoses.. How can you tell if the water pump is functioning correctly?

 

when the car is running and up to temp, and the thermostat is opened, remove the radiator cap and you should see the coolant moving around, and ideally doing a toilet swirl indicating a strong flow. rev the motor up and down and the coolant level should rise and fall as you get on and let off the revs.

 

if you dont see much action there, condiser doing the water pump

[akc]

when the car is running and up to temp, and the thermostat is opened, remove the radiator cap and you should see the coolant moving around, and ideally doing a toilet swirl indicating a strong flow. rev the motor up and down and the coolant level should rise and fall as you get on and let off the revs.

 

if you dont see much action there, condiser doing the water pump

 

Thanks.... I do see that..SO pump should be fine..

[edrach]

I would go with the fan. If the radiator were not cooling efficiently, you would notice an increase in temperature with increasing speed. The faster you travel the higher the temp would go even though you have sufficient airflow through the radiator. In your case, the engine is generating minimal heat and the fan should kick on when temp gauge is about at 5/8 (just above half way). If the fan does come on, make sure it is blowing air from the front of the car onto the engine. If someone reversed the wires to the fan, it would blow hot engine air into the radiator and cause the engine to appear to overheat. (Sound familiar Miles?).

[Numbchux]

First off, what is the car? it doesn't matter TOO much, but things are a bit different between engines.

 

 

 

I would try:

Fan

radiator

tstat

water pump

 

 

in that order, but mostly because of difficulty to replace/diagnose. really, I would suspect the pump before radiator and tstat.

 

as mentioned, the fan is super easy to check. when it's getting hot, take a peek. if it's working....great! the fan in my XT6 is not functional, so if I let it idle it gets warm. having the heat on helps a bunch, but I still have to be careful.

 

again, radiator will not be evenly hot if it's causing the problem. you may have to let it warm up, and then turn the engine off so you can poke your hand in around the fan without loosing a limb.

 

 

If your radiator is cooling evenly, and fans working, you likely have a coolant flow issue. my old lifted '88 had this problem, it would get hot at idle. the combination of low rpm and low airflow was just too much. a new water pump fixed the problem.

 

you might try flushing your radiator out before diving into the water pump. but if it doesn't have cold spots, it's likely not the problem.

 

also, a tstat limits flow at all rpms, so the car would likely still overheat while driving. especially under load. But, it's a cheap part, and easy to replace....so I'd try it before the water pump.

 

if you've ruled out the rest....then it's time for a water pump. details on this are pretty dependent on the motor.

Edited February 9, 2010 by Numbchux

[akc]

Sorry forgot about that 1986 subaru wagon Gl EA82 engine... Hatachi carb...

 

Thanks you have given me some things to think on... Yeah definatly would want to shut off the car before sticking ones hands down there To check the rad..LOL.

 

I do not think it is the Tstat because you can watch it go down when you are driving seems to open and close....farely well..

 

Water pump... moves water as it should when you rev the engine it goes up and down in the radiator...swirls nice NO Bubbles.. but it does just sort of sit at a idle.... a little.kind of overflows a little. still moves but more out then down... would that be the pump.. when you rev it even a little it is like flushing a toliet .... it moves FAST.

 

Fan seems to work fine only one fan...

 

have not felt the radiator yet..working on that..still has timiing belt cover so less room then my last car..IF it is the pump.. they are NOT going back on.

[Numbchux]

"only one fan". as in, only one fan is working? or you only have one. EA82s without A/C only have one, although I don't remember if it's electric or mechanical. I only worked on one EA82 without A/C, and the fan setup was not original on it.

 

pretty much no way to check if the water pump is weak. other than by eliminating everything else. it will still move water around, just not quite enough.

 

like I said, my '88 had the same symptoms yours does (well, it would overheat idling, but that was in August), and was completely cured with a new water pump (it also didn't have A/C or tbelt covers, so I did it before tstat or radiator flush).

[MilesFox]

all A/C ea82 subarus will have a clutch fan. a non-ac soob can have a clutch fan swapped on.

 

your coolant flow sounds right, you will get a little overflow coming off the revs with the cap off, when the system is full

 

according to my experience, you should get a new radiator, or at least swap in a better one from a later soob.

 

are any of the fins corroded? brown or green color? check to see of the fins are falling out, you can literally brush them away with your hand if they are corroded enough.

[edrach]

As much as I hate to disagree with Miles, I don't think the radiator is the issue. A faulty radiator will generally overheat when you're driving down the road; and the faster you go, the hotter the temp display goes.

 

That being said, I'm still with the fan; it either doesn't turn on, spins too slowly to cool the engine, or is blowing in the reverse direction (wires reversed). Go with the fan first since it'll be the least expensive item to fix. If you still want to spend $100 for a radiator after fixing the fan, go for it.

[crazyman03]

still +1 on the fan situation. I've had an almost exact situation and all i did was get a new fan going. and as edrach said, its a cheaper fix. Heck, just hit up a junkyard and find either type fans - electric or pulley driven. Both will/should mount right up. even if you don't have a pulley driven one, you can take the cap off the pulley and slap the fan right on the water pump pulley. (I suspect you have a electric fan because its overheating when you stop. pulley driven one always runs)

 

 

-Justin

[akc]

Well I guess as suggested that the fan is the cheaper of the two solutions and probably the easiest fix.. I will investigate into that further and see what is the issue.. Let you know what I find.. Might take me a while though. Fan appears to work..but it could be slow.

[akc]

Well turns out the fan people were right.. I had some time today to sit and watch and well it never came on..ran it for 5 minutes after the engine was warmed up (after a 40 minute drive) I thought it had come on at one point as it is hard to see but it never budged.. I think it is yes electric. Radiator looks good so I will try the fan and go from there.. It seems to have a different shroad around the fan then my other car (they are both ea82 both 86 one has AC one does not) this one seems so tiny.. in comparisson.. is it easier to fix the fan or get another at the junk yard.. (this car does not have AC.) Is it easier to mess with this one and get it running or check out the junkyards?

 

THANK YOU ALL

[eulogious]

Well, I would test the fan off the car to see if it still works. If the fan works, then it must be the switch that turns it on. So I would check to see if the fan has actually failed first, and if it has, I would look into a new fan. If the fan works out of the car, then I would buy a new switch.

 

If the fan is infact dead, I have heard of some of the EJ swap guys buying new thin fans off ebay for cheap, so that might be a good option for you. Check out the retrofitting section, then might have some ideas for you. Of course the JY is closer and faster, but it's a used part. I would personally buy a new fan and then I wouldn't have to worry about it again for a LONG time. Especially since these cars are sensitive to heat...

[edrach]

Are there one or two wires to the thermal switch (on the side of the radiator)? If one wire, unplug and touch it to ground. If the fan runs strong either the switch or the ground is bad. There should be a small wire connecting the radiator to the frame of the car (on top); if the wire is bad or missing, you have no ground return from the radiator.