2 Questions- Burping & Battery Related

[jaredb3000]

Greetings all,

 

Trying to keep posts to a minimum, I have searched around older threads to try and answer the following questions with mixed review- so here it goes.

 

Quick run down of the chain of events with my 1994 Legacy 2.2. (non-turbo):

 

Lost some coolant through the smaller of the two hoses (bypass?), so I replaced that and the lower radiator hose, as well as the thermostat with OEM aftermarket (which I have since discovered is a cardinal sin, and have replaced with thermostat from Subaru dealer). This first go-round, everything seemed A-OK, as I allowed the system to burp with the cap off until normal operating temp. The next day, once on the highway, I pulled over/turned the car off just in time (as it was dusk and my dash-light is out near temp gauge) as I just about jumped in the "red zone", cooled off enough to get off highway and parked without overheating. After a couple rounds of cooling off/driving to somewhere that I would not get towed, the battery died.

 

Round two, last night: new Subaru T-stat installed, a proper burping while elevating front end etc. (thanks to many well explained posts in USMB), after waiting until fans turned on and all air out of system, I drove around for 20 minutes and all is well on the cooling front- good power, no white smoke, no milkyness in oil so seemingly no head gasket problems. This morning the battery barely had any juice- not enough for a start (it did restart once last night after my drive however).

 

My burping question, to avoid any possible problems with air in the system, is: if there is any air in the system, would it be immediately evident, or can symptoms be erratic? (i.e. I can drive w/o overheating for several days and then suddenly it overheats?)

 

My battery question: Does it seem likely that the battery is shot because it got depleted (which other posts suggest), or could this be indicative of a more complex problem, such as the timing belt? There is no bad alternator symptoms. Any hope for the old battery, or does it sound like I need a new one?

 

Since the battery won't keep a charge only since the overheating problems, I wanted to run this by the Subaru experts here before I go spending parts money in the wrong place...

 

Thanks in advance!

 

Jared

[yeahultimate]

First I'd like to say im not a subaru expert but I have worked on cars quite a bit in my day as I usually cant afford to take my vehicles to a proper dealr shop or other shop.

 

First sign of my alternator taking the plunge was intermittent starts. I suggest you start up your subaru and then take off one of your battery cables. If the car dies, its your alternator.

 

It may be that your alternator just isnt putting out enough juice to charge the battery fully. A simple test at a local auto store could hook it up to a tester for you. (usually a free deal in hopes you buy a battery or alternator from them)

 

As far as over heating goes. Are you sure your water pump is circulating ok? I wonder if maybe you got ' another ' bad thermostat. It could happen.

 

Good luck with your Subaru woes.

[jaredb3000]

Thanks for the input yeahultimate-

 

I think the new T-stat and proper burping did the trick as far as overheating goes- I'm pretty sure that I did not burp properly the first time around. While I believe I have done this properly the second time around, my question is mostly out of concern for covering all the bases- but so far so good, it did not overheat at all during 20 minutes of driving last night, and seems like the coolant is circulating properly.

[Rooster2]

Suggest you continue to keep a sharp eye on your temp gauge while driving. Yes, I hope the good proper burp solved your over heating problem, however, if it burps some more, the coolant level in the radiator will be a little low. If so, add some more antifreeze or water to top off to proper level.

 

If over heats again on an intermittent basis , then I would start to suspect a bad head gasket. They start doing that on an intermittent basis, when the head gaskets are going bad. I owned a 91 with your same 2.2 motor that blew a head gasket under conditions just described. It is not common with the 2.2 motor, but it does, and can happen.

 

As far as your battery problem, I don't think the over heating and battery problems are related. Suggest you check the water level in the battery, if the battery caps are able to be pried off. Even if battery says it never needs water, don't believe it, check the water level anyway.

 

My last thought is to take the car to an auto parts store, where the counter guy will take his charging system evaluation instrument out to the parking lot to determine if your alternator or battery are defective. The store does not charge for this service.

[jaredb3000]

Thanks Rooster-

 

Speaking of the 91's, are the 2.2s in the 91's swappable into the 94s? Veering from my other questions, I have been thinking about doing a motor swap instead of head gasket replacement (if that proves to be the dilemma), and have found a 91 2.2 non-turbo for 250$ with 112k and 6month parts warranty. I have managed to tackle just about all types of repairs over the years, except swapping engine/tranny or doing a head gasket replacement.

 

If you or anyone out there cares to comment, please do- swap engine vs. replace head gasket? For either route, I would probably hire a mechanic (anyone in the CT area that wants to make some bucks?) that has an at home operation, so I might be able to help/look over shoulder.

 

Alternately, I would maybe take a stab at the head gasket first, but it seems like I'd be looking at around $100+ for the kit, what about additional tools beyond my sockets? If I botch the job, then I would go the new engine route... Have any of yall better-than-novice/no-where-near-experts' tackled a head gasket, not having done it before?

[Rooster2]

Thanks Rooster-

 

Speaking of the 91's, are the 2.2s in the 91's swappable into the 94s? Veering from my other questions, I have been thinking about doing a motor swap instead of head gasket replacement (if that proves to be the dilemma), and have found a 91 2.2 non-turbo for 250$ with 112k and 6month parts warranty. I have managed to tackle just about all types of repairs over the years, except swapping engine/tranny or doing a head gasket replacement.

 

If you or anyone out there cares to comment, please do- swap engine vs. replace head gasket? For either route, I would probably hire a mechanic (anyone in the CT area that wants to make some bucks?) that has an at home operation, so I might be able to help/look over shoulder.

 

Alternately, I would maybe take a stab at the head gasket first, but it seems like I'd be looking at around $100+ for the kit, what about additional tools beyond my sockets? If I botch the job, then I would go the new engine route... Have any of yall better-than-novice/no-where-near-experts' tackled a head gasket, not having done it before?

 

Years back, I had a private shop mechanic swap in a 2.2 from a 92 Leggie into my 91. I remember him saying the swap went well, everything was plug and play, with the exception that some of the wiring had different type of electrical connectors that didn't match up because of the connectors changed with the model year. This resulted in changing some of the electrical connectors.

 

I have read enough on this forum to learn that all normally aspirated 2.2 motors from 90 to 94 will interchange. Much has been written about proper bolt up of the auto transmission. Do it wrong, and it will ruin the A/T. Others here will tell you more about this, or read about it in the archives on the search mode on this forum.

[Allpar Mod]

In all the years I've been dealing with cars both foreign and domestic, I've never heard of overheating and battery problems being connected.

 

If you're absolutely sure the battery's toast, get a new one. You should test the alternator for output. Problem is that the way one should really test charging output is with a good, fully charged battery. So, that being said, you'll either need to borrow one from another vehicle just for the testing or buy one first.

 

A simple hand held inexpensive multimeter set to 20 volts DC will do nicely and is all I've ever used with good results every time (I recently replaced my over 25 year old Radio Shack digital multimeter that my bro in law damaged with a new Craftsman digital one for just $29. You can get a reliable one cheaper even, but I use mine a lot). Just connect it to your battery ternminals and start the Soob. At idle with nothing on, it should be above 13 volts. Now, turn stuff on until everything is on and kick up the idle a bit. It should still be above 13 volts. It's not uncommon at idle with everything on for it to be closer to 12 as they are only putting out 15 amps or so at idle, but with a mininal increase in RPM, it should show normal voltage. Simple as that.

[jaredb3000]

Thanks AllPar Mod-

 

Turns out the battery tested good, the alternator tested bad- sort of... It was sitting right in the middle of green and red on a nearby mechanics tester, which he said indicated it was on the way out. That could explain the high pitch squeal I've been hearing before the engine is warm, and during acceleration...

 

Discovered my coolant loss is from the radiator (aftermarket copper and I'm in the salt belt)- picked up an aluminum core in great shape for 50$ yesterday.

 

I have noticed that I am leaking oil now at a significantly larger rate than the prior marginal rate that this car has had for the 2 years I've owned it. I will know more this afternoon, I am hoping its not a head gasket, and there is certainly no signs of oil in the coolant or vice-versa, perhaps an oil pressure switch (if not the valve gasket) from what I have gathered reading older posts. While I thought it was the valve cover gasket for some time, the source seems to be coming from somewhere behind the timing belt cover, closer to the water pump. After running engine for 10 minutes, I can wipe my finger along the lower rad. hose and its covered in oil...

 

Thanks again yall for all the input. I may be back to post some pics of the oil leak, or let yall know things are all squared away.