DmanForester Posted May 5, 2014 Share Posted May 5, 2014 Hi Guys I have the 2003 Subaru Forester 2.0 xt, automatic and has 90 000km on the clock. I got it second hand on Saturday and i drove it back to my house which is 600km away. All went well but i am having a problem, when the car and the air around are both cold i get nice performance and can feel that beautiful Subaru motor, turbo and intercooler pull that drew me to this car, but as soon as the car heats up a bit after maybe 5 min of driving or if the car sits in the sun. The power disappears. It may be wrong to say that the power completely disappears but it fells like the turbo isn't pulling. One other thing. As soon as i got it home it did a full service on the car hoping that this would sort the problem. That was fuel filter, air filter, oil filter, oil change, spark plugs changed. This didn't sort my power problem. I took it for a spin around the block and was pushing it a bit trying to see what's happening with the power. When i got back to the house there was steam pouring out of the bonnet. The heat gauge seemed fine and was half way. I opened the bonnet and there was coolant everywhere. The top of the radiator where the black part joins with the aluminium (The aluminium is curled over the black top part holding it down). There was water coming out of there. It seemed to be the only part that was loosing water. Please guys help me find what the problem is. I presume that the top tank on the radiator maybe needs replacing and i have taken the radiator out of the car but i don't know what caused this to happen and would hate to get a new top tank and it happens again or it blows something else. Please guys i love this car and don't feel that the expertise needed are available here in my country to sort this out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rooster2 Posted May 5, 2014 Share Posted May 5, 2014 Not sure what you mean by "top tank?" You need to fix the coolant leak by what ever means. Suspect turbo power dissipates, when the motor over heats. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fairtax4me Posted May 6, 2014 Share Posted May 6, 2014 No real way to replace the end tank. Just get a new radiator. As for the power problem, there are several sensors that can affect running when the engine is warm. You should also make sure all vacuum hoses are attached properly, not split or cracked. Also check all of the breather hoses and PCV hoses. Replace the PCV valve if you didnt already. Check all of the hoses for the intake. If the car has a MAF sensor get a can of MAF sensor cleaner and clean the element in the sensor. By age its time for that car to have the timing belt replaced. So plan on doing that soon. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1 Lucky Texan Posted May 6, 2014 Share Posted May 6, 2014 I think i have heard of a way to unzip a cracked tank and replace it...not sure though. you might change radiator cap in case it is holding too much pressure. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fairtax4me Posted May 6, 2014 Share Posted May 6, 2014 Sure it's doable, but the labor involved, the cost of a new end tank, plus waiting for it to show up. Way more work than its worth when you can have a new radiator in a few days for around $100 and all you have to do is put it in the car. If its an old radiator for some strange car or custom made one-off sorta thing and there are no other radiators that will fit, then sure it might make sense to try to source an end tank or even take it to a radiator shop. (If there's even one of those still around in your area) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1 Lucky Texan Posted May 6, 2014 Share Posted May 6, 2014 Sure it's doable, but the labor involved, the cost of a new end tank, plus waiting for it to show up. Way more work than its worth when you can have a new radiator in a few days for around $100 and all you have to do is put it in the car. If its an old radiator for some strange car or custom made one-off sorta thing and there are no other radiators that will fit, then sure it might make sense to try to source an end tank or even take it to a radiator shop. (If there's even one of those still around in your area) Oh yeah, I meant at a rad shop. Dunno if a rad shop or a radiator is easier for DmanForester. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DmanForester Posted May 6, 2014 Author Share Posted May 6, 2014 Oh yeah, I meant at a rad shop. Dunno if a rad shop or a radiator is easier for DmanForester. Is there a way to check the cap or should I just buy a new one? Thanks allot for the help ill check all of the pipes when I am home after work. What's weird is that the heat sensor on the car didn't rise above half way at any stage? Have sent the radiator into the rad shop today so will see what they have to say. The radiator is $230 here and they say that they think that its just the seal that has gone ($50) and they said that they can replace the top black part on the radiator for $100 if its that. I really hope that this will sort the power issue as well. I have been told by a few people here that they think the power problem is one of two things. Either the fuel pump or the fuel sensor that isn't working well. I have just bought the cable and the software to check my cars ECU for faults. Have to wait for my radiator before I can use it though. Would this tell me what the issue is? Please keep and eye on this post as I will update you tomorrow hopefully as I am hoping the radiator will be done and ready today. The ill put it in tonight and test in the morning. Thanks allot for your help so far Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1 Lucky Texan Posted May 6, 2014 Share Posted May 6, 2014 well, here, we would just get a new cap. OEM is best. I have used Stant aftermarket brand with no problems. Checking the data from the car's ECU may help point to a system that is at it's limits due to a problem or bad sensor. Short Term Fuel Trims and timing settings, etc. would be good to check. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
willwright Posted May 6, 2014 Share Posted May 6, 2014 Steam and not overheating makes me think coolant mix is off, water boils at 212 but won't show your over heating. My first guess would be make sure your at 50/50 mix on the coolant. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DmanForester Posted May 7, 2014 Author Share Posted May 7, 2014 Will have my radiator in an hour and will rush home for lunch to put it in. Have just bought all my new coolant so ill make sure the mixture is right as I didn't do the last mixture. Fingers crossed that my problem is solved. Will run the car through my error code reader and see if there is anything being picked up. With all the other readings that it gives you, what do I compare them to? What's the list of normal values or values that I should expect to see? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1 Lucky Texan Posted May 7, 2014 Share Posted May 7, 2014 (edited) you might be able to find some figures searching on line. Dunno if you lose the data with a battery disconnect or not - quite likely. If the batt was disconnected, drive for a coupla days, then read the ECU data. fuel trims should be as close to zero as possible. Single digit corrections are common, double digit corrections probably point to problems. lazy sensors, vacuum leaks, low fuel pressure, w'ever. intake air temp should be close or a little over ambient. timing depends on engines, probably should be - what ? 15-20 degrees? just guessing on that. maybe a more experienced member here will reply. Edited May 7, 2014 by 1 Lucky Texan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fairtax4me Posted May 7, 2014 Share Posted May 7, 2014 Start by looking at engine coolant temp. See that it's within about 10-15 degrees of outside air temp on the first start of the day. It should climb steadily as the engine warms up. Once the engine is warm, again make sure engine coolant temp reaches at least 170°. This should be between 190-200°F when completely warm. MAP value, this is manifold pressure and should be a reflection of how much vacuum the engine is drawing at idle. This same sensor may also measure boost pressure, or there could be a separate sensor. Compare the MAP value with the engine off to atmospheric pressure that day this should be within about 5%. Start the engine and the value should fall. This should correspond to the engine pulling between 17-21" of vacuum at idle. Throttle position should show 0% with the throttle closed, and should climb steadily with slow depression of the gas pedal to 100%. Short term and long term fuel trims. Once the engine is up to operating temp, these should be no more than +/-5%. Engine timing at idle is not a concern, when driving and when the engine is under load is when this is important. You kind of need to know what the timing is supposed to be at certain load values and engine speeds in order to know that something is wrong. If you have a display for timing correction this will show you when the engine is pulling timing back to avoid pinging. Pinging is generally caused by low octane fuel or a lean air/fuel ratio. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Prwa101 Posted May 7, 2014 Share Posted May 7, 2014 http://www.mishimoto.com/aluminum-radiator-performance.html?gclid=COnD2qOhmr4CFcRafgodnUsAZA I highly suggest aluminum mishimoto radiators. Oem are plastic and i have seen them break time and time agin. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DmanForester Posted May 8, 2014 Author Share Posted May 8, 2014 Hi Guys I have changed my radiator now. I decided to get it fixed as they took the top tank off and replaced it with a metal one made of copper. They made it especially for the car matching to the one that was removed. The car is running well but still having the performance drop but I am going to attach it to my pc this afternoon and then ill attach some screen shots on here of the results, maybe that will help? Thanks allot for your help so far. Hope ill get to the stage of knowing the amount you guys do and ill be passing the favours on. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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