bommar81 Posted March 22, 2015 Share Posted March 22, 2015 Please I need assistance, just bought the car and do not know much about it. Car ran fine on test drive and first week. Now temp gauge jumps up and upper radiator hose looks sucked in, any idea what may cause this? Last night concern was intermittent, blew hot air some times cold. Upper hose appears spongy. Should I be looking at T-stat, Radiator cap, upper hose, Water pump? Any help will be greatly appreciated, thank you Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
montana tom Posted March 22, 2015 Share Posted March 22, 2015 That year engine has known head gasket issues. If your temp gauge is moving and your heater is intermittent, your coolant is going somewhere ... if you got no puddles ... its going past the head gaskets! Lots of options for a fix , just hope you didn't pay too much for it. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bommar81 Posted March 22, 2015 Author Share Posted March 22, 2015 2700 hundred is there anyway to verify it is the head gaskets? Did not have this concern on test drive or 40 mille drive home nor the first week I drove it? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
john in KY Posted March 22, 2015 Share Posted March 22, 2015 Could be as simple as low on coolant. Google Subaru+burping before randomly replacing parts. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
montana tom Posted March 22, 2015 Share Posted March 22, 2015 How many miles on this ? At 150,00 or less they all need head gaskets ! Any maintenance records come with it ?You need to determine where your coolant is going. How much have you added ? Have you looked underneath for leaks? Have you talked to the dealer where you bought it ? Are you or one of your freinds mechanical or are you at the mercy of repair shops ? Usually looking from the bottom up where the head's bolts on to the block you will see drops of coolant. Wipe everything down and run the motor if you only see antifreeze near the bottom of the heads you got bad gaskets. Yes there are other ways for a shop to test as well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bommar81 Posted March 22, 2015 Author Share Posted March 22, 2015 I just realized a couple of things, first of all I have not seen any response to the fact that upper hose had the appearance of being sucked in, it collapsed. The second was I forgot to mentioned that as engine cooled down the fluid in the overflow tank rushed out of tank into the system.. again any ideas? any assistance will be greatly appreciated Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fairtax4me Posted March 22, 2015 Share Posted March 22, 2015 (edited) Collapsed hoses indicate air in the system. When the system is hot it pressurizes and has to push some coolant out into the overflow bottle. When the system cools it draws a vacuum and pulls coolant from the overflow back into the radiator. Normally coolant supports the hoses because the liquid cannot be compressed. When there is air in the system the hoses can suck flat because there is not enough liquid to support them. Air is getting in somewhere, either from an external leak or from combustion gases being pushed into the cooling system through a leaking head gasket. Top off the fluid level in the radiator and burp any air from the system, then keep a close eye on the coolant level for the next few weeks. Check the level in the radiator and the overflow in the morning or after the engine has cooled for several hours. If you continually have to add coolant, but have no evidence of leaks, a bad head gasket is likely. Typically if there is an external leak you will be able to smell coolant when the engine is warm. If the head gaskets are leaking you will have coolant loss with no smell of coolant. Another sign of a bad head gasket is pressurized hoses after the engine has only been running for 30 seconds to a minute. Edited March 22, 2015 by Fairtax4me Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rooster2 Posted March 22, 2015 Share Posted March 22, 2015 2700 hundred is there anyway to verify it is the head gaskets? Did not have this concern on test drive or 40 mille drive home nor the first week I drove it? A good indicator that head gaskets are bad is to let the motor warm up a little. Open the top to the over flow tank located off to the side of the radiator. (There should be some coolant in the over flow tank. If not, add antifreeze and water to fill it about half full.) While the engine is running, take off the cap to the over flow tank. Look inside. If you see bubbles, like you see bubbles in a home fish aquarium, then it is a strong indicator of bad head gaskets. The bubbles indicate exhaust gas bleeding over to the coolant system through a breach in the head gaskets. The added heat from the exhaust gas is what causes the motor to over heat. Both my 2.5 motors exactly like yours, have blown their head gaskets. If the motor has not been repeatedly over heated, then the head gaskets can be repaired. If not the case, then best to replace the motor. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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