whynot Posted July 22, 2016 Share Posted July 22, 2016 I just returned from a 2000 mile trip moving my daughter ack from college. Not real happy with the car, I have some questions 1. Will this car run 80-90 MPH in 100F heat with the ac on and a load? Mine will not. am I expecting too much for this 1999 2.5? I was in the mountains of utah and idaho. the temp gauge got way up a couple of times, but I did not overheat the car 2.when the car temp gets a little over mid temp the AC shuts off, is this normal? or is there something that is wrong with the AC, it turns back on when the temp drops again, and blows cold. 3. I used about 1/2 ot the overflow bottle of coolant, and 1 quart of 10w40 motor oil on this trip. The oil I think is ok, the coolant concerns me, could this be related to the heating problem? There is now a small sound coming from the exhaust, So maybe a valve issue now? I got the car for 500, I have put about 1K into it including tires, It has a salvaged title which does not other me as I usually drive cars until they die, but this is my first ever subaru. Is it worth fixing the rest of the way? and what am I possibly looking at to do that? Thanks Doug Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mikaleda Posted July 22, 2016 Share Posted July 22, 2016 The 99 2.5l is known for head gasket issues, but your symptoms sound more like a radiator at this point. You could also check your ac condenser and make sure it isn't clogged with bugs and stuff. I would be careful about letting it get Much hotter than half gauge, running hot will shorten the life of your headgaskets considerably. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DaveT Posted July 22, 2016 Share Posted July 22, 2016 You are correct to be concerned about loosing coolant. That is not normal and can lead to bigger problems. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
whynot Posted July 22, 2016 Author Share Posted July 22, 2016 one thing I would do is shift to neutral for about 8 seconds on a downgrade, and that would drop the needle on the temp gauge about 3 lines, then I went back into drive, so would this tell me the radiator is ok? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mikaleda Posted July 22, 2016 Share Posted July 22, 2016 one thing I would do is shift to neutral for about 8 seconds on a downgrade, and that would drop the needle on the temp gauge about 3 lines, then I went back into drive, so would this tell me the radiator is ok?That could indicate an air pocket. That can be caused by a slow leak in the system or the headgaskets leaking. When its off and cold check your radiator fluid level and make sure its up. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rooster2 Posted July 22, 2016 Share Posted July 22, 2016 Will this car run 80-90 MPH in 100F heat with the ac on and a load? That is asking an awfully lot for a 17 year old car, with I bet it has a lot of miles on it. Don't think it is wise to push your car that hard. Don't think your head gaskets are bad, as your car did not over heat. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
golucky66 Posted July 22, 2016 Share Posted July 22, 2016 (edited) My 96' Impreza 2.2 a/c maxed and I'll drive at least 85 on the highway sometimes pushing 95 (though it's only been around 90-95 degrees here in CT recently) but I've never once seen my gauge even move when pushing 4500 rpms cruising, Just because a cars old doesn't mean you can't push it. It's more important it's been well taken care of then it's age. Edited July 22, 2016 by golucky66 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ccrinc Posted July 23, 2016 Share Posted July 23, 2016 You gave a car with 155 hp a triple whammy: full load, high temps and the AC going, all while doing 100mph. Oh, and mountains. Of course, it's going to stress it. What you experienced is normal. I do not recommend trying to run up mountains with the AC on anyway: it's always a loss of power and hard on the engine and cooling system. Pressure check the cooling system and do an oil change. If it's running ok otherwise, you should be good. Emily 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
whynot Posted July 23, 2016 Author Share Posted July 23, 2016 so what I am getting from this, is that this car, even if I have it running in near perfect condition, will not do this trip without issues. And I should look for something else, and just use the car around town? I make this trip 4-6 times per year, and no AC is not an option, and 55 mph will probably get me killed on the freeway. and moving kids back and forth is what the trip is for. Was hoping that this car would do this at a more economical cost. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
montana tom Posted July 23, 2016 Share Posted July 23, 2016 My 2000 obw with 275,000 miles on it ,will run all day with A/C on in the mountains at 100 degrees + at 75 -90 mph and never move the temp gauge. My 2001 obw will creep the temp gauge up on the long steep hills .... i flip the blower fan off when i see this start to happen , car has more power for hill climb and temp gauge stops rising. Both these cars have had the head gaskets done, the 2001 most likely has a poor radiator. Flipping off the ac for the time it takes to go up hill is nothing, but if it bothers you, then do the head gaskets ,(you did lose fluid) if it needs it, replace the radiator/ thermostat and confirm your fans are working. The 99 obw is a good car , should get you 25-28 mpg and last over 300,000 miles , before needing TLC. The DOHC engine is powerful but is known for needing head gaskets ... big deal ... fix them properly and carry on. If you have college kids then the last one in could inherit the properly fixed subi, you won't need it anymore. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
golucky66 Posted July 23, 2016 Share Posted July 23, 2016 My 2000 obw with 275,000 miles on it ,will run all day with A/C on in the mountains at 100 degrees + at 75 -90 mph and never move the temp gauge. My 2001 obw will creep the temp gauge up on the long steep hills .... i flip the blower fan off when i see this start to happen , car has more power for hill climb and temp gauge stops rising. Both these cars have had the head gaskets done, the 2001 most likely has a poor radiator. Flipping off the ac for the time it takes to go up hill is nothing, but if it bothers you, then do the head gaskets ,(you did lose fluid) if it needs it, replace the radiator/ thermostat and confirm your fans are working. The 99 obw is a good car , should get you 25-28 mpg and last over 300,000 miles , before needing TLC. The DOHC engine is powerful but is known for needing head gaskets ... big deal ... fix them properly and carry on. If you have college kids then the last one in could inherit the properly fixed subi, you won't need it anymore. Agreed. If the cooling system is working properly, it should be able to cool the engine fully loaded easily, even in 100 degree weather. Something that a lot of people forget is that the coolant can loose it's heat carrying capabilities after a long time. So if the fluid has never been replaced that's part of the issue. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
whynot Posted July 23, 2016 Author Share Posted July 23, 2016 The coolant was replaced before I bought the car, along with some other work that was done. I like the car, it has 204K on it right now. I do not mind putting the work into the car, if in the end the car will be able to do this without any issues. I can turn the AC off to climb a short hill, but then the car is warm enough that the AC will not come back on until I coast some in neutral to bring the temp back down, just running 70 on the flats took forever for the car to cool back down. The fans work, and seem to move a good amount of air, and at 70-80 would they even matter with the amount of air through the radiator just from going down the road? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
montana tom Posted July 24, 2016 Share Posted July 24, 2016 good that it has new coolant and you are correct about the fans and 70 mph. Pressure test the cooling system to see if it holds pressure, inspect the bottom of the heads where they contact the block , you're looking for any coolant seeping out. Borrow a laser temp gun and check temps in different spots on the rad. If that looks questionable then I would consider replacing the radiator. It should not climb in temperature so much that it has to cool off before the a/c will kick on. If you install a new thermostat ,buy a genuine subaru part, they are much better than the parts house replacement one. If you drain the antifreeze out to replace any parts always refill from the upper rad hose before filling the rad. This will fill the block behind your thermostat and you won't get any air pockets. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
idosubaru Posted July 24, 2016 Share Posted July 24, 2016 Radiator or headgasket. That engine has common headgasket issues. it more than likely has issues now or in the past in which case you have to wonder how badly was it overheated, did they run tap water in it for a long time, clogging the radiator, was the repair subpar. that is most definitely not normal. There's a problem unless you are towing a huge trailer you didn't mention. People routinely drive these on those conditions for the past 20 years like that. I've done it. ask around you'll find lots of examples on 100 degree interstate driving on 6% grades. Google it. won't find anything particularly back when these things were new and under warranty, people would be seriously offended if they're new car couldn't do routine summer road trips in the mountains. There's people pulling boats in them from California east on those huge long grades to Tahoe and more. Couple people been doing it for years on subaruoutback.org subaru cooling systems are typically undersized so if the radiator is clogged it'll degrade quickly. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
idosubaru Posted July 24, 2016 Share Posted July 24, 2016 Yes it's normal for the AC to turn off when it runs hot. Either a self protect design or the Karnot cycle is thrown off by the excessive heat, my guess is the former. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
idosubaru Posted July 24, 2016 Share Posted July 24, 2016 If you bought it for $500 without issues then there's a good possibility the HGs are bad just because that's a common path for those engines. I've seen unbelievable numbers of EJ25D's with blown headgaskets for under $1,000. A few years ago I'm pretty sure I could've bought one a week. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DaveT Posted July 24, 2016 Share Posted July 24, 2016 Combining my experience with older models, and the input on this thread from members that have run this model -The car should not be running hot. Sounds like your fans do work.Things that have to be checked to determine what's wrong: Air path through the Condenser and radiator is not blocked by bugs, crud, etc.The fine fins are still attached to the radiator tubes. The internal radiator passages are not partially clogged. Water should fall through the ports as if it were just a piece of hose the same diameter.The thermostat should be checked, and OEM. The bubbles in the overflow check should be done. To avoid making problems worse, monitor the coolant level in the bottle and the air in the upper hose before every drive while figuring this out. I ideally, there should be no air in the upper hose, and the level of coolant should not change. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
whynot Posted July 26, 2016 Author Share Posted July 26, 2016 This car had issues when I got it, and I have worked through them, thanks to all of you here. Now it sounds like if I do the head gaskets, and change the radiator I should be ok? At 204K is there anything else I should do when I pull it to do this? This will have to wait until fall/winter, but the car does not have any issues running around town. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
idosubaru Posted July 26, 2016 Share Posted July 26, 2016 Headgaskets: Reuse headbolts Use Subaru headgaskets Resurface the heads (you can easily do this yourself, google or search here for the thread on it). No need to check or pressure test - they don't go out of limits or crack. Install a timing belt kit with new tensioner and pulleys Check valve clearnce while it's apart Cam seals, reseal oil pump/tigthen backing plate screws Replace rear separator plate with metal stamped version if it's currently running a plastic one - they crack and leak. At 200k a water pump probably makes sense though they rarely fail. Use an OEM water pump gasket only, aftermarkets are thin cheese ball cardboard like. I'd do the valve cover gaskets and spark plugs while it's out but they can be done later and aren't that hard or cause major issues. Plugs NGK stock number is best and wires should be OEM, NGK or good quality, they're not very forgiving otherwise. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
forester2002s Posted July 26, 2016 Share Posted July 26, 2016 Also, the front crankshaft oil-seal sometimes leaks. Easy to replace when doing the timing-belt. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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