Stevo F Posted February 26, 2020 Share Posted February 26, 2020 In my previous post I mentioned my cooling fan wasn't shutting off once it kicked on. I replaced the coolant temp sensor with no change. I took it to my mechanic who tested the electrical side of things with the fans and concluded the ECU was not calling for the fans to cycle off. I also opted to have a coolant flush and fill and put in a new OEM thermostat (thermostat hadn't been replaced that in the 6 years I've had the car). My mechanic did this work and noted that the coolant flow was very poor in my radiator and likely was clogged up. He also noted that once he was confident all the air was out of the system (he has a device that sucks all the air out) he was seeing a stream up bubbles coming out of the radiator, but only when the engine is revved up, and not at idle. I then returned with one of my spare radiators which he installed. He reported the fans are now cycling properly, but the air bubbles still remain. The car has never overheated and no oily gunk in overflow tank or anything like that. He is thinking early signs of headgasket failure. I know it's rare on phase 1 EJ22's, but not unheard of. Are there any other ways to better identify if it's headgaskets? (I plan to drive it some to see if the air bubbles are still coming up to make sure it's not just trapped air). It's getting close to needing the timing belt done anyway, so I'm thinking it may make sense to do headgaskets too. If so, what are recommendations for good MLS headgaskets? Did Subaru ever produce them, or are OEM EJ22 gaskets all single layer? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rampage Posted February 27, 2020 Share Posted February 27, 2020 Slow flowing coolant would cause the engine to heat up and the fans to continue running and the head gasket to blow. Question, when the engine warms up, do both fans turn on low speed, or just one fan. I have had good luck with Fel-Pro head gaskets and new bolts on our 95 and 97 EJ22. You can do a compression test with all sparkplugs removed. Or, this is easier and quite impressive. Test for combustion gasses in the cooling system. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
idosubaru Posted February 27, 2020 Share Posted February 27, 2020 Gas analyzer will confirm it. Chemical block test sometimes works but sometimes gives false negatives (says it’s fine but it’s bad) drive it until it gets worse or you notice Coolant loss. It’ll get worse and be obvious then. Should take a few weeks or months. its old, they fail, but they’re also super easy to replace. head bolts are all external and overall that’s a tiny engine Super easy to install new gaskets 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
idosubaru Posted February 27, 2020 Share Posted February 27, 2020 (edited) duplicate Edited February 27, 2020 by idosubaru Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stevo F Posted February 27, 2020 Author Share Posted February 27, 2020 55 minutes ago, idosubaru said: Gas analyzer will confirm it. Chemical block test sometimes works but sometimes gives false negatives (says it’s fine but it’s bad) drive it until it gets worse or you notice Coolant loss. It’ll get worse and be obvious then. Should take a few weeks or months. its old, they fail, but they’re also super easy to replace. head bolts are all external and overall that’s a tiny engine Super easy to install new gaskets Thank you. I’m guessing I should wait a while before testing the coolant since it is brand new. Not sure how long long the bubbling has been going on but I can’t recall the last time I ever had to add to or top off the coolant in this car Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rampage Posted February 27, 2020 Share Posted February 27, 2020 Keep an eye on the level in the radiator (when cold) and the overflow tank. After driving it and turning off the engine, when you open the hood and the overflow tank is FULL, it is time for head gaskets. It will give you some time of filling the tank and sucking it back into the system when the engine cools down. Then, when the head gasket leak gets worse it will start pushing the coolant out of the (full) overflow tank and their will not be enough to fill the system if it is sucked back in. Also, what will happen over time is when you turn the engine off and it cools down, is if the intake or exhaust valves are open on the cylinder where the head gasket leak is, the cooling system will suck in air instead of coolant from the overflow tank. The tank will still be full or almost full after the engine has cooled down. Been there and seen it a few times. On one car I filled the cooling system with water so I could test it. I left the radiator cap off and when I started the engine, the water blew out of the radiator and hit the hood and splattered everywhere. That was a really bad head gasket leak. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lmdew Posted February 27, 2020 Share Posted February 27, 2020 Yep, always check the radiator level when cold in the radiator as well as the overflow tank. I picked up a used Subaru some years ago. Overflow was full and full of black oily stuff. Radiator took over a gallon. When I started it with the radiator cap off it looked like Old Faithful. If the PO didn't know about the issue, I consider the engine junk as them most likely have overheated the main bearings. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rampage Posted February 27, 2020 Share Posted February 27, 2020 So, you got to see a geyser too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stevo F Posted February 27, 2020 Author Share Posted February 27, 2020 Just took it for a ride and back at home removed the radiator cap. I didn’t much in the way of bubbles but coolant began to push out of the radiator and overflow a little. I’m guessing maybe being displaced by air? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike104 Posted February 27, 2020 Share Posted February 27, 2020 Coolant being displaced from radiator to overflow is a clear indication of head gasket issues (ask me how I know) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
idosubaru Posted February 27, 2020 Share Posted February 27, 2020 2 hours ago, Stevo F said: Just took it for a ride and back at home removed the radiator cap. I didn’t much in the way of bubbles but coolant began to push out of the radiator and overflow a little. I’m guessing maybe being displaced by air? headgaskets. maybe you'll get lucky if you keep diagnosing but I wouldn't bet on it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stevo F Posted February 29, 2020 Author Share Posted February 29, 2020 Just drove it 45 miles with little increase in coolant level in the overflow tank and no change on temp gauge, so it must be a very tiny leak when the coolant is pressurized... for now Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
idosubaru Posted March 2, 2020 Share Posted March 2, 2020 On 2/27/2020 at 1:14 PM, Stevo F said: Just took it for a ride and back at home removed the radiator cap. I didn’t much in the way of bubbles but coolant began to push out of the radiator and overflow a little. I’m guessing maybe being displaced by air? With the radiator cap off a running (and maybe hot/warm) engine, the coolant can push out due to heat expansion or water pump activity. You pulled the cap after driving it? Didn’t it spray everywhere? And yes coolant can move on a warm engine. So depending what you mean, that is hard to tell if it’s normal or a problem. internal breaches can be very small and intermittent. I’ve seen a few EZs that only exhibit symptoms under loads (hills, AC, ambient temps over 85) and they’d drive asymptomatically for months over the winter until outside temps hot higher. that was funny to me considering the engine temps are so high and controlled, I would not have guessed ambient temps could impact internal headgaskets area that way. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rampage Posted March 2, 2020 Share Posted March 2, 2020 Keep an eye on the overflow tank. Don't remove the radiator cap until it is cold and has pulled the coolant back into the engine. Remove the radiator cap and inspect the check valve on the bottom of it. Make sure it is clean so it will seal properly. That way the cooling system will be held under pressure by the rating of the cap 9 or 13 lbs. or whatever yours is. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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