subaru5555 Posted July 21, 2004 Share Posted July 21, 2004 hi, i have a question... the 90 overeats, but it is very abnormal. it overheats while going downhill. i could run it really hard and then drive downhill, (clarification i live in the mountains of virginia so "down hill" means down a long mountain road) and it overheats almost everytime... but i can have let the car completely cool down and then drive down the mountain very " nicely" "gently" slowly" whatever,,, (not hard) and it will sometimes overheat, more often yes. sooo... i have baffled a few mechanics, none who have actually looked at the vehicle, i am a "I WORK ON MY OWN CAR" type of guy and always have been, so i thought i might see what you guys might know think or suggest. ps. i haven't noticed until today that there is a leak in or aroud the overflow resevoir. but i am pretty sure thats not the problem, i do have to refill often, but i could have just refilled it and it will still overheat. my thoughts.... plugged radiator, but why doesnt' it overheat while driving under normal conditions on flat ground? water pump? HELP Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jcniest5 Posted July 21, 2004 Share Posted July 21, 2004 Does it overheat going uphill? It's very strange if it only overheats going downhill. Never heard of such before. What you done to fix it so far? New radiator? New thermostat? Coolant drain completete with a flush? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
subaru5555 Posted July 21, 2004 Author Share Posted July 21, 2004 Does it overheat going uphill? It's very strange if it only overheats going downhill. Never heard of such before. What you done to fix it so far? New radiator? New thermostat? Coolant drain completete with a flush? new thermostat, drained all coolant, and refilled, may have not got all air out. radiator looks relatively new. car was hand me down from the grandparents. not sure what all they have done. umm again i don't think anything, if even, but the resevoir is leaking, frustrated, it is almost 11 and still working on car so i can go to work tomorrow at 5:30 am Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
subaru5555 Posted July 21, 2004 Author Share Posted July 21, 2004 oh and no it generally doesn't overheat going uphill Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Dude Posted July 21, 2004 Share Posted July 21, 2004 A big air pocket in the cooling system might respond as you have described. Use the air bleed screw on the radiator, if you already haven't do so. Parking the car on a steep incline (front end up) while working the air out of the system can help. It can be a real job to work the air out of some of the Subarus. All aluminum boxer engines don't take overheating very well, so watch out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
subaru5555 Posted July 21, 2004 Author Share Posted July 21, 2004 A big air pocket in the cooling system might respond as you have described. Use the air bleed screw on the radiator, if you already haven't do so. Parking the car on a steep incline (front end up) while working the air out of the system can help. It can be a real job to work the air out of some of the Subarus. All aluminum boxer engines don't take overheating very well, so watch out. ok going to do it again now, in the dark, um, just to go thru the process i am following, open breather on left top of radiator, of course with car on incline, fill radiator with coolant, wait five minutes, fill a little more, wait five, fil, wait, fill, wait, fill the resevoir (overflow) and all the while squeezing hoses and jumping on bumper to try to release some more bubbles. but you are saying aa air pocket could be the cause. also another note i just thought of, it does not slowly over heat, when it does its like right now, we are fine we are fine we are fine and then voooooop, up goes the gauge like right now. normal? ok will wait for a sec to see if you or anyone replies then i am going to go fix the car Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
subaru5555 Posted July 21, 2004 Author Share Posted July 21, 2004 if anybody wants to lay out the absolute correct way to refill the coolant in my 90 subaru feel free to describe in detail below if i am not doing everything right........ heh Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Dude Posted July 21, 2004 Share Posted July 21, 2004 if anybody wants to lay out the absolute correct way to refill the coolant in my 90 subaru feel free to describe in detail below if i am not doing everything right........ heh Sounds like your doing fine. I hope that is the problem. I like cheap fixes. Since the problem can up after working on the cooling system, the odds are very good that it is air. You didn't put the thermostat in backwards, I hope. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nug Posted July 21, 2004 Share Posted July 21, 2004 Coolant flow in the EJ22 is weird. Any air pockets in the engine can stop coolant flow. Are you using a genuine subaru thermostat? The aftermarket ones I have seen do not have the little jiggle valve to let air pass through. I used an aftermarket thermostat in my subaru powered bug. I drilled a 1/4" hole in it to make sure air could pass through. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
subaru5555 Posted July 21, 2004 Author Share Posted July 21, 2004 Sounds like your doing fine. I hope that is the problem. I like cheap fixes. Since the problem can up after working on the cooling system, the odds are very good that it is air. You didn't put the thermostat in backwards, I hope. no i don't think that i did. you never know though. i put it in how the previous one went in. i believe that it would only fit one way. ummm. i just drained it again and refilled it. i had it on the steepest incline i could. and i sat there until i was satisfied that the coolant level would not receed into the fill tube anymore. coolant was coming out the breather also. i am still worried that somewhere i might have the bubble or pocket of air. i am going to pick up another thermostat tomorrow and another cap. i have heard recently that aftermarket parts such as these that come from crappy places like advance or autozone have 50 50 chance of being good from the shelf. so tomorow off to napa i go. wish me luck keep up with the posts i will eventually get this S O B fixed. night Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
subaru5555 Posted July 21, 2004 Author Share Posted July 21, 2004 snotrocket you are right i noticed that little fact about my aftermarket thermostat... it did not have the little valve to allow the air to go thru. i wasn't sure it was necesary so i installed anyway. so i guess i will remove that tomorrow also and as you say you did drill a small hole thru it before i go pick up a new one thanks everyone, keep the suggestions coming, for some reason i feel like this might not be the end of my questions... and lets hope not the end of my car if i decide to drive the piece over a cliff, hahaha.... hehhhhh Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
THAWA Posted July 21, 2004 Share Posted July 21, 2004 when you're going down hill, are you using the negine as a brake, or are you coasting in neutral, or is it an auto? Have you tried burping the system to see if there's air trapped? Make sure you remove the bleed screw before you do. Get the coolant sniffed for hydrocarbons, you could have a blown head gasket(s) Do you see bubbles in the coolant when idling. I'm leaning twords head gaskets since you say if you dont drive hard it wont really overheat. That "leak" you noticed might be the exhaust leaking into the coolant, causing it to expand enough to leak out of the coolant resevoir. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
THAWA Posted July 21, 2004 Share Posted July 21, 2004 but you are saying aa air pocket could be the cause. also another note i just thought of, it does not slowly over heat, when it does its like right now, we are fine we are fine we are fine and then voooooop, up goes the gauge like right now. normal? ok will wait for a sec to see if you or anyone replies then i am going to go fix the car guess i posted in the wrong multiple topic, but anyway the problem is in the gauge, it doesnt accurately show the temperature. As someone once stated, it's got four stages; cold, warming up, warm, turn off the car and let it cool down. You really ought to join us at http://bbs.legacycentral.org Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jcniest5 Posted July 21, 2004 Share Posted July 21, 2004 Perhaps you just have a defected temp gauge? It can't be hot that quick...fine, fine, fine, OOPS, HOT! That's not normal. Hehhehe...LOL. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
THAWA Posted July 21, 2004 Share Posted July 21, 2004 actually it is quite normal if you've ever been in a legacy that overheated you'd know what we mean. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MorganM Posted July 21, 2004 Share Posted July 21, 2004 Perhaps you just have a defected temp gauge? It can't be hot that quick...fine, fine, fine, OOPS, HOT! That's not normal. Hehhehe...LOL. I have had a '90 Legacy\ overheat that fast. This was due to a bad thermostat. Darn things like to stick SHUT instead of OPEN. Things heat up mighty quick when that happens. Another good reason for the jiggle valve or drilling your own hole. Short of a complete coolant blockage; youre right it really shouldnt heat up THAT fast. A fualty sending unit or guage is not out of the question but there are other details. Verify that it really is overheating. I bet the overflow tank developed that slight leak after she's been boiling over into there. When it's hot enough to boil over there is quite a bit of pressure and man is that stuf HOT. Fans working properly? Look at the radiator from under the hood between the fan blades; all the fins in GOOD shape? Especially down low look for corrosion and decaying. How about the hoses? I've had a pin hole leak in those that holds upto the pressure untill it gets just a little too hot and bam overheat/boil over. Finally the hose gave out and it was obviouse. Lokoing really close I found another pin hole and the wals of the entire hoses were weak. Amazing what new hoses and good clamps can do! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Legacy777 Posted July 22, 2004 Share Posted July 22, 2004 Have you recently replaced the thermostat? Or has it been replaced at all. Any thermostat that is a non-oem unit tends to have issues. They are different shape, size, and have different characteristics for how they react to temp changes, etc. May be worth checking. Also suggest checking the things THAWA suggested. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Free Range Posted July 22, 2004 Share Posted July 22, 2004 If you are eating any significant amount of coolant, then headgasket(s) are done, period. EJ22 headgasket failures are a pain to diagnose, they only reveal themselves when the block is warm/hot. shade-tree EJ headgasket test: fill raiator with car at some incline, keep drivers side a little higher, so that the coolant will fill up and overflow the bleeder side first. screw down bleeder valve, continue till full, cap it off. drive the car with heater on, flogg it good, then, with the motor running, pop the hood and open the overflow cap(not radiator cap, unlike EA series, EJ's coolant will shoot everywhere) now manually hold the throttle open (~3-4k rpm) watch the overflow tank for bubbles. Bubbles=bad headgasket, also overflowing coolant is bad headgasket too. my 90 legacy did this, replaced the headgaskets, all better. downhill overheating: the reverse flow coolant setup these cars makes the thermostat jam with air bubbles, to get all the air out of the system is annoying, fill coolant (see above) drive car w/ heater on to operating temp, let car cool down, refill, repeat until satisfied. yet another $.02 -nels Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
subaru5555 Posted July 23, 2004 Author Share Posted July 23, 2004 thanks so much everyone. everything and i mean everything you guys have said has been helpful. eh, no overheating since i filled the coolant last. actually done pretty good. nasty smell now though. not the maple syrup of coolant, but mmmm close to rotten eggs but not exactly hard to describe... also as was mentioned my coolant does bubble at idle and if i rev it with breather cap off ( i did this only once very breifly) coolant blows everywhere. so taking what you guys have said, blown gaskets sounds like my hole that i am in. damnit i need this car to stop having problems. but i will continue to show her love. umm to check with yall how bad am i going to be hurting ($$) to get the new gaskets in? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
subaru5555 Posted July 23, 2004 Author Share Posted July 23, 2004 the smell might be the cat. converter. but i dunno i know that smell and it just seems a little different, oh and also, crap how could i forget... today on the way home my car is starting to "miss", @ 2-3k rpms not pulling a hill no heavy stress on the car, it jerks. thought maybe the trans trying to catch the next gear, but manually put the car in 2nd then 1st and the jerking continued. possibly damage done by what ever my other problem is? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
THAWA Posted July 23, 2004 Share Posted July 23, 2004 depending on what all else you want to do while you're doing hte headgaskets you'd be looking at anywhere from 150 to 300-400. This is assuming you do the labor yourself, and to be completely honest, it's not bad labor, just time consuming. I'd set aside a weekend if you wer edoing it yourself and make sure you have EVERYTHING you need before you start. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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