98 Outback problems

[wayneb]

Hi all;

 

My wife has a 98 outback wagon with 140k miles that overheated yesterday.

I initially thought it was the thermostat and still do. The problem I'm having I think is bleeding all the air out of the system. Is there a trick to this?? The reason I think it's air lock is I flushed the cooling system with out stat and engine did not overheat but with stat in it does.

 

Otherwise I'm dealing with a leaking head gasket and from researching this forum it sounds like only way to replace is pulling engine is this true?

 

Thanks in advance;

 

WayneB

[Cougar]

I would see what happens when a new thermostat is installed. If that doesn't help then I would have a block check done to see if exhaust gases are getting into the coolant.

 

From what I understand the gaskets can be replaced with the engine in place but it is a lot harder job to do that way.

[ndsnewleg]

There is definitely a trick to it and it will overheat if you don't do it right. The Haynes manual tells you how to do it step by step. If you do a search you might find the instructions on this site. I've done it several times but I don't remember the procedure from one time to the next. If you bought an oem stat it is likely good.

[frag]

There is definitely a trick to it and it will overheat if you don't do it right. The Haynes manual tells you how to do it step by step. If you do a search you might find the instructions on this site. I've done it several times but I don't remember the procedure from one time to the next. If you bought an oem stat it is likely good.

 

But if you bought an aftermarket one, it's likely part of the problem.