EJ22 Overheating questions (UPDATED!!)

[mattocs]

This morning on my way to work I noticed my temp. gauge was above the middle mark (never seen that before) and it went up to about 3/4 the way. When i'd go down a hill and put it in neutral it'd go back to 1/2. It never went over 3/4 the way up and would go back to normal when i'd put it in neutral and coast for a few seconds.

 

I got to work and I noticed my coolent reserve tank was empty. I filled it with water. On my way home the temperture never went over 1/2 on the gauge. When I got home there was still almost all the water in the reserve tank and it was clear and didnt have any crud in it.

 

Where did my coolant go? I didn't notice any leaks. Could it be my radiator cap? Its on a 96 Outback 2.2l

 

Suggestions? Cures? Etc?

 

Thanks.

[beezer]

Suppose it could be the rad cap, that would explain why there wasn't any movement from the expansion tank. Could explain the coolant loss too.

 

Change the rad cap and see

 

I might keep my open for any leaks though.

 

Good luck.

[johnceggleston]

have you looked for a leak from the water pump? it's hard to see unless you have the car on a lift.

[idosubaru]

you want to check this out and not just assume it'll go away. overheating will turn a great and reliable car/motor into junk. running hot is terrible on your motor, particularly the seals in it.

 

also - you need to make sure you have a good concentration of coolant in there, not just water. winter is here as well as freezing temperatures for you and i both. water will freeze and crack your block/heads, make sure you have enough coolant if you added water by itself.

 

disclaimer over.....i would replace the radiator cap but i wouldn't be too confident that will fix such a serious issue. i would inspect the water pump and radiator. the water pump....i think you can see it by removing the drivers side timing belt cover. if this sounds difficult, it is not. my mom or wife could do it. it doesn't require removing anything else, just a couple 10mm bolts i believe. you can leave the cover off for awhile and keep your eye on the water pump...you might immediately see some seepage from it. leave the car idle for 15 minutes or so in one spot once it's warmed up...but don't leave it sit by itself, make sure it doesn't over heat. in other words, don't start it and plan on coming back 15 minutes later only to find the Temp gauge through the roof. you should be fine, but stay close and keep an eye on it....after letting it idle for 15 or 20 minutes, look under the car for a couple minutes and look for drops.

 

another check - remove the radiator fans (not difficult either) and check out the condition of the radiator. green corrosion and missing/busted out fins are not a good sign.

 

post pictures of underside of car, radiator, wet spots, etc and we can help more.

[mattocs]

thanks for the help / suggestions. I picked up a couple of gallons of pre-mixed coolant and tomorrow I plan on changing my coolant. I'll pull the cap off the radiator and make sure its not getting stuck and give a good look at all the hoses.

 

Could it be the thermostat getting stuck open or something?

 

I am hoping its the rad. cap. I was going to get a new waterpump with my timing belt in May...but then I needed eye surgury and couldnt afford car repairs (still can't.) so I still need a timing belt and stuff.

 

Thanks again.

[mattocs]

I went out and took a look under the car, and it seems that coolant is leaking out from around the timing belt cover around the drivers side.

 

Anyone know what this could be? Is this where the water pump is located? Does this narrow it down to the waterpump?

[beezer]

Waterpump is located there.That sucks!

[mattocs]

Waterpump is located there.That sucks!

 

Yeah, it does suck. I don't have money to pay for it to be done and I don't want to mess it up doing it myself, as I need the car to get to work monday morning. Maybe i'll JB Weld the hell out of where its leaking from so its driveable for a while.

[idosubaru]

matt,

there are probably better options than JB weld for trying to seal it up. i woudln't waste your time, JB weld does not make much of a sealant. depends where it's leaking...if it's leaking at the gasket then the water pump isn't failing and you could try to reduce the leakage. if the pump is on it's way out and coolant is coming out of the weep hole or through the front seal then no amount of anything will even help.

 

if you suspect the gasket is leaking (never seen one do this from the factory though, so i don't know how likely that is)...but if it is then here's the best quick fix i can think of.... i'd let it sit for a few hours so the pump housing has a chance to drain that way it's as dry as possible while you're trying to seal it. then go down the autoparts store and look for your sealant options. i can't remember how much access you have to the water pump mating surface but here's what i'd try to do.....i think i'd get a tube of the sure-tack gasket adhesive and sealant. smear it all over the bottom and sides of the water pump where it's leaking. then i'd slap a strip of gasket material over the top of the sealant and hold it on there. auto parts stores sell gasket material, sheets of it to cut your own gaskets from. i don't recommend this, but if yo'ure not going to fix it right it could possibly help a bad gasket scenario. again, you would be lucky if the gasket were the cause of the leak and not the actual pump itself.

 

typically a water pump won't necessarily leak terribly...though it can get that way in a hurry. so keep plenty of coolant/water mix in the trunk for now. that's a terrible idea, but if you can't fix it. make SURE the thermostat housing isn't leaking. rare and unlikely, but possible and easy to fix.

 

you're about 3 hours away, that's pretty far otherwise i'd offer to do it for you much cheaper than a shop would.

[mattocs]

Yeah...I just emailed my mother. Hopefully she can bail me out. Local Subaru dealer wants $450 or so for timing belp, water pump, oil pump seal, cam seal, crank seal...so that isn't horrible. I just hope she has some extra money laying around and I can make an apointment this week.

 

Its frustraiting that I had the money to get this all done in May, but then I had a detatched retina and needed surgury and was out of work...and had to be cheap for a while...and now i'm just poor until I play catchup on my credit cards and all that.

 

Thanks again for the help and i'll keep you all updated.

[idosubaru]

i just updated my last post if you care to bore yourself to death and read it again.

 

450 is good...they quoted my cousin $699 here for a timing belt job and the quote didn't specify anything but the belt. i did it for her of course for cost of parts. the belt and pump alone cost 150-200 for parts, i'm really surprised they're actually quoting you that. i'd hope they don't try to rip you and once it's apart say "oh you now need the tensioner and sprocket pulley"...that's another $300 dollars. AND oil pump, crank and cam.....$450 sounds really low. i don't think i'd do it for less than $450 (unless relative or something)...i'd have to check parts prices.

[mattocs]

The local dealer is really cool. Their board with the costs of some basic stuff has a timing belt job costing like $275...so they are fair and do good work.

 

I emailed them with what I need done to get another estimate and i'll call and make the apointment if they get back to me today.

 

I said I needed timing belt, thermostat, waterpump, oil pump seals, and cam and crank seals. That should be it for maintinece I can't do myself for the next 100,000 miles or so. (crosses fingers and knocks on wood)