loonmobile Posted February 1, 2006 Share Posted February 1, 2006 This evening, the temp gauge of our 2001 Legacy wagon went into the bottom part of the red, then went normal (half way between H and C), and repeated that exact scenario twice. The 3rd time the gauge was heading toward the red, we got home. Any ideas what this could be?? Thanks, in advance! hu Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dickensheets Posted February 1, 2006 Share Posted February 1, 2006 What driving conditions? How long have you owned the car? Has any maint been done recently? Any leaks in the driveway? Start with coolant level and expansion tank. Radiator should be full. Color should be a dull green or yellow. Oil or gunk is a bad sign. Next try to duplicate problem. A thermostat is a cheap trick at this point so get one and swap it in. report back Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
loonmobile Posted February 1, 2006 Author Share Posted February 1, 2006 What driving conditions? How long have you owned the car? Has any maint been done recently? Any leaks in the driveway? Start with coolant level and expansion tank. Radiator should be full. Color should be a dull green or yellow. Oil or gunk is a bad sign. Next try to duplicate problem. A thermostat is a cheap trick at this point so get one and swap it in. report back Burlington, Vermont was in the mid-30's. Bought the car new. Regular maintainence. About 6 weeks ago gauge went into lower red. Mechanic (not Subaru) replaced hose. OK for two days, then went into red again, replaced thermostat and antifreeze, OK for a few days, then red zone, again. He found the radiator cap was defective. Replaced cap. Did not red zone again until today. No leaks, no steam. Does this help? Thanks-- hu Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MATT NZ Posted February 1, 2006 Share Posted February 1, 2006 try idling the car up in the drive check that both the cooling fans are coming in when temp gets to normal operating temp on gauge if the gauge goes higher than normal and fans have not come in then check fan fuses and relays also all plugs and wiring if fans are operating get the radiator flow tested if there is a flow problem then renew the radiator core also check the water pump out plus when you fill these subarus up with water i find it is best to remove the highest hose from the top of the radiator and let it flow out the for a minute while still filling it and let engine idle up to normal operating temp before refiting the radiator cap and top up as necesary as these engines seem to air pocket alot also check that the engine is not pressurising ie blowing bubles in the cooling system Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nipper Posted February 1, 2006 Share Posted February 1, 2006 You need to get your mechanic to check the radiator for exhaust gasses, preferably after its running hot. Overheating with no obvious cause and affect or pattern, unfortunitly, is one of those dreaded signs of a HG staring to go. nipper Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cookie Posted February 1, 2006 Share Posted February 1, 2006 It is rare for a phase 2 to blow a head gasket with an internal leak. Losing that hose could easily have done it though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
loonmobile Posted February 2, 2006 Author Share Posted February 2, 2006 It is rare for a phase 2 to blow a head gasket with an internal leak. Losing that hose could easily have done it though. Update: The overflow reservior was almost dry, so we added antifreeze up to the fill line and filled the radiator. In all, took almost 3 quarts. This morning we took it in to a Subaru specialist (not the dealer). He said that he would be checking the exhaust gases for signs of head gasket trouble. We've got our fingers crossed. Thanks, all, for your responses. We should have a diagnosis by tomorrow. I'll let you know what it is. hu Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
loonmobile Posted February 3, 2006 Author Share Posted February 3, 2006 Well, we just got the news: the head gasket is leaking. This, on a 2001 Legacy with only 90K that has been maticulously maintained. The Subaru specialist (not dealer) said that he's been seeing more and more Subarus with lower mileage that have blown head gaskets. How does this happen? What causes the head gasket to blow? As you might imagine, we're thoroughly disturbed and disappointed with this outcome, and I think I would rather trade it in than fix it. This repair is happening on top of two others that happened last month. Each time the Check Engine light came on. The first was diagnosed by the dealer as a misfiring of the 3rd cylinder. $800 bucks. Then the second occurance was a "sticky" throttle box. $100 bucks. The Subaru specialist that just diagnosed the leaky head gasket was surprised that the dealer didn't pick up on this problem. It appears it has beenleaking for a while. Anyway, onward. What to do: fix it or trade it in? We loved our Subie but frankly, my confidence is shaken in this vehicle and also Subaru in general. We were not expecting major engine problems in a properly maintained vehicle with this kind of mileage. We're weighing the pros and cons of fixing this one, trading it for another new Legacy, or another make such as Honda or Toyota. Any feedback will be greatly appreciated. hu Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cookie Posted February 3, 2006 Share Posted February 3, 2006 Any chance the dealer will cover it on the extended warranty? That goes up to 100,000 miles on the head gaskets. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Strakes Posted February 3, 2006 Share Posted February 3, 2006 If you added the $1.50 bottle of Subaru cooling system conditioner when the WP-99 advisory/campaign came out from Subaru, then your car is covered to 100,000 miles for head gasket failure. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nipper Posted February 3, 2006 Share Posted February 3, 2006 Well, we just got the news: the head gasket is leaking. This, on a 2001 Legacy with only 90K that has been maticulously maintained. The Subaru specialist (not dealer) said that he's been seeing more and more Subarus with lower mileage that have blown head gaskets. How does this happen? What causes the head gasket to blow? As you might imagine, we're thoroughly disturbed and disappointed with this outcome, and I think I would rather trade it in than fix it. This repair is happening on top of two others that happened last month. Each time the Check Engine light came on. The first was diagnosed by the dealer as a misfiring of the 3rd cylinder. $800 bucks. Then the second occurance was a "sticky" throttle box. $100 bucks. The Subaru specialist that just diagnosed the leaky head gasket was surprised that the dealer didn't pick up on this problem. It appears it has beenleaking for a while. Anyway, onward. What to do: fix it or trade it in? We loved our Subie but frankly, my confidence is shaken in this vehicle and also Subaru in general. We were not expecting major engine problems in a properly maintained vehicle with this kind of mileage. We're weighing the pros and cons of fixing this one, trading it for another new Legacy, or another make such as Honda or Toyota. Any feedback will be greatly appreciated. hu There are some theroies, from a weak head gasket design, not having changed the antifreeze every two years, to using tap water in the radiator. my beleife is that its a little of both, and doing the last two causes some corrisoin that makes a path for leakage. Make enough noise at the dealership and it should be covered. Also the dealers have changing the gasket down to a science, so they get paid from sooby to repair the car, and do it in less time then the book time says too. i would do the timing belt now too, as you just got free labor for a timing belt change. nipper nipper Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
loonmobile Posted February 4, 2006 Author Share Posted February 4, 2006 Any chance the dealer will cover it on the extended warranty? That goes up to 100,000 miles on the head gaskets. We didn't buy the extended warranty. Have you heard of a dealer that would honor it under these conditions? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
loonmobile Posted February 4, 2006 Author Share Posted February 4, 2006 If you added the $1.50 bottle of Subaru cooling system conditioner when the WP-99 advisory/campaign came out from Subaru, then your car is covered to 100,000 miles for head gasket failure. Ouch! I didn't know about that! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nipper Posted February 4, 2006 Share Posted February 4, 2006 ythere was another poster here, who had a bad HG. The dealer put the subaru stopleak in the car, then said they were covered, and proceded to fix the HG under warrenty. Its worth a shot. nipper Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
loonmobile Posted February 4, 2006 Author Share Posted February 4, 2006 There are some theroies, from a weak head gasket design, not having changed the antifreeze every two years, to using tap water in the radiator. my beleife is that its a little of both, and doing the last two causes some corrisoin that makes a path for leakage. Make enough noise at the dealership and it should be covered. Also the dealers have changing the gasket down to a science, so they get paid from sooby to repair the car, and do it in less time then the book time says too. i would do the timing belt now too, as you just got free labor for a timing belt change. nipper nipper > Make enough noise at the dealership and it should be covered. < What do you suggest that I say or do? hu Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cookie Posted February 4, 2006 Share Posted February 4, 2006 Go to a dealer and get the glop and a sticker. Next week go to a dealer and ask if you are covered. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nipper Posted February 4, 2006 Share Posted February 4, 2006 Go to a dealer and get the glop and a sticker.Next week go to a dealer and ask if you are covered. That works nipper Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cowboystrait Posted February 4, 2006 Share Posted February 4, 2006 needs a heat sending unit 25. 00 dollar part Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
the_bard Posted February 4, 2006 Share Posted February 4, 2006 ythere was another poster here, who had a bad HG. The dealer put the subaru stopleak in the car, then said they were covered, and proceded to fix the HG under warrenty. Its worth a shot. nipper *raising my hand* Yep, that's me. At 99,910 miles, I brought my wife's 2000 OBW into the dealer with a fairly obvious external headgasket leak. They dumped the stopleak in, ran it for 15-30 minutes, checked to see if the leak was there (it was), then swapped the headgasket. We didn't purchase the extended warranty, either... in fact, we purchased the car from a private owner in Vermont. From what I understand of the recall, they're only covering external headgasket leaks... not internal. I'd consider that a fine point, though, and I bet there's enough there put some leverage against if you wanted to raise a big enough fuss. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
loonmobile Posted February 8, 2006 Author Share Posted February 8, 2006 That works nipper Good news! Here's how it played out. We didn't feel comfortable about just buying the goop, putting it in, and making the claim. We wanted THEM to put it in and make the claim with Subaru. When we went to the dealer to make our case, we spoke with the General Manager. To make a long story short, he looked up our service record and saw that in 2004 we responded to a recall where the event was to treat the cooling system with this very coolant conditioner. Since this conditioner had already been inserted, we were good to go with the extended warranty! Funny thing is, though, he didn't mention we had complied until I mentioned that I knew about the existence of this program. But as soon as I mentioned it, he said we had done it in 2004. Needless to say, we were thrilled! We'll be picking up our car tomorrow. I want to thank everybody who responded with their thoughts and suggestions. This may not have ended so happily for us if we hadn't connected with you folks on this forum. Happy trails! hu Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chef Posted February 8, 2006 Share Posted February 8, 2006 Excellent news. Quite sad that it required your input to have them do this, but better this than nothign I suppose. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Strakes Posted February 8, 2006 Share Posted February 8, 2006 Fixed under warranty...excellent! Glad it worked out well! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
loonmobile Posted February 8, 2006 Author Share Posted February 8, 2006 Excellent news. Quite sad that it required your input to have them do this, but better this than nothign I suppose. Sorry if I gave the impression that the dealer would not have warranted it if I hadn't mentioned my knowlege of the program. I think they would have. They seemed to be moving in that direction. My guess is that he didn't initially mention it in case there was some kind of discrepancy between my perception of the problem and what it might have been if it turned out to another problem not covered by the warranty. Once I mentioned it, he was very forthcoming with the information that we had inserted the coolant conditioner and that we would be covered if that was, in fact the problem. It was, and we're still smiling! hu Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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