wiwrx Posted September 22, 2006 Share Posted September 22, 2006 I just did headgaskets and most of the parts that I could replace in the process. The car has driven 600mi no problems. Now, I started driving normal, not beating on it, but pushing it a litte harder. It drove fine. I had just got home when I noticed a trail of dripping coolant down my driveway and soon after a puddle under the car. The resevior was empty. I refilled and burped the system with water. Then I took the car for a drive and notice a very small change in the gauge which normalled back out. When I got home I let it idle and soon after I had bubbles comming out of the over flow tank ...boiling. What the hell is going on here? The only thing that I could think of was maybe a crack in the block. The car seems to still have all of its power. I don't Know. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks, Shawn Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
idosubaru Posted September 22, 2006 Share Posted September 22, 2006 you feel confident you got all the air bubbles out of the system? some have had a tough time with that even on numerous attempts. i've never had a problem with it so i'm not too experienced in it, but there's lots of threads here about that. how much was the car driven with the headgaskets being bad? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
idosubaru Posted September 22, 2006 Share Posted September 22, 2006 When I got home I let it idle and soon after I had bubbles comming out of the over flow tank i have to be honest, this does not sound good. if it drove 600 miles with no problems then i'd think the block is fine. if it was cracked then it should have shown problems in those 600 miles. same with the heads i would think (in terms of cracked heads). if it's not just burping the system i'd suspect head gasket issues. i'd wonder if the gasket didn't hold for some reason. did you have the head milled properly? what brand head gasket did you use and if it was Subaru are you sure it was the latest and greatest head gasket? (it wasn't old stock was it?) i think i'd try adding some Subaru conditioner right away myself, can't hurt at this point. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nipper Posted September 22, 2006 Share Posted September 22, 2006 I just did headgaskets and most of the parts that I could replace in the process. The car has driven 600mi no problems. Now, I started driving normal, not beating on it, but pushing it a litte harder. It drove fine. I had just got home when I noticed a trail of dripping coolant down my driveway and soon after a puddle under the car. The resevior was empty. I refilled and burped the system with water. Then I took the car for a drive and notice a very small change in the gauge which normalled back out. When I got home I let it idle and soon after I had bubbles comming out of the over flow tank ...boiling. What the hell is going on here? The only thing that I could think of was maybe a crack in the block. The car seems to still have all of its power. I don't Know. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks, Shawn where did you buy the gaskets nipper Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wiwrx Posted September 24, 2006 Author Share Posted September 24, 2006 Well, Everything was done properly. Heads were milled and pressure tested. Gaskets were purchased from 1stsubaruparts.com and are the new 4ply design. I honestly do not think I had air in the system. Even if I did what caused it to boil over in the first place? Certainly not a bubble after 600miles of driving. It is weird I just changed the oil and it is higher than I filled it which leads me to believe that water is in the oil. Am I right in thinking this? Maybe I did over fill it as I added the last bit and did not check. However, I am pretty positive that something else is going on. I drove the car for a little bit not knowing that the intake and exhaust cams, though correctly spaced, were a half tooth off of the crank. It was fixed and ran a lot better. Could this have caused any problems? I'm starting to think 2.2L is my next project. Maybe ej22t? How hard is the ej22t to wire into the 98 outback? Thanks Guys, Shawn Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OB99W Posted September 24, 2006 Share Posted September 24, 2006 There are a few possibilities. One thing to determine is if the coolant is really "boiling", or if there are air or exhaust gas bubbles but normal coolant temp. If truly boiling, that would mean that at least some of the coolant (it can be at a localized area of the engine) reached a very high temperature; even pure water under only atmospheric pressure needs to get to 212F/100C degrees to boil. If hot enough, there should be other indications (gauge, etc.). If the coolant is doing its job, the boiling point gets elevated quite a bit, and if the radiator pressure cap works, it's also raised considerably. If you think it's really boiling, make sure the pressure cap is good and that you used a correct coolant/water mixture; a concentration much higher than about 50% is less effective, including in heat transfer. As to the apparently high oil level -- engine oil does expand somewhat with heat, and that will show on the dipstick if the engine is hot enough. If there's an internal leak, coolant in the oil will eventually make the oil appear milky on the dipstick; if bad enough, it forms an emulsion like mayonnaise. Naturally, draining some oil may also allow you to see if the crankcase has more than just oil in it. If the bubbles are exhaust gas, I guess I don't have to say more... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nipper Posted September 25, 2006 Share Posted September 25, 2006 Well, Everything was done properly. Heads were milled and pressure tested. Gaskets were purchased from 1stsubaruparts.com and are the new 4ply design. I honestly do not think I had air in the system. Even if I did what caused it to boil over in the first place? Certainly not a bubble after 600miles of driving. It is weird I just changed the oil and it is higher than I filled it which leads me to believe that water is in the oil. Am I right in thinking this? Maybe I did over fill it as I added the last bit and did not check. However, I am pretty positive that something else is going on. I drove the car for a little bit not knowing that the intake and exhaust cams, though correctly spaced, were a half tooth off of the crank. It was fixed and ran a lot better. Could this have caused any problems? I'm starting to think 2.2L is my next project. Maybe ej22t? How hard is the ej22t to wire into the 98 outback? Thanks Guys, Shawn sounds like you have a crack someplace. The oil level increasing is not a good thing, and unusual for subaru. nipper Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1 Lucky Texan Posted September 25, 2006 Share Posted September 25, 2006 Do not forget the thermostat and the rad cap if they weren't serviced. Though it seems the cap might not cause this problem. Also, be certain the cabin heat is set in high - just to confirm clearing out any air in the core. I dunno good luck Carl Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ron917 Posted September 25, 2006 Share Posted September 25, 2006 If coolant is getting in to the oil, you may see thick goop (mayonaise-like, as someone else said) on the bottom of the oil filler cap. That happend on a VW Golf I used to own, I assume it happens on Subarus also. When the HG let go on that VW, the crankcase had 8 quarts of what looked like chocolate milk in it! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wiwrx Posted September 29, 2006 Author Share Posted September 29, 2006 If coolant is getting in to the oil, you may see thick goop (mayonaise-like, as someone else said) on the bottom of the oil filler cap. That happend on a VW Golf I used to own, I assume it happens on Subarus also. When the HG let go on that VW, the crankcase had 8 quarts of what looked like chocolate milk in it! Would it really reach the oil filler cap? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OB99W Posted September 29, 2006 Share Posted September 29, 2006 Would it really reach the oil filler cap? It can, although it may take some time and miles to significantly appear there. I'd check other places if you suspect coolant in the oil. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dr. RX Posted September 29, 2006 Share Posted September 29, 2006 How soon after puring oil into you engine did you measure the oil level? I you did it soon after, then all the oil had not made it's way to the pan yet, that would amount to a small change in the oil level. Also, and it may not be needed with these head gasket, did you get the heads re-torqued? I'm not all that familar with the EJ25, but I know in the EA series engines, most of the time that engine over heated, it was not the head gasket that blew, ususally it was the head gasket that blew as a result of the engine over heating. What caused the engines to over heat was the radiator, they usually got clogged and cause poor circulation and cooling, thus causing the engine to over heat. You might want to look at the rest of the cooling system. Take it someplace and get the system checked. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1 Lucky Texan Posted September 30, 2006 Share Posted September 30, 2006 Would it really reach the oil filler cap? Hah! Good point. In the 'old days' the filler cap was on the valve cover of many cars and the under side of it could get this chocalate 'mousse' looking stuff on it(coolant oil emulsion) - probably from vapor/spray right off the rockers. I dunno nowadays - maybe inspect the dipstick along its length above the fill line? Carl Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nipper Posted September 30, 2006 Share Posted September 30, 2006 Would it really reach the oil filler cap? the water an oil fumes would to make the white mix nipper Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DerFahrer Posted September 30, 2006 Share Posted September 30, 2006 Hang on a second guys... If the coolant was actually boiling, it could be as minor as the fans not working. Do the fans work? Did the guy who did the work forget to plug the fans in after putting the car back together? If so, is there a blown fuse? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OB99W Posted September 30, 2006 Share Posted September 30, 2006 [...]If the coolant was actually boiling,[...] Unfortunately, wiwrx hasn't told us if the coolant is really boiling or not (see my post #6 in this thread). Bubbles rising through a fluid, of course, isn't necessarily indicative of a boil; just ask the fish in an aerated aquarium . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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