Caboobaroo Posted June 5, 2009 Share Posted June 5, 2009 So I'm finally stumped but I want to figure out WTF is up with this damn car. I'm thinking there's something wrong with the coolant sensor for the guage since it seems to warm up in just a few blocks. Also, when the fans come on, engine is right at the 200-210 degree mark, then drops down to about 180. I've used my infrared temp guage and read this myself. I've had 3 hoses split on this car now, 2 heater hoses and the upper radiator hose yesterday. Replaced the radiator with a known good one, have t-stat #3 in it (yes its OEM), no somoke from the exhaust, not loosing any coolant, fans come on and shut off like they should (until Rob tried to hotwire the aux fan in:grin:) but still, it splits hoses. Is it because they're 20 years old and are having issues? Before all this, Rob pulled the engine forward to replace a TO bearing, then this magical overheating issues came. I'm kinda scared to drive it without it blowing up on me.:-\ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Beast I Drive Posted June 5, 2009 Share Posted June 5, 2009 I would replace all the hoses and flush the cooling system thoroughly, flush it with some kind of detergent that will break down the deposits. The hoses split is more than likely because of age, it happens. Also maybe look into some kind of programmable temp switch for your fans if you think they arent coming on at the right temp, I think that what Connie did with her little coupe. Good luck! -Bill Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
idosubaru Posted June 6, 2009 Share Posted June 6, 2009 Russ that sounds annoying. Have you ever replaced the water pump? Maybe it's just poor at circulating fluid for some reason? Although it sounds like your car is maintaining proper temps? Out of the 20+ XT6's that have come through my hands i've had very few split hoses...I can't even recall any but I'm sure I've probably had one. And this is in rust-o-land where every clamp is rusted and does nasty things to the hoses. I'm with you, 3 sounds excessive indeed on one car in short order. Has it ever been overheated before, maybe before you owned it? If the engine was moved, maybe the 20+ year old hoses were just kinked past their limits? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Turbone Posted June 6, 2009 Share Posted June 6, 2009 Actually, I'm the current owner :-p Its just on loan to Russ till he gets his RX finished. We were talking about all of this last weekend and the only thing that hasnt been replaced (besides hoses) is the waterpump. Usually when it heats up while on the road, its a radiator problem. When it gets hot while idling, its the WP. This only heats up while on the road. I replaced the rad with another one, and the issue remains. Also, the car doesnt have that many miles on it, I think around 125K. Its been in WA its entire life, so rust isnt a issue. So, maybe after replacing some more hoses the last thing to do will be the WP. But if it continues, this lump is getting yanked. I have another engine to go in it and the cooling system will be gone thru. Oh, and we need to put the old rad back in. Russ said that the upper hose outlet is fubared. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
4x4_Welder Posted June 6, 2009 Share Posted June 6, 2009 Make sure the a/c condenser fins aren't all bent up and full of dirt or bugs, and also make sure the fans are going the right way. Otherwise, it sounds like my turbowagon. Every single hose on that thing popped, one at a time, just due to age. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
idosubaru Posted June 6, 2009 Share Posted June 6, 2009 I've heard other folks say hoses can collapse, but i've never seen it happen on a Subaru and you'd probably notice that. Water pump is easy enough to do it's worth a shot. Wonder if anyone knows a "test" for the water pump? I might have a used one I could send if you don't feel like blowing a new one on a "maybe". just PM your address. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NorthWet Posted June 6, 2009 Share Posted June 6, 2009 Gary/Rob: I suppose the waterpump is "special" to the XT6? If not, I have a few EA82 WPs (brand new Parauts). BTW, shortly after my wife bought her SVX, it split both upper and lower radiator hoses. I haven't had much issue with EA82 radiator hoses, but heater, block-bleed and turbo cooling hoses have been a constant problem area. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Turbone Posted June 6, 2009 Share Posted June 6, 2009 Russ didnt mention it here, but he told me the other day that he was going to try a pressure test and some other test. Pat, the ER27 pump is specific. I'm pretty sure every time I wash the car I hose out the AC condenser and rad. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Caboobaroo Posted June 6, 2009 Author Share Posted June 6, 2009 Ok so I'll see about adding more info in. Car has 131k on it, radiator and AC condensor are clear as day, I was under it not too long ago on a lift and checked it all out too. Car seems to heat up to the middle of the gauge in about 8 blocks from sitting overnight. If I drive around town, its fine with the heater on and it will be ok for a few miles on the freeway. I also noticed under cornering like going from one freeway to another on the off/onramp, the gauge will start to creep shortly there after. Also, it'll start pinging pretty badly under load when it starts to get warm but apparently the timing is dead nuts on. I'm going to see about pulling the plugs to see if I got a headgasket or an intake gasket issue. My only thing is, if it was either one of those, it'll start to eat a little coolant but it doesn't. I drove 500 miles a few weeks ago for mothers day and didn't loose a drop of coolant. I did drive the whole way with the heater on though. I'm going to order up a WP for it tomorrow and gasket, then change it out next week. Oh and yes, Rob is the current owner of the car but I owned it for a week before he did. I got it from the original owner for $200 with 121k on it, bearing noise in the tranny and flakey air suspension. I regret selling it though:-\ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Niku-Sama Posted June 6, 2009 Share Posted June 6, 2009 wow this is the oppisite problem i am having but any way have you checked the coolant sensor that relays info to the computer and adjusts the mixture according to the temp? i had a sensor like that (CHTS in a Nissan) cause a pinging problem Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bucky92 Posted June 6, 2009 Share Posted June 6, 2009 Just an idea... possibly add a temp gauge like I have in my coupe. is 100% more accurate then the one in the dash..gets down to the 10th of a degree. and you even set an alarm on it. Takes all of 3 minutes to install and costs about $15. It will at least give you a heads up earlier then the dash. Not going to fix the problem at all but at least give you some warning. I have to look around but I might have an XT6 waterpump laying around here still. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
idosubaru Posted June 6, 2009 Share Posted June 6, 2009 the 91 XT6 i'm scrapping this summer had similar issues. i never figured it out. i replaced everything in the cooling system..most things 2 or three times and never figured it out. was fine in the fall-winter-spring when temps were low. would overheat in the summer. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Turbone Posted June 6, 2009 Share Posted June 6, 2009 the 91 XT6 i'm scrapping this summer had similar issues. i never figured it out. i replaced everything in the cooling system..most things 2 or three times and never figured it out. was fine in the fall-winter-spring when temps were low. would overheat in the summer. Did you ever replace the intake or head gaskets? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Caboobaroo Posted June 8, 2009 Author Share Posted June 8, 2009 A bit more info from todays drive home. Currently 70 degrees outside, slighty overcastish with sun shining through. If I baby it and I mean drive it so conservable I feel like I should be a million years old sorta thing, the temp gauge hits half in about 4 miles of freeway before I got off on my exit, and this is with the heater on. Through town, with the heater on, same deal but the instant I hit a slight incline, gauge would barely start to creep up. If I get it above 4k rpms and into it slightly more, creeps faster. Sitting in my driveway at a dead stop, idling, it's right above half with the heater on, revving it and holding it about 3k rms, barely moves. Turn heater off and do same scenario again, gauge moves a bit quicker but still a slow snail. What am I getting to? I think its having a flow issue (ie, not enough coolant is flowing through the engine fast enough) so my guess is the waterpump is dying. I obviously know about the weep hole in it (which isn't leaking any coolant) but I'm wondering, since this car came from the original owners and even though they took decent care of the car, coolant might not have been serviced in the 20 years they owned it. Thinking it might have partially disintegrated the vanes on the pump. Gonna see how much a new one is tomorrow at work since not too many places are open on Sunday... except for my work:rolleyes: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
idosubaru Posted June 8, 2009 Share Posted June 8, 2009 Did you ever replace the intake or head gaskets? no, but it wasn't loosing any coolant either. intake manifold would have to leak to cause overheating. the headgaskets are my best guess...but not sure why they wouldn't loose coolant. unless it was akin to the Phase I EJ25's that overheat if exhaust gas gets trapped in the wrong place at the wrong time? i drove it as a daily driver for a couple years and put 40,000ish miles on it. mine wouldn't overheat in the cooler months (says 70 degrees or lower rough estimate), so it was perfectly fine in the cooler months. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Caboobaroo Posted June 17, 2009 Author Share Posted June 17, 2009 A bit of an update... So apparently the "good" radiator that was swapped into it was probably plugged. Since the upper radiator hose had split on me, a chunk of the outlet for the upper hose broke off of the radiator and was inside the hose, therefore my new hose wouldn't stay on the radiator even clamped down. So I swapped the original one back in, did a pretty mean hose flush on it prior to installing it, got it all bolted in, cleaned the thermoswitch for the fans off since it was covered in a nice white hard crusty layer, and voila, no more overheating and no more pinging:banana: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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