Fairtax4me Posted July 23, 2009 Share Posted July 23, 2009 I'm looking up all the parts that I think I'll probably want to replace on this 96 legacy when I pull the engine. I notice that the thermostat is on the bottom of the water pump on the inlet side. (The bottom IS the inlet side right? would be news to me if it wasn't) My current second vehicle is an 84 Ford ranger with a V6 and has the thermostat in the same place, on the inlet side of the water pump. During the first winter that I owned it, it always would run hot, and twice it actually overheated when the temperature outside was in the 30's. The colder it got the worse it seemed to be. Took me forever to figure out why, until I took the water pump off to replace it and I found the thermostat in the lower hose inlet. Big 3 core copper radiator, and its cold out, the thermostat would close up because of all the cold coolant flowing across it. So the coolant in the heads would boil, and make the water temp gauge sky rocket, while the stuff in the block and radiator stayed, for the most part, cold. Might be part of why it has a blown head gasket now. Is this subaru going to act the same way when it's really cold out? I couldn't for the life of me figure why Ford would have put the thermostat on the inlet side of the pump, I relocated it to the upper hose outlet, and shrugged it off as a stupid American car manufacturer thing. But this Legacy is the same way. Is there some advantage to it that I'm not aware of? If it works, it works, and so be it, I just don't want to have to deal with another car that will overheat in the middle of winter. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Subaru_dude Posted July 24, 2009 Share Posted July 24, 2009 This Subaru will serve you better than that damn Ford ever could. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Olnick Posted July 24, 2009 Share Posted July 24, 2009 If it works, it works, and so be it, All I can offer is . . . it works! Just be sure you use a Subaru OEM thermostat. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nipper Posted July 24, 2009 Share Posted July 24, 2009 Er um.... The thermostat is always on the outlet. As emissions have gotten stricter, car mfgs switched to reverse flow. Reverse flow allows for more stable cylinder head temperitures. If you have a 50/50 mix in antifreeze, nothing will freeze, period, unless you are in the arttic. Either you had a poor mix or something else that was wrong. Cars can overheat in 110 or - 20 if the thermostat is lazy or doesnt work. A tired water pump, failed cap, and a clogged radiator can all cause over heating. nipper Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fairtax4me Posted July 24, 2009 Author Share Posted July 24, 2009 The thermostat is always on the outlet. As emissions have gotten stricter, car mfgs switched to reverse flow. Reverse flow allows for more stable cylinder head temperitures. So you're saying that the outlet is the lower hose on the subaru? The pump pulls coolant out of the engine and pushes it up into the radiator? Cars can overheat in 110 or - 20 if the thermostat is lazy or doesnt work. A tired water pump, failed cap, and a clogged radiator can all cause over heating.See the problem was, if it was 40° it would run hot. If it was 60° it was fine. The colder it got the hotter it ran. I know the thermostat worked, because if I let the truck idle it would sit at mid gauge and not move. When I started driving the gauge would go up, if I stopped it would come back down. I put a sheet of cardboard over the grille and then it stopped. It would sit at mid gauge no matter what I did then. I did a little research online and found out it was a common issue. This Subaru will serve you better than that damn Ford ever could. I guess we'll see if this Scrubaru isn't rusted out 12 years from now. I had to retro the ignition system on that truck when I got it, and after the first winter I fixed the thermostat location. For the next two years it didn't fail me once. I'd have to say it has served me quite well considering that it's first owner used it for hunting and might have changed the oil once a year. And both of my Ford vehicles have treated me better than any GM car I've ever owned. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ericem Posted July 24, 2009 Share Posted July 24, 2009 So you're saying that the outlet is the lower hose on the subaru? The pump pulls coolant out of the engine and pushes it up into the radiator? no no the other way! Regardless these cars can run at any possible temperate on earth! Subaru has tested there vehicles in freezers just to make sure they can start in -65 just incase without a heater and no it will not overheat! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fairtax4me Posted July 24, 2009 Author Share Posted July 24, 2009 no no the other way! That's what I thought. I still can't figure why it would be on the inlet side of the pump though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nipper Posted July 24, 2009 Share Posted July 24, 2009 So you're saying that the outlet is the lower hose on the subaru? The pump pulls coolant out of the engine and pushes it up into the radiator? no no the other way! Regardless these cars can run at any possible temperate on earth! Subaru has tested there vehicles in freezers just to make sure they can start in -65 just incase without a heater and no it will not overheat! i get those sometimes confused, silly me. Freezing in any engine isn not a factor of air temp (again as long as your not in fairbanks) but a factor of the condition of the coolant. ALso these pumps dont pull, they just push. nipper Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fairtax4me Posted July 25, 2009 Author Share Posted July 25, 2009 No it never froze, it would run hot and even overheat in freezing weather. Moved the T stat to the side of the motor it should have been on in the first place and never had a problem after that. Never went above half gauge until about mid may of this year. Then I started noticing coolant was pushing out through the reservoir, and there was a sheet of black floating on top of it. Now it doesn't come out of the reservoir anymore it just drinks it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johnceggleston Posted July 25, 2009 Share Posted July 25, 2009 No it never froze, it would run hot and even overheat in freezing weather. Moved the T stat to the side of the motor it should have been on in the first place and never had a problem after that. Never went above half gauge until about mid may of this year. Then I started noticing coolant was pushing out through the reservoir, and there was a sheet of black floating on top of it. Now it doesn't come out of the reservoir anymore it just drinks it. so, you removed the t-stat from the bottom of the engine and re-located it . in doing so did the coolant drain out of the radiator? did you re-use the same coolant or put in new? was the new coolant a 50/50 mix? maybe it was the coolant and not the t-stat location. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johnceggleston Posted July 25, 2009 Share Posted July 25, 2009 (edited) and there was a sheet of black floating on top of it. this sounds like head gaskets to me, but we're talking about an old ford right? Edited July 25, 2009 by johnceggleston Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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