Non Subaru thermostat for an SVX?

[Chucksta]

Thinks I learned about the Subaru SVX in the last ten days...

It's O.K. to put the thermostat at the bottom of the engine, because it gets fed coolant from the top of the engine.. It shouldn't be called a thermostat, it should be called a.. a.. Ummmm.. "Treated coolant intake mixing valve"..

A thermostat opens and closes because it's center is filled with wax... All this time, I thought the spring around it was Bi-metal.. So, at the end of the day, virtually every car on the road, no matter how computerized, has it's cooling system managed by a hunk of melted wax..

Thermostats need to be installed "facing up" Why? Gravity!

The temperature gauge sending unit, when healthy, will look you in the face and lie. A sick one will drive you crazy... and lie. A lot.

Stop leak is bad... very, very, very bad..

How a catalytic converter works, and that that "minor rattle. Hmmm must just be a heat shield", is eventually cost me about $600.00 because aftermarket catalytic converters are very, very, very bad. Thanks to Nifty for a great post in a different thread.

Subaru has it's own anti-freeze... That's something that I never would have even thought to ask. Distilled water? I bought pre mixed Prestone. I have no clue if they use distilled or not.. Actually an interesting question..

I get the feeling that Nifty and Tapani have forgotten more about these cars than I'll ever know. That's not saying they've forgotten anything, it's saying it would seem that I know squat, and the really important stuff isn't necessarily in the FSM, it's in the heads of the members here.

The next steps seem obvious, drain it, check the thermostat for correct orientation, flush, refill with Subaru anti-freeze, replace the sensor.

Thanks to all who posted on this topic, if any of you ever make it up to Toronto, PM me, I'm buying dinner, and the first round.