A story, followed by overheating

[dwd1985]

I think out of everyone I have seen on this sight, I have the worst luck of everyone here combined. As many of you know, I just got my SVX back after lots of work and lots of time. So I went to my parents house for christmas (100 miles away) and noticed a large amount of steam coming out from under the hood. I also pulled the ECU codes and got 34 and 37, meaning that I need a new 02 sensor, and need to get under the intake manifold to replace the vacuum hoses and clean or replace the EGR solenoid. So I tested the radiator for the source of the leak, and found out there was a hols in the upper radiator hose. The hose I had just bought remained up in Fort collins, and no subaru dealerships were open on christmas, so I just bought some heat resistant tape, and wrapped up the hose, and everything was ok. On the night of the 27th, I had to drive 20 miles south to pick up my roommate from his parents house so we could drive back up to Fort collins together. So right away, as im on my way back, I hit a large pothole, and my front passenger side tire goes immediately flat. We go to put on the donut, and I notice that I have forgotten to bring a tire iron with me. So we wait for a hlaf hour for my father to get out there with an iron, and then change the tire, (which was very difficult for some reason) and get on the donut. We look at my tire to see why it went flat, and there it was, a GIANT dent in the rim. So now I need a new SVX rim (or one of similar size), because im not driving 120 miles on a donut. And thats when we notice, the donut tire is flat too! So we drive up the road alittle ways and put in some fix a flat, and are bale to make it back to my parents house. We called the local tire shop (the time was 6:45) and they told us they closed at 7:00, and theri rims guy wouldnt be in until 8:00 the next morning. Well this cuased an issue for me, because I was supposed to be at work in fort collins at 7:30 A.M.! But there wasnt much choice, so we stayed the night at my parents again. We were down at the tire shop at 7:45, and they were very helpful to me, but told me that my 2 options were to have the rim fixed, which took 5 days and cost $150, or they could get me a used rim, which would cost $175 and could be in by the afternoon. Finally at 4:00, it was all fixed and ready to go. So we left and drove up to Fort Collins, and made it about 90 miles of the 100 we had to go, when all of a sudden my CEL came on, and thats when I noticed my engine temperature steadily increasing almost to the red zone. I immediately pulled off of the road, and Steam billowed out from under the hood. The upper radiator hose was makign this horrible sucking noise, and I immedately added the bottle of coolant that I always carry with me. Thats stopped the sucking noise, and I added water to the coolant tank up to full, and let it cool off until the engine was ok to go again, and decided it was ready to go. We drove about half a mile when the temp sensor rose up to dangerous levels again, and pulled off of the road, and let it cool ALL the way down, checked all hoses, checked for leaks, and checked the fluids. Everything was ok, so we started out again, and immediatley got more smoke, steam and a high engine temperature reading, and decided enough was enough. I pulled off of the road, and got a friend to pick me up, take me back to my house, get my new radiator hose, and return with lots of coolant and water. I got back, and, it had been sitting for about an hour and a half, so it was pretty cooled down. I put on the new hose, filled up the coolant all of the way, and thought to myself "What about the radiator?" I opened up the cap, and it was bone dry! That is was had caused my overheating the last 2 attempts I made . I filled it up, checked everyhtign one last time, and was off. However, I immedialtey watched my engine reading skyrocket up to the top again. But this time, there was no smoke, and the engine wasnt hot either. I decided to just drive home at about 5 mph. I was only about 5 miles away. So again, I started out, and my reading went up, but then suddenly dropped to normal. I increased speed, and nothing happened. No more overheating, even when I pushed it. So I think that I fried my engine temperature sensor. So now, I have to replace that, the O2 sensor, the EGR solenoid, and when I pulled the code for the new check engine light I got just before overheating, it gave me a code 22, knock sensor #1! So I have the worst luck of anyone, except for the fact that I didnt overheat, just got close a few times. And I know replacing a knock sensor isnt hard (Ive done it before) and an 02 sensor isnt hard either, but its a pain to have to do, and involved money that I dont especially have. How can you hate a car so much, but yet love it so much at the same time?