Now it overheats...

[kwren]

Driving on the freeway, even with the AC on, the temperature is fine. Coming off the freeway and stoping at a stop light, the temperature goes up. The longer it takes for the light to change, the more the gage goes up. Driving 3oish, the temperature will come back down to normal. anytime the car stops, the temperature goes up and continues to climb.

I got home and stopped to unlock the security gate and the temperature went up while I did that.

I pulled the car in and as I sat there with the motor running, i increased the rpm quiet a bit. The temperature started going back down and continued to normal.

The motor was running all the time as the temperature fluctuated. Idling the temperature starts going up. Increasing the RPM the temperature comes back down.

It acts as though the water pump impeller is not turning fast enough to circulate the coolant.

Is it possible for the impeller to slip?? The water pump probably has 15,000 miles on it. Real Subaru... If the pump is sizing up, there should be a sound and there should have been a clue of a bad pump with a coolant leak, I would think

Timing belt has a few thousand miles on it and all the pullys were replaced at the same time.

While all this is happening, both fans radiator fans are running.

Any clue??

Keith

[SoCal LS-L]

If both fans are running then it could be a restriction in the thermostat itself, sometimes when they go bad they can stick half-way open or just not open fully. The waterpump should'nt have any way of spinning slower, usually when they go they just lock up, and it would be worse on the freeway, not better.

[kwren]

Thanks. Will try that!

Keith

[SoCal LS-L]

Since its so easy to do, id just remove the thermostat and drive it a bit like that to see if the symptoms persist. If they go away then there ya go, if not then theres another restriction in either the passages or the radiator fins. Have you ever reverse flushed the radiator?

[TomsSVX]

And it will continue to overheat until the headgaskets are fixed... Sorry for the bad news

Tom

[SoCal LS-L]

Originally Posted by TomsSVX

And it will continue to overheat until the headgaskets are fixed... Sorry for the bad news

Tom

Block tester kit time..... I wonder why it only overheats when stopped then, in my experience when a HG goes it overheats all the time. You checked your fluids yet Keith?

[TomsSVX]

Block testers rarely work.

The spike is not acutally coolant temp rising but a pocket of exhaust gas. Eventually it will soak the coolant and overheat. When the engine slows down, so does the flow and allows for the pockets of air that are stuck to run free and cause all kinds of madness... These are the symptoms and they are becoming so frequent i giggle a little when I said 2-3 years ago... "We are going to see more and more headgasket failures in these cars in the coming years"

Tom

[kwren]

Originally Posted by SoCal LS-L

Block tester kit time..... I wonder why it only overheats when stopped then, in my experience when a HG goes it overheats all the time. You checked your fluids yet Keith?

Yup... Check fluids every couple of days or maybe more frequent.


The radiator is about one year old bought new from Subaruparts.com

Thanks everyone!

Keith

[kwren]

Got the BF Goodrich super sport tires balanced and rotated today! Maybe that will help

Keith

[SoCal LS-L]

Originally Posted by TomsSVX

Block testers rarely work.

Tom

I disagree Tom, that little kit has saved my behind many times when looking at cars from private parties. Also at the shop, its how we used to consistently confirm HG problems in cars that overheated or had fluid mixing. Its not foolproof, and some are better than others, but I would ALWAYS advise trying it for verification before going through the cost of a HG repair. It also worked for Roger (nsm484).

I just feel its best to entertain other easier, less costly possibilities before yanking the entire engine. Besides, he just bought new tires

[TomsSVX]

Well we have different opinions then. In my personal experience they are fairly useless

Tom

[SoCal LS-L]

Originally Posted by TomsSVX

Well we have different opinions then. In my personal experience they are fairly useless

Tom

Ive seen ones that are, where the fluid didnt change even when we pumped pure exhaust through it The one I last used from Autozone had a suction pump to connect at the top so you could actively pull any fumes from the cooling system through the liquid. I almost bought a 96 Acuta TL but held off until I block tested it, the fluid went yellow immediately, nice try Ive seen that you know the SVX better than just about anybody here, but for Keiths sake, I hope you're wrong this time

[kwren]

And it will continue to overheat until the headgaskets are fixed... Sorry for the bad news... Tom

Tom, Unfortunately, you are right. I have known it would come to that. I replaced the leaking head gasket on the passengers side about 20,000 miles back as a temporary fix till I could afford to do something permanent.

I replaced it without pulling the engine or even unbolting the head from the exhaust manifold. I only unbolted the intake manifold on that side and did not even remove the intake manifold. "And they said it couldn't be done"

I wasn't sure that that would get me out of the bind I was in at that time but as I always say, I pray a lot! That bought me some time and a lot of miles and now I have to work out what to do with it. I think the hot weather has taken it's toll.

Thanks everyone!

Keith

[longassname]

this sounds like typical svx head gasket failure symptoms to me.

[SSSVX]

good luck to your fix.

try put nitrogen in your tires now it may extend the overheating issue.