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Collapsed coolant hoses, overheating after swap


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Have a 2007 Outback 2.5i with 127k miles... had a bad engine so I swapped (yay) it with a 2006 Legacy engine...

 

Everything works beautiful (especially for someone who has zero engine swap experience)... Took the car around the block today, maybe 3 miles and it was great. Then I took it across town and when I had to stop in traffic, it over heated. I got out, coolant had overflowed from the over flow reservoir and the hoses were collapsed. Radiator cap was cool to the touch.

 

Here's how I initially filled the fluid...

  1. Dumped the Subaru Conditioner (after reading up a little, bad idea) into the overflow reservoir.
  2. Filled that with 50/50 Subaru coolant/distilled water.
  3. Filled radiator with 50/50.
  4. Drove the car.

 

Also, I didn't replace the thermostat, only the gasket because the aftermarket thermostat they gave me at pep boys looked different and had a different temperature to open at. I'm thinking I possible clogged the reservoir with the coolant conditioner (****** chunks). Or have a bad radiator cap.

 

Thoughts?

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Nope. Followed a few videos on youtube, making sure to get all the air out of the system. Ran it without the caps on both the tank and radiator for about 10 minutes before I drove it, toping off the radiator as a few bubbles came up. When I pulled over on this last drive, the over flow tank was over flowing and it was only to the 'full' line when filled it.
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Ended up dropping it off at the dealer...

 

1) Burped the line, found very minimal air, drove and overheated.

2) Replaced the thermostat, refilled, drove and overheated.

3) Removing the radiator to get it tested.

 

Me thinks the Subaru Coolant Conditioner is going to put me out $600 after this is all done. The dealer even told me he hates the stuff. :spin:

 

Dealer will call me back tomorrow.

 

:ohhh:

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could need headgaskets or it could be radiator. Also havent heard any good bout that conditioner they put in. could have clogged radiator.

 

If it was head gaskets, there would be oil in the coolant, no? Or at the very least it would appear milky. Same goes for the oil. Both look pristine.

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thats not always true, could be coolant leaking into exhaust port slightly and just burning. if you take a special funnel with an adapter and attach it to the radiator, then let car warm up and wait for thermostat to open and you see bulbles coming from funnel then you no its headgaskets. The bubbles are caused by exhaust leaking in coolant ports due to a bad headgasket. Thats just what ive seen working in the Subaru field at the dealership. Not saying thats a def cause of your problem but def something to look into.
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That's interesting about the head gaskets leaking to the exhaust, I did see a lot of smoking coming from the exhaust manifolds for awhile, but pretty sure that's just grease on the surface from me swapping the engine. I'm fairly confident that the engine has been tested properly before it was sold to me. Fans are definitely plugged in and do not come on until just before it overheats.
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Ended up being the radiator. Service advisor told me it was caused by the Subaru Coolant Conditioner. OEM radiator on back order until March 15 too.

 

Stupid Subaru "Conditioner", oh, I mean Rad Weld Stop leak. It's like taking some gorilla glue and re-label it as shampoo :)

 

Hmm, My dad's got an old '86 cutlass with a leaking radiator that could use this stuff then, haha.

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No luck with corporate. "We've been using it for years and never had any issues"

 

Today I got some very bad news. I pulled it out of the service at the dealer and took it to an indy. He installed a new radiator and started it up, EXHAUST IN THE COOLANT!!!

 

How did the dealer not just smell the coolant in the first place? Seems like that would be one of the first things to check.

 

Questions is, did I blow the HG because of the overheating, or did I get sold a bad engine. I suspect I'll never know. Now I'm out $2k for the engine and 20 hours it took me to install it.

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Dam sorry to hear the news, thats what i thought it was=/ If you need any help or have any questions feel free to ask, I would try putting headgaskets on the engine. If you decide to do this make sure you take a straight edge to the block and head, to make sure they are not warped.
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