AlphaPoppa Posted December 30, 2011 Share Posted December 30, 2011 So I flew up to Jersey to visit family and go pick up a 99 Subaru Legacy GT Wagon that was supposed to be in tip top shape...but of course nothing is as it appears. So when I drove back down to Georgia for the first 900 or so miles everything seemed alright. Unfortunately, then the car decides to start overheating. I could basically let it cool off and run it for about half a mile before it started to overheat again. Eventually I got home and tried to figure out what was wrong. I took out the thermostat and this is what I found. Unfortunately after replacing the thermostat the wagon still overheats rapidly after a couple miles. Do you think that the sealant melted while I was driving causing a coolant restriction and possibly damaging more stuff like the water pump and/or am I going to be dealing with the infamous head gasket failure? I guess anything is possible at this point...I have an appointment with the dealership on 03JAN, but it physically pains me to pay $89 for someone to open the hood of my car. I'd love to be able to figure this out if someone can point me in the right direction. Any suggestions/recommendations will be greatly appreciated. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SpecBamf41 Posted December 30, 2011 Share Posted December 30, 2011 check the coolant for combustion residue. BNR18g on 93oct Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AlphaPoppa Posted December 30, 2011 Author Share Posted December 30, 2011 Did a search on the forums for combustion residue and found one of [ame=http://www.amazon.com/UVIEW-560000-Combustion-Leak-Tester/dp/B000NPDL76]these[/ame], but I guess I'll see if someone I know has one or see how much a shop will charge to do the test for me. The current engine only has 45k on it, so I was hoping I had more time before I'd see a head gasket issue. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
monkeyposeur Posted December 30, 2011 Share Posted December 30, 2011 Just remember that it was FREE! Head gaskets are relatively cheap and sounds like you have a sweet wagon and will learn something valuable in the process. Plus, you drove it 900 miles with no problems. I replaced my thermostat and the temp shot up to high a few times until air bubbles worked their way out of the radiator. I had to burp it and add coolant a few times. Did you try that yet? There is a bleeder, although I didn't know that at the time. I just waited until it cooled down a bit before adding more coolant. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AlphaPoppa Posted December 30, 2011 Author Share Posted December 30, 2011 I pretty much did what you did while I was stranded on the road (burping it) because I didn't realize there was a bleeder. The day after the fiasco and I learned about it on this forum and used it when replacing the coolant and changing the thermostat. I don't really know much about cars other than general maintenance stuff like changing the oil, so yeah this is all very new to me. I've got the FSM, the boards, and people with a bit more know-how than I do to help me so I consider myself pretty lucky. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
monkeyposeur Posted December 30, 2011 Share Posted December 30, 2011 Well, at least show us what it looks like! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AlphaPoppa Posted December 30, 2011 Author Share Posted December 30, 2011 http://legacygt.com/forums/showthread.php/car-newbie-99-legacy-wagon-gt-176251.html http://legacygt.com/forums/album.php?albumid=1128 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
monkeyposeur Posted December 30, 2011 Share Posted December 30, 2011 Awesome! Sweet color. Definitely will get you to AK! I drove the alcan in a chevy corsica. I liked in Kodiak, and worked in Denali for years. I found the best dog ever up there. He is half wolf/alaskan husky and almost 13 years old and running strong. I also met my wife up there. Have fun! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AlphaPoppa Posted December 30, 2011 Author Share Posted December 30, 2011 So...legacy wagons are popular college kid cars? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
monkeyposeur Posted December 31, 2011 Share Posted December 31, 2011 Either that or the owner was a tweed-jacket-w/leather elbow pad wearing-professor. Scrape that off quick! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
I Donated broknindarkagain Posted December 31, 2011 I Donated Share Posted December 31, 2011 Do you think that the sealant melted while I was driving causing a coolant restriction and possibly damaging more stuff like the water pump and/or am I going to be dealing with the infamous head gasket failure? Head gasket problems are very likely. Someone probably put stop leak in there at some point in time...and that can cause issues (gumming up water jackets, clogging water ports, sticking thermostat, etc)...Think of it as putting a bunch of super glue inside the cooling system...a little bit different but same concept. Stop leak / sealant is NEVER a good idea. What I recommend doing is a head gasket job with a new timing belt, timing tensioner, and water pump. If you order all the parts online, you can do it for a few hundred bucks....and do one hell of a coolant flush as well. Have a shop force flush it for you after you finish all the work. -broknindarkagain My Current Project - Click Here COME AND TAKE IT "The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
19Outback95 Posted December 31, 2011 Share Posted December 31, 2011 So...legacy wagons are popular college kid cars? mine had a bunch of college stickers lining the back side window. first thing that went along with the bush 08 bumper sticker. did also find an i love vagina bumper sticker on the sun visor in a legacy wagon at the junkyard. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AlphaPoppa Posted January 2, 2012 Author Share Posted January 2, 2012 haha, what a surprise that must have been. Mine was mostly filled with stickers of Jesus, Mary, St. Anthony, and a rosary. I kind of felt guilty taking them down Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AlphaPoppa Posted January 2, 2012 Author Share Posted January 2, 2012 Figured I should post what I've found. I'm going to be in for a hell of a learning experience with this car! http://home.comcast.net/~skipnospam/Head_gasket_replacement.html Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
19Outback95 Posted January 2, 2012 Share Posted January 2, 2012 haha, what a surprise that must have been. Mine was mostly filled with stickers of Jesus, Mary, St. Anthony, and a rosary. I kind of felt guilty taking them down i saw the sticker when i was peaking in the windows to find a cd player to temporarily hold me over. the sticker is now on my toolbox. i found some kids toys in the back of my car. probably an older womans car. take all your treasures and put them in the glovebox. i usually forget about what ever i put in there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
compsurge Posted January 2, 2012 Share Posted January 2, 2012 haha, what a surprise that must have been. Mine was mostly filled with stickers of Jesus, Mary, St. Anthony, and a rosary. I kind of felt guilty taking them down Clearly, this is what doomed you I just pulled a turbo motor for head gasket, valve inspection, oil pan replacement, timing replacement. It is only hard in convincing yourself that it's easy if you follow the instructions and have basic mechanic aptitude. I believe the parts list is relatively small - fujibond grey, head gaskets, cam seals (you don't want to have to replace them after you replace everything), the head bolts are reusable since they are not stretch bolts, and a new complete timing kit while you're in there. I will also be replacing the plastic cam gears from the warnings I have read on this site. GLTY. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AlphaPoppa Posted January 5, 2012 Author Share Posted January 5, 2012 Alright, so I'm in the middle of trying to take the engine out so I can replace the head gasket, but I'm having trouble removing the drive plate. As far as I can tell this is the only thing keeping me from disconnecting the motor and putting it on the hoist. Any ideas? Is there some kind of access cover I need to remove that I am not seeing? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AlphaPoppa Posted January 5, 2012 Author Share Posted January 5, 2012 disregard, I just found it by reading this post on another forum. http://www.ultimatesubaru.org/forum/showthread.php?t=18238 I'll put my pictures up later, though they are probably crap Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AlphaPoppa Posted January 6, 2012 Author Share Posted January 6, 2012 <<While I'm here, anybody have any tips for accessing that bottom left nut on the engine/bellhousing? I had a hell of a time getting a wrench first, and then getting force on the wrech, on that nut.>> --- from that other forum Holy crap that nut was a HUGE pain in the ass. In the end we used 14mm extended handle 3/8 socket wrench and broke it from the top. Putting this engine back together is going to be crazy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AlphaPoppa Posted January 6, 2012 Author Share Posted January 6, 2012 Cool, up on jackstands...Is it over yet? Ugh, this is going to be interesting. Starting off slow by removing the battery Yummy After we took out the starter we were trying to figure out how the hell to remove the engine from the transmission and we thought that this is where you accessed it from. It turned out that we were looking in the wrong place. This is where we were supposed to be looking, the little black plastic thing pops right off. We thought we were ready to take the engine out But we had forgotten about this little guy...the bolts were so rusted that I guess we are lucky that only one of them broke. Alright, I guess the easy part is now over Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
compsurge Posted January 6, 2012 Share Posted January 6, 2012 Cool. PBlaster is your friend Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AlphaPoppa Posted January 6, 2012 Author Share Posted January 6, 2012 I guess when I take the heads to the machinist we'll have him drill it out. At this point I'm pretty unsure of what to do...do I have him shave the heads or rebuild it or something? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
compsurge Posted January 6, 2012 Share Posted January 6, 2012 Check the heads for square. There is an allowable tolerance to the amount of variation/warpage. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eekay Posted January 7, 2012 Share Posted January 7, 2012 Every used car I've ever bought came with all kinds of goodies in the glove box. There was even a portable TV in one of 'em. Lol. My 9.3 cups EJ22 makes me feel like my **** is 2.8 decimeters! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JJay03 Posted January 7, 2012 Share Posted January 7, 2012 I guess when I take the heads to the machinist we'll have him drill it out. At this point I'm pretty unsure of what to do...do I have him shave the heads or rebuild it or something? If they are broken off flush you can weld a nut to whats left and then put an impact on it. Usually if its a good weld they come right out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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