hello everyone

Hello everyone. New Subaru owner here. I just pick up a 91 legacy with 250000 or a little over. car is actually in great shape. the guy I bought it from had what he thought was a thermostat problem.

 

when he had bought the car himself the original thermo will not regulate the temp and the car wouldn't heat up to where it should be on the temp Gauge. He bought a new thermo, replaced and bled the system. Had no problem in the first 15 minutes of driving the vehicle but then all of the sudden the car started blowing cold air out the heater and started to over heat.

 

Tried bleeding the system one more time but still had the same problem as stated above. he brought the new thermostat back that he had purchased and tried a different one but still had the same issue with the system.

 

I picked up new thermo myself and will be installing this coming weekend and completely bleeding the system. If i have the same problems as what this dude stated what would be the next thing you would look at causing this problem? have checked the oil and the antifreeze both look clean and no sign of other fluids in either system that shouldn't be their so i don't think its a cracked head or gasket problem.

 

I'm thinking if the new thermostat and myself bleeding the system doesn't fix my problem I'm going to have the cooling system back flushed. Any thoughts on this?. Other than that I'm going to bring the vehicle to a mechanic if it seems to be expensive and harder to fix than i thought.

 

Just looking for opinions on what else to look at as far as my heating/cooling problem might be.

 

My other question is what would be the first thing you would look at to fix the speedometer/odometer gauge cluster? neither one work.

 

any help appreciated. thanks guys

You NEED a OEM thermostat from the dealership. For some reason aftermarket auto parts store ones are a hit and miss for working. When filling up the coolant raise the front of the car up and warm it up and keep adding coolant till it wont take anymore.

You NEED a OEM thermostat from the dealership. For some reason aftermarket auto parts store ones are a hit and miss for working. When filling up the coolant raise the front of the car up and warm it up and keep adding coolant till it wont take anymore.

 

looking at a beck arnley. looks about the best i can get my hands on. one thing i did notice when i opened the reservoir is air bubbles were coming up through the coolant. just didnt seem normal to me

I have a tendency to just buy all new parts, pinpointing a problem is such a PITA. First thing though, go to the Subaru Dealership and buy an OEM Thermostat. Nothing else will work properly, including the Beck Arnley.

just ordered an oem stat. no other opinions besides the stat on what could be wrong?

99% sure its the problem. Seen it happen to many people

check engine light just came on this morning.

99% sure its the problem. Seen it happen to many people

 

thanks for the info

bubbles in coolant? head gasket problems?

bubbles in coolant? head gasket problems?

 

sort of what im thinking. im hopeing this isnt the problem but if it is i will just drive the vehicle until it dies. not worth fixing when i only paid 450 for it. im going to work on the car thursday and really look at all the fluids closely. from what i can tell so far their isnt any fluids in the systems of the car that shouldnt be their.

 

it was a constant bubbling coming up through the coolant and it wasnt the coolant boiling.

Thermostats are always hit or miss, no matter where you buy them. I've bought several from several different auto parts stores that didn't work right out of the box.

looked at the car closer yesterday and its a gasket problem or the head is cracked. kinda what i was hoping not to see. thanks for all the info guys.