Car overheating quickly! Please help/advise

I purchased this 2008 Subaru legacy GT about a week ago, it did have some problems. I took it to my local Subaru dealer and they did a vehicle inspection on it (the same one they do when they are taking a car in on trade, and also diagnosed the check engine light. This is what they stated needed to be repaired.

 

1. P0011 Camshaft A position sensor performance bank 1 needs oil control valve replaced.

2. Steering wheel bushing out of place, disassemble, repair, re-assemble.

3. Turbo hose leaking needs replaced, needs oil change.

 

I have driven the car approx 200 miles since I purchased it (I asked the tech to make sure I wasn't in danger of blowing up the engine if I drove it ,he it should be safe to drive. Yesterday on my way home I was driving at a decent pace (80mph) and noticed when I was close to home the temp gauge had gotten up to within 1 tick mark of the red. It stayed there till I got home, I opened the hood to look around, I could smell what smelled like burnt oil but could not see anything. I checked the oil and while dirty, was still a little more than full. Now my car does not blow any warm air out of the ducts, and I took a trip to the store down the street 5-6 min away and my temp gauge was reading right at the red warning for overheating. Is there anything that can cause this without catastrophic failures? I had an appointment Tuesday to have the dealer repair the issues but now I'm afraid to drive it to the dealer bc I am closer to 15-20 min from them. Any help would be greatly appreciated I am feeling really lousy thinking I might have bought a lemon.

Did you check your coolant level in the radiator?

Yes sir, I waited until everything cooled down, coolant is full and looks clean from what I can tell. The air filter was VERY dirty, I noticed it after poking around more. I started googling and there was a person on YouTube who has owned some Subaru's, it made me think it could be a bad thermostat or a bad head gasket is there anything else I can check or take pictures of to help you help me? I just don't want to blow my engine trying to get it to the service station.

I wouldn't take it to a dealer , take it to a subaru specialist and they should be able to confirm if it needs headgaskets replaced or not.

They can perform a leak down test and check the coolant for the presence of CO with chemicals.

 

If it requires new headgaskets (likely), ensure the heads go to a good machine shop and are flat with the correct finish.

 

There is a good chance the person who sold it to you knew of the overheating issue and sold it due to that.

 

If it's not headgaskets, sometimes it can just be a leak in an old coolant line, examine the lines.

Bleed the cooling system, if you're not able to get all the bubbles out when bleeding the system it would again suggest blown headgaskets.

 

Don't bother trying to use those headgasket fix in a bottle type products , they only make a mess (block up the rad or heater core) and don't fix the leak.

I guess wouldn't it have done this from the start if the head gasket was bad? I know 200 miles is not a lot but it worked fine until yesterday, the dealer I bought from does have a 6000 mile 6 month warranty on powertrain hopefully they would honor it is that is the case. So other than head gasket and possibly bad thermostat is there anything else I should look at? If the HG is the problem I might as well upgrade to forged internals to bullet proof the engine what's another 1500 bucks if I'm screwed anyway right?

I don't know if this tells us anything but I took out the air filter which was filthy, and ran the car for 15 min in the garage, w/o air filter, the temp gauge never got above half way, and the top radiator hose was warm, still no warm air through vent, but the car did not overheat, it did however run rough with an idle between 800-1100rpm.

your car is relearning your air cleaner change . give it a few miles.

If your upper hose is hot but the lower hose is cold, it's the thermostat. Are your fans working?

Sounds like you'll be fine considering its under warranty. Take it straight back and get them to replace the headgaskets under warranty.

 

Don't bother messing with it yourself.

 

No need to spend 1500 on forged internals if not going to chase big power (400whp).

Well tried to start the car and drive it to the dealer, less than 5 min before it overheated, now I'm sitting here waiting for AAA to text me when the tow truck is coming. I guess we will find out today or tomorrow once they get there hands on it. Moral of the story doesn't matter how careful you are unless your a skilled mechanic don't buy used. 17 years I owned my Acura, never a significant issue, owned this car a week and 200 miles and this is were I am.

Well blow head gasket. So obviously they used some type of gasket sealer product so they could get it out the door. Called the service manager and told him I want my money back they can keep the car. If I can get out of this with just tax title and my diagnostic fees then maybe God hasn't forsaken me. I will be going down there in person tomorrow to confront them.

That sucks man. Sorry to hear.

OK guys so the shop is tearing down the engine today, is there anything that should be replaced, checked to make sure this doesn't happen again?

Ask to see the invoice from the machine shop that performed the machine work (resurface) on the heads.

 

If that step isn't done, the job wont last.

 

The PCV valve should be replaced since it's easy and cheap while they are doing the job.

 

If they are re-using the timing kit/belt, make sure you at least get them to changed out the cogged pulley as that one often causes catastrophic damage when it fails.

 

Inspect and change the tensioner as well if it shows signs of leaking hydraulic fluid.

 

While the engine is out, perfect time to get the rear main seal changed. Cheap and easy at this point.

 

Inspect the clutch if it's manual.

Thanks for the tips! Just an update I went to the dealer today and explained to the service manager that I was not trying to get out of this repair the cheapest way possible I wanted it done right so I had a reliable car, I spoke with him about replacing the time belt, pulleys and water pump since it comes as a kit, using the Subaru gasket kit, as well as replacing the 4 half moon seals, machining the heads if they were warped, and anything else that should be done while the heads are off, he seemed more receptive once I talked to him, so I'm hoping this guy does the right thing. I will mention the PCV valve and the rear main seal. I'll update you guys when I know more. Thank you again.

give it back to the dealer, shop, and look for a better one.

 

have fun shopping.

Won't take it back so I'm going to salvage what I got.