Hello group,
I have a 1982 Subaru Brat w/ the 1800cc engine. A couple years back I was having an intermittant over-heating problem. Unfortunately, I did manage to overheat the engine to excess one day and ended up popping one of the head gaskets and warping the head. I tore down the engine after that and did a rebuild on it. The rebuild has only about 1,500 miles on it, but I'm again experiencing the exact same over-heating symptom.
Here's what happens... in city driving, over a period of a couple weeks or so, I will lose about 1 qt. of coolant from the radiator. However, in sustained highway driving at speeds of 55-65 mph (3,000-3,500 rpm) the radiator loses over 1 qt. after about 30 minute of driving. I've checked this girl over from stem to stern. The only place that it's losing the coolant is straight out of the overflow on the filler of the radiator itself. There are NO other leaks. I've actually watched the overflow belching coolant out while I was standing there.
I know what you're gonna' say... change the cap! Well, that's been tried 2 or 3 times now. I even spent $18 on a OEM cap from the local Subaru dealer. That didn't help either. She's great for knockin' around town, but I can't trust her on the open road for long trips. This little truck was my mother's at one time. It was her pride and joy. The thing only has 70K miles on it, no rust, no dings or dents, etc. It's a nice little truck. That's why I took the time and the expense to rebuild the engine and keep the thing. I have two other trucks and a motorcycle, so none of them get driven excessively.
Anyone here with some suggestions or ideas, I'm open. I've discussed this with a couple "master" mechanic friends and they're stumped. The last suggestion I received was to have the radiator flushed out, but EVERYTHING was flushed and cleaned just 1,500 miles ago, when I rebuilt the engine. Like I say... any suggestions will definitely be considered by me. Maybe someone else out here has had this same problem in the past.
Either post here or reply via email -- snipped-for-privacy@softhome.net
Regards,