i have a 91 subaru legacy lsi and it overheats different times but i replaced the thermosat and the manifold gaskets but it still is overheating could it be the wate pump is bad? But my car is not leaking water anywher some please Help me
When you replaced thermostat, etc., have you "burped" your cooling system? I had exactly the same problem. After I replaced coolant, I got my car "boiled" 3-4 times. Then I parked uphill (approximately 15-20 degree), opened radiator cap, and run engine for approximately 20 minutes. I had bubbles, I had "foam", I had my level got up and overflowed, and then it got down... When it got down, I added some coolant and waited for another "burp". After that I had no problem with overheating.
What brand of tstat did you use? I tried a non-Subie tstat (high price one not a cheepie) and found out that while it fit and operated at the correct temp, the water passage was only about 50% of factory part.
Mickey
Replace the radiator. Common problem that they clog up in the lower section on the older subarus. Don't let the car overheat - you will destroy the engine.
I agree...you might want to replace the rad, or at least get it professionally cleaned. You could also try running the car without the thermostat, which you can do safely.
Yes, in an emergency or as a diagnostic tool.
Otherwise, running without the t-stat may cause more problems than it solves. Among them, flow rate thru the cooling system's calibrated based on having the restriction of the t-stat. I live in a rather warm part of SoCal where summer temps run over 100 def F for quite some time. I can't tell you how many people I know who've tried this and found their engines didn't stop overheating when the problem was somewhere else in the system.
Then there's the issue of how will the engine run at a temp other than what the emissions system's calibrated for. I once thought I was smarter than the engineers and put a lower temp t-stat in one of my vehicles for "summer" use (an ol' timers' practice for who knows how long?) Problem was the ol' timers' vehicles weren't computerized and working off a variety of temperature parameters. MY vehicle ran terribly at the lower temp--the 'puter always thought it was cold and adjusted everything rich. Other problems may occur, too.
So I'd leave the running without a t-stat to being a diagnostic tool or an emergency.
Rick
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