Hi.
I blew up my Subaru on Wednesday morning. It was 10 degrees overnight, so I let the car warm up for about 10 minutes before I left for work on Wednesday morning. I smelled something burning after I started the car. I checked the temperature gauge, and all was good. I popped the hood and, Mag-lite in hand, looked around. There was no smoke and nothing looked suspicious.
I drove the car about 13 miles and stopped at a gas station to fuel up. After I pulled onto the fuel island and switched off the engine, thick white smoke started pouring from the engine compartment. I popped the hood again to release the heat. The smoke was so thick that I couldn't see any of the cars driving by on the highway. I thought the car was on fire. I'm surprised the car even started after that blow up. I let the engine cool and then attempted to start the engine. It restarted but the temperature gauge "red lined" immediately. I let it sit another 15-20 minutes and I eventually got the car off the fuel island.
I checked the reserve tank for coolant / anti-freeze. It was below the "low" line. I filled it up to the "full" line and restarted the car. The temperature spiked to about 3/4 and then slowly dropped to "normal". I got out of the car and checked for leaks -- no leaks. I let the car idle for 15-20 minutes and watched the temperature. The needle didn't move. I then decided it was safe to drive, so I pulled out of the gas station and began to drive to toward the nearest Subaru dealer (25 miles away). I got about 5 miles down the road and the temperature gauge nearly red lined again. I had to pull off the highway into the hazard lane and let her cool down. I then limped to the next exit and stopped at the gas station.
I had the car towed to the local Subaru dealer. They did an electrical check on the fan and it is still working. They replaced the thermostat and the car nearly red lined on them during the test drive. The water pump is functioning properly as well. My instincts told me that this was a cracked head gasket and there was probably more problems /w the severe overheating earlier in the morning.
I traded the car in immediately -- while they were still working on it
-- for a brand new Impreza. I figure it was best to just cut my loses. As part of the trade-in deal, the dealer is assuming all repair costs and picked up the towing cost as well.
Has anyone else had a problem like this? Do you think my cracked head gasket diagnosis is valid?
- G