The temp. gauge on my 160k miles '96 Outback is suddenly showing hot. Cold air comes out instead of hot. The thermostat, the radiator and the sensor were all changed. It still reads between the middle and beyond "H". There is no reduction in performance but still cold air comes out. The engine does not overheat and smoke. He showed me on a laser pointer thermometer that the engine temp is 229 degrees with the radiator as 140 degrees. He says that's all normal. The mechanic now says it may be the gauge. Would that be the case even with the cold air. Any ideas? Thanks for the attention. Ric
96 Outback; overheating problem
Dec 14, 2003
4 Replies
Air bubble, cooling system needs to be bled. Happens because the heater raidiator is mounted so high in the dash.
Thanks Pete D. Bled it, but still the gauge goes up, however not smoke, no loss in performance. The engine and radiator are still running at temperatures noted in my earlier message. Should I ignore the gauge or not? Could it be something else? Thanks for the time and ideas.
What some do is drill a small hole in the top of thethermostat (1/16") to allow proper bleeding. You can also run clear tubes from both the radiator cap and the bleed hole and check if there is an air leak, if there is any indication of air bubbles when the car has been running with setup it could be a headgasket leak. If the heater is running cold then it is not bled properly, try running it up some ramps then bleed again, it can take a lot of mucking around to get it right, don't assume you have until the heater works again.
Cheers.
Pete D
Thanks, Pete
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