Last Friday, Check Engine light came on. Took to Subaru dealer before heading out on 600-mile road trip after Christmas to fix and ensure car safe to drive. Also to check oil leak that had occured after a car smashed into my right front bumper in November.
Subaru tech said check engine light was PO483, that engine cooling fans were not connected and reconnected fans. First of all, how would cooling fans not be connected? Could that be the fault of the collison company not re-connecting them after doing work post-accident?
Secondly, on trip the car made it one-way, then overheated while climbing Cajon Pass in CA. We took to Victorville garage and they determined it was a thermostat problem, replace the thermostat, coolant and sent us on our way.
We did fine for 150 miles until we started to climb up another big hill. I gunned the engine to keep up speed and it immediately went to H. We pulled over and the radiator had spewed coolant, engine was steaming. We called a tow truck and had it towed home 80 miles.
Subaru dealership -- same one that diagnosed PO483 -- said we had a hairline crack in engine due to overheating and engine would need to be replaced.
Can anyone help me figure out:
1) Could the Subaru dealership misdiagnosed the PO483 and be responsible for the overheat 2) What would cause the engine coolant fans to be disconnected? Does that happen spontaneously or would it be a human error? 3) How long would the engine need to run w/o the coolant fans connected to cause an engine problem?THANK YOU for any input you can give.