Re: engine temperature

Aug 19, 2003 2 Replies

Could have been the system needed bleeding after the change and the coolant wasn't circulating properly? Getting things up to temp and the jolts of driving solve air lock problems most of the time. TG



Hi there,
>
> I have a '99 Suby Outback. Recently I have changed the coolant and I
> noticed something strange (I say). I was driving about 75 m/h on the
> highway when the traffic became very slow (some accident). I looked at
> the temperature indicator and I saw it going to almost the highest mark
> on the scale. It stayed there for about 2 minutes before it came back on
> to where it stays normally, 2-3 line below the middle mark.
>
> My question. Is this normal behavior? Or is a sign that the thermostat > is going bad.
>
> I can't say if this happened before as I was not very much concerned. >
> Thank you all that take the time to read/answer my question.
>
> Regards,
> Dan
>

I can speak from experience that that was probably the situation. In my 90 Legacy, I did not allow for the system to bleed the air. It caused a lot of problems. It's critical in the flat engine to allow the coolant system time to bleed air out of the system. John

Hi,

Sounds suspiciously like you had air in the system from the coolant change. Some engines are prone to getting air trapped in them (Subies among them), and the symptoms frequently mirror what you described. Often it's easy to see what happened: after the short hi-temp situation, the engine will "burp" and you'll see the coolant level drop in the radiator/coolant reservoir. I can usually get my Subie full after one good burp, but had a Toyota that would always take at least three! Check frequently until you KNOW the system's full!

Rick

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