1998 Subaru Outback Overheating

Tiny
SDL
  • MEMBER
  • 1998 SUBARU OUTBACK
  • 4 CYL
  • AWD
  • AUTOMATIC
  • 120,000 MILES
I have a 98 Subaru Legacy Outback with a 2.5. It overheated about 3 or 4 times in the last 3 months. Then it would be fine. Two weeks ago it over heated and I had no heat from the heater. I replaced the thermostat and still overheating and no heat. The top radiator hose was hot and the bottom was cold. We thought it was the water pump. So we replaced it. Ran it for a half hour in the garage then drove it it was fine. Lots of heat and temp stayed normal. Drove it home the next day and it overheated but still had heat. We let it cool down and tried to drive it the rest of the way home. When we started driving we had not heat at first then we got heat and it was fine for a couple miles and over heated again. Should we flush the coolant system, check heads, head gaskets or what else could it be?
Thursday, December 31st, 2009 AT 1:12 PM

1 Reply

Tiny
MERLIN2021
  • MECHANIC
  • 17,250 POSTS
Do a pressure test on the cooling system, also check the radiator cap. If it holds pressure, they sell a kit called a block test, this will detect hydrocarbons in the coolant, and would indicate a head gasket, cracked head, or cracked block. The pressure tester can also tell if the pressure builds in the system too fast, do you see any foaming or bubles in the radiator?
Was this
answer
helpful?
Yes
No
Saturday, March 6th, 2021 AT 10:08 AM

Please login or register to post a reply.

Related Engine Overheat Content

Is Your Engine Cool Enough to Check?
VIDEO
Is Your Engine Cool Enough to Check?
In­struc­tional re­pair video
Overheating Symptoms
GUIDE
Overheating Symptoms
An over­heat­ing en­gine is never a good thing to have hap­pen. If the prob­lem is caught quickly you can save the headache of a ma­jor en­gine re­pair. Know­ing the in­for­ma­tion from...
VIEW MORE