Struggling! Need help with engine work!
#1
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Thread Starter
Join Date: Dec 2009
Location: Kaneohe, HI
Posts: 12
Car Info: Subaru STI 2005
Struggling! Need help with engine work!
I recently had a ruptured radiator on H3 from a rock somehow blowing out the bottom of the radiator and car overheated and dumped all coolant. Replaced the radiator and car still overheats which Subaru dealership says probably blown head gasket. They won't touch the car due to all of my mods. I tried Sonic, Rad motorsports, Munky works, and few others with no luck (Either no response back or cannot / will not do the job). Does anyone have any recommendations or know of a good subaru shop that will do a possible head gasket job? My car has been OOC for about a week and really want to start making repairs.
#3
any other symptoms? did you get all the air out the system after you refilled? losing any coolant, oil levels rising? irregular smoke? color of smoke if any? correct me if i'm wrong, to me, there maybe air in the system or clogged hose if overheating is the only issue. not ruling the hg out of the picture, same happened to my civic, but only time it overheated was while in idle, never driving around. sometimes we overlook the small things.
#4
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Thread Starter
Join Date: Dec 2009
Location: Kaneohe, HI
Posts: 12
Car Info: Subaru STI 2005
I replaced the radiator with a new mishimoto radiator, samco hoses, and a mishimoto thermostat. I burped it and topped it off, cycled the heater on and verified the fans were operating. I fired it up and let it idle then cruised around the block. I did notice white smoke but figured it was from spilled coolant on engine and pipes burning off.
I drove it across H3 and was maintaining temp fine untill I was on the down side of H3 by the stadium off ramp where the car rapidly started to overheat. I pulled over and checked for blown hoses. I found no blown hoses, only sprayed coolant by the reservoir / overflow. The overflow reservoir lid was popped and coolant was higher then normal. I let the car cool and later started it up to see if I could detect any leaks (which I did not notice any). I did notice White smoke was blowing out the tailpipe then.
I had it towed to the dealership and they could not work on it due to all of my mods. They said it sounds like a blown head gasket based on my symptoms. This leads me to where I am now, looking for a good shop or mechanic to help me figure out and fix my car. I figured I would post here, since there are a ton of super smart Subaru dudes here!
I drove it across H3 and was maintaining temp fine untill I was on the down side of H3 by the stadium off ramp where the car rapidly started to overheat. I pulled over and checked for blown hoses. I found no blown hoses, only sprayed coolant by the reservoir / overflow. The overflow reservoir lid was popped and coolant was higher then normal. I let the car cool and later started it up to see if I could detect any leaks (which I did not notice any). I did notice White smoke was blowing out the tailpipe then.
I had it towed to the dealership and they could not work on it due to all of my mods. They said it sounds like a blown head gasket based on my symptoms. This leads me to where I am now, looking for a good shop or mechanic to help me figure out and fix my car. I figured I would post here, since there are a ton of super smart Subaru dudes here!
#5
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iTrader: (4)
I replaced the radiator with a new mishimoto radiator, samco hoses, and a mishimoto thermostat. I burped it and topped it off, cycled the heater on and verified the fans were operating. I fired it up and let it idle then cruised around the block. I did notice white smoke but figured it was from spilled coolant on engine and pipes burning off.
I drove it across H3 and was maintaining temp fine untill I was on the down side of H3 by the stadium off ramp where the car rapidly started to overheat. I pulled over and checked for blown hoses. I found no blown hoses, only sprayed coolant by the reservoir / overflow. The overflow reservoir lid was popped and coolant was higher then normal. I let the car cool and later started it up to see if I could detect any leaks (which I did not notice any). I did notice White smoke was blowing out the tailpipe then.
I had it towed to the dealership and they could not work on it due to all of my mods. They said it sounds like a blown head gasket based on my symptoms. This leads me to where I am now, looking for a good shop or mechanic to help me figure out and fix my car. I figured I would post here, since there are a ton of super smart Subaru dudes here!
I drove it across H3 and was maintaining temp fine untill I was on the down side of H3 by the stadium off ramp where the car rapidly started to overheat. I pulled over and checked for blown hoses. I found no blown hoses, only sprayed coolant by the reservoir / overflow. The overflow reservoir lid was popped and coolant was higher then normal. I let the car cool and later started it up to see if I could detect any leaks (which I did not notice any). I did notice White smoke was blowing out the tailpipe then.
I had it towed to the dealership and they could not work on it due to all of my mods. They said it sounds like a blown head gasket based on my symptoms. This leads me to where I am now, looking for a good shop or mechanic to help me figure out and fix my car. I figured I would post here, since there are a ton of super smart Subaru dudes here!
#7
streamline performance, although i hate to refer you there since i have such a hard time getting an appointment in (usually at least 2-3 weeks) since they're so busy. +1 for the compression/leakdown test as you'll wanna know if there's any other problems that may have been caused in the span of the all this mess
#8
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Thread Starter
Join Date: Dec 2009
Location: Kaneohe, HI
Posts: 12
Car Info: Subaru STI 2005
Ill check everything out tomorrow (look for the symptoms) and try to burp the system again. Thanks for all the recommendations. Hope its something simple. I appreciate all the help.
#10
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Thread Starter
Join Date: Dec 2009
Location: Kaneohe, HI
Posts: 12
Car Info: Subaru STI 2005
I checked the drain plug today which had no issues. Checked the hoses and topped off coolant. Fired it up and ran it to burp the system. It remained cool but later was bubbling in the coolant reservoir tank. The car was blowing out tons of white smoke. I am going to try to do a compression test as soon as I can. I did not see any issues with the oil.
#12
Registered User
iTrader: (4)
If it skipped a tooth or something why would it bellow white smoke? I was always under the impression it would just run like crap. Or smash valves.... I have a handy burping kit, it takes the place of the rad cap and you can see the bubbles coming out, i ran the car for almost 20 min and kept seeing little bubbles until it finally stopped ( this was the 6th cycle...) I noticed with my mishimoto the drain plug leaked when i got to temp, it was slight but it was noticeable. Also did you replace the hose clamps with ones that are tie in type? The stock clamp ones tend to loose there clamping force...
Last edited by devilzdriver; 04-01-2014 at 08:55 PM.