I'm confused on my current problem with my car and (praying) its not the headgasket and just the thermostat or the radiator. I have tried rs25.com but getting little results.

Situation:
I have a 2001 NA 2.5rs, 90k miles. The coolant level in the resevoir was filled almost all the way to the top, just and inch to 1.5 inch from spilling....... "someone" was tampering with my car.

I took it out for a three-four hour drive a week ago (nothing major, just coasting and never shifting above 4k RPM and never floored it). For the third hour I was driving it with higher revs and shifting at higher RPMs, 5-6k, flooring it a couple times and near the end of the third hour the thermometer jumps all the way up to H.

I thought it was overheating so I turned on the heater under the blow/feet setting on the hottest setting. It was warm when driving, sometimes it blew cold air (or could the mixture of the cold air from my open window, either way it felt not normal). And when stopped it began to blow the hot air (which should be normal :/, I think). Once I made a stop, I checked the radiator cap, the heads. Not to sure if I labeled them correctly, but they are the four round pipes on top of the engine that sit behind on each side of the carberator. The cap was warm and so were the heads, but not nearly as hot as the thermometer indicated.

Then the thing that troubles me is the car began to smoke on the Driver side vent and hood when I was at a stoplight. I'm guessing its from the....... overflow of coolant being splurt out. I hope its because of the overload of coolant my friend "accidentally" put in. I came to a stop and checked to find out that the coolant in the resevior is down to the low marking and bubbling abit. after letting the car rest for a few hours, the car was fine to drive.

I then changed the OEM thermostat with a crappy crappy regular Stant thermostat (which I read tends to fail....) and it the car was running fine for a few days then the situation of the week before comes back. I checked the original Thermostat under hot/boiling water and the thermostat didn't do anything (it didn't "open), so I assume it was "stuck" and faulty.

While I was doing the thermostat change I noticed that around the headgasket area on the passenger's side and the mid and read sections of the car were completely dry and the only place that seems to have coolant leak/spill was under the radiator and the thermostat hose (probaly from not screwing it properly). This is probaly why I'm assuming the radiator is faulty. While I changed the coolant, it look like the regular Subaru Coolant green so I assume there no internal leak, or so I'm told.

The next few days when I warm up my car I can see white smoke but when I put my hand near the muffler it was just steam. When I drive the car (not flooring it) it never overheats but once I begin to give it more gas in about 2-3 mins the temp needle begins to spike slowly. But even with this I never lost any coolant, it was always near the mid section in-between the max and min mark.

Is it the problem (I'm still hoping) with the thermostat because the car was warm even though the temp said it was dangerously high. And the overflow of coolant was because of the amount. The same signs as last week could result from the crappy crappy Stant thermostat.

Could it be the radiator or even the hoses because of the leak? I should be getting a new radiator in the mail this coming week and will try installing it, along with better hoses and thermostat to see if it solves the problem.

Or (I PRAY not) it is the headgasket because of the overflow and temp issues. Darn, I thought I would avoid this when I decided to get my MY01 SOHC over a 98 DOHC. If so would it be advised to get the headgasket repaired or just another used 2.5RS engine? I am a college student so swapping an EJ20 is not an option for me although it would be pretty cool.

 

Open the overflow tank when the car is completely cold (after sitting overnight).

1. Black residue?
2. Smells like exhaust?
3. Coolant level excessively high? (more than 1/4 inch above the L mark)?

If you answered 'yes' to any of these, then congratulations...

...your prize is an all expense paid (by you and your credit card) to the shop of your choice (I'd choose LIC) for a head gasket replacement.

 

I did all the following steps and none of them applied or maybe the first but it seems to be like dirt rather than residue unless my definition is wrong. What do you mean by black residue? like oil?

I had my mechanic checked it out, turns out it was really really really low on coolant (1/3 of the coolant bottle) although my overflow tank said otherwise.
So after I put the coolant in I test drove it for a good 7-10min flooring the car on the freeway and to my surprise no overheating. It was always at normal temp all the way. Now I just need a good radiator flush and I'm good seems that the mechanic finds the coolant to be a bit dirty.

Hopefully all goes well for the next few days.

Thanks for your help.

 

change the cap.

The spring on my cap was too worn and soft, and it would send coolant to the overflow prematurely and then would NOT suck coolant back out of the tank, and it would over heat and have coolant spilling out of the over flow tank.

I changed the cap and it was all good. any auto parts store will have a cap for you and they are cheap. DOn't get a "safety" cap, as our hood clearance isn't good enough for one.

-Gagan

 

I guessing its the cap since its not the OEM cap and a generic one. Will do, once I head back down to Sacramento......safely.
BTW what is a safety cap?

 

The normal radiator cap has a safety valve built in that keeps the system under pressure, until a max pressure is reached, it will then vent excess pressure. The safety version does the same thing but has an additional lever which may cause clearance issues with the wrx model. Hope that helps.

AJ.

 

yeah mines is a generic one that has a red lever that seems to look the cap in its place on the radiator. Planning on getting the OEM sometime this week once I settle down safey in Sac.

 

Generic, as long as it's new, will work just fine.

Or get a higher tension one like an STi cap. I think we have a couple on the shelf, give Joe a call at Subydude (510-651-2956)

-Gagan

 

Yeah, that's most likely a saftey cap. Not worth it in my opinion.

-Gagan

 

HOw id this issue resolved, i know its kinda late to ask its just that IM having that same problem on my 03 wrx.. just wanted to know, today Im replacing the radiador caps, should I change both or just the radiator cap?

 

You have a blown headgasket. I have diagnosed and done like 200 of them. I have spent hours trying to prove it was a headgasket with your same description and it always turns out to be a blown headgasket. BE SURE TO GET THE HEADS DECKED!!! If you dont you risk early failure of the new gaskets