I like my suby.... sometimes. Maybe someone can lend me some insight. I have replaced t-stat, head gaskets, radiator cap, t-belt, t-belt tensioner. With that said when I drive the car up an incline (5th gear about 2K RPM) is starts to get real warm. Not quite at the H but about 3/4 of the way up. What I don't understand is that it is 12 degrees outside, how in the world can a car be getting hot? Usually when it starts to get hot, I will downshift to 4th and hit it, and typically the will bring the guage down. I don't want to start throwing parts at this thing w/no results. It might be the radiator, but how do I know?

 

I assume its a manual, since your shifting.

I can not say whether this kind of heat is normal, but I can say this.

going up a decent incline in fifth gear (2k rpm, as you say) will be a large load on your engine. Even though your at 2k rpm, your engine is working too hard to keep it there and it is not healthy. If your car is underpowered you have to shift, thats what the different gears are there for.

I hope this helps.

 

Thanks, I know what gears are for. Its a simple thing, the engine should not be getting into the 220 degree(i know this from my scan tool's data stream) range on a 0 degree day going 60 mph. That's not normal. Heavy load or light load. If that was normal then every Subaru would be overheating in the summer time.

 

I've got some strange overheating issues too. When my radiator was getting clogged with the Subaru Coolant Conditioner, for the second time, it would get very hot when driving. This time around it doesn't budge until I slow down.

 

It might be my radiator, I don't know. Is there some sort of coolant additive that I could add that would remove scum and possible scaling from the radiator and the engine?

 

There's not a filtering system for coolant, so such an additive would be something that you'd put in, run the car for a short period, then drain.

Some service locations have a radiator/coolant system flush that would probably do a better job of removing extra material than a simple drain. There are probably DIY kits that do similar things also.

 

Could be a failing water pump. I had a water pump go on an Audi I owned last year, and I was driving from Chicago to Lafayette Indiana and it was -6 degrees outside and I was traveling at highway speeds on flat ground in 5th gear and it would start getting hot and I'd have to pull over and then at idle the temperature would drop. I was confused because I figured that cold -6 degree air moving through the radiator at 60mph would for sure keep the engine cold but it wouldn't. Turned out the water pump was failing. At idle the water pump was fine, so thats why it would cool down when I'd pull over and let the car idle.

 

try this forum if you still are having issues
www.legacygt.com specific for legacys