Hey, I've been having problems with my RS overheating, or at least getting hot and me turning it off before it gets too hot, and I figured it was the head gaskets leaking, since it's a notorious problem with the 98 2.5L. I took it to Stephen Jory Subaru and had them check it out, and they say yea, it's the head gaskets. The weird thing is, the engine temp will go down to normal if I turn on the A/C. So I can run my car as hard as I want w/o worrying about it overheating if the A/C is on. Anyone know why this happens? Maybe it's not the head gaskets but a sensor somewhere. Let me know if you know anything. Thanks,

Mike

 

Have you checked your thermostat? It could possibly be acting up.

 

Yes it sounds like the head gaskets. This is the common scenario with the 98's, intermittent overheating and it will only get worse. Don't mess around with thermostats etc., listen to the dealer and get the head gaskets replaced. If their estimate is too high look for a good independent shop in your area that does Subaru work, ask in your local forum for recommendations.

 

Check your oil and see if it's milky (if you have dino oil) and see if it's got a green tint if you've got synthetic. That's usually a tell tale sign, but the intermittent overheating is very typical of headgaskets. The A/C likely brings down the temps because turning on the AC turns on your cooling fans. It will get worse

Sorry, man.

But hey, since you've got to pull the motor anyway, might as well install some fun goodies and not pay double labor

 

Actually its a recall. So if they charge you then tell them to stuff it. There is probably oil in your coolant and its getting stuck in your heater core. The AC core is before your heater fan. "heater core- fan - AC core". So when you turn on your AC your blasting cool air through the heater core. Thats prabably why it cools down.

 

as far as it being a recall, they put a liquid into the coolant that's supposed to stop the leak. instead it clogs up radiators. i tried stop leak, changing the thermostat, then getting the radiator cleaned out. it overheats after long trips or if I push it really hard and when it overheats the fans are both running. there isn't any kind of smoke or fumes from exhaust that I know of. But i've tried turning the heat on, this has actually been triggering my overheating lately. I just got the car back and it didn't overheat until I used the heater. And no matter how hot it is, turning on the A/C makes the temp drop to normal almost immediately. the dealership tried a test with blue liquid that will turn yellow if theres fuel in the coolant, it turned green a little bit and that was only after pushing the engine really hard.

that could be the reason it's cooling down, because of the heater core, can that be the reason using the heater makes it overheat, since it heats up the heater core?
thanks for the input