So I recently picked up an old outback ll bean edition from an old friend. He claims that the head gasket went out and that's why it's over heating ( lucky for me because now he just wants me to get it out of his driveway)... I nursed it home and replaced the thermostat and did a coolant flush (and burped the system)...it kept it cool for about 2 days and then started to over heat again...problem is I don't see any white smoke coming out the back, milky oil (looks like a fresh oil change), discoloration in the coolent, or any leaking (driveway has no drips or signs of any coolent leaking)...not very familiar with Subarus and how they operate so any help would be greatly appreciated
2001 Outback H6 over heating nightmare!!!
-
Our 4th of July contest is live! Enter HERE for your chance to win a $400 Walmart gift card.
-
Hey everyone! Enter your ride HERE to be a part of this month's Outback of the Month Challenge!
1 - 20 of 20 Posts
you need the following: what theremstat.
the ones to buy are OEM, or in a pinch a stant exact stat. (no others)
and a subaru OEM rad cap. (it has a yellow sticker on the top). these measure in KPA.
aftermarkets don't and what happens is the car overheats etc. ...and caps do wear as they age.
____
and what coolant is in there? these take traditional green mix, or possibly blue if you want it to last longer. (but traditional green mix is nice and cheap if you are having repeat problems)
the ones to buy are OEM, or in a pinch a stant exact stat. (no others)
and a subaru OEM rad cap. (it has a yellow sticker on the top). these measure in KPA.
aftermarkets don't and what happens is the car overheats etc. ...and caps do wear as they age.
____
and what coolant is in there? these take traditional green mix, or possibly blue if you want it to last longer. (but traditional green mix is nice and cheap if you are having repeat problems)
So I used Peak coolant (mixed 50/50) and I don't remember the brand for the thermostat it wasn't OEM but it was the highest brand (and cost) at autozone (it was a fail safe thermostat...I dipped it in hot water to make sure it was opening before installing it.
get a OEM stat,....chuck that thing from autozone.
all the aftermarkets except the stant exact stat do not flow enough. maybe its a " fail safe " in a chevy malibu 2.2.
...and anyone that sells you one owes you a new engine if you ran around with it for a month over overheating. (hard to get them to pay of course,...but ).
edit: and ez30 engines historically need more burping. like a half a hour of running with a funnel on the open rad neck car facing up hill
edit 2: burping with the heat on,..so to make sure the coolant is pumping throught the heater core where bubbles like to go.
Start with the basics here...does it overheat when idling or when driving or both?
Have you checked for operation of the fans? Is there any loss of power while driving/accelerating?
Have you checked for operation of the fans? Is there any loss of power while driving/accelerating?
oil/coolant mixing, white exhaust, and compression tests are generally useless for headgasket failures on that engine.
they push exhaust gases into the coolant, very slowly at first and get worse over time, symptoms are:
1. overheating
2. loss of cabin heat shortly after overheating starts - it'll blow very hot at first and then tanks to ambient temps.
3. bubbles in the overflow
those are literally the only symptoms you have to go on when they first start to blow and even for a long time afterwards. Sounds like a blown headgasket but check the easy stuff:
Get all the air out of the system
Make sure cooling fans are coming on
Tstat is unlikely if it had identical symptoms with two different ones and they fail far less likely than they're given attention.
they push exhaust gases into the coolant, very slowly at first and get worse over time, symptoms are:
1. overheating
2. loss of cabin heat shortly after overheating starts - it'll blow very hot at first and then tanks to ambient temps.
3. bubbles in the overflow
those are literally the only symptoms you have to go on when they first start to blow and even for a long time afterwards. Sounds like a blown headgasket but check the easy stuff:
Get all the air out of the system
Make sure cooling fans are coming on
Tstat is unlikely if it had identical symptoms with two different ones and they fail far less likely than they're given attention.
I appreciate all of the responses...turns out it's a cracked block 
....put it up on the lift and had the dealer look it over and sure enough it was cracked, so now im looking at just parting it out or scraping it ....sad day, I definitely super appreciate everyone's input y'all are awesome
....put it up on the lift and had the dealer look it over and sure enough it was cracked, so now im looking at just parting it out or scraping it ....sad day, I definitely super appreciate everyone's input y'all are awesomeNo way. What do you mean "cracked"?...turns out it's a cracked block
It's nothing I haven't heard before - it's just never true or accurate. There's about a 5% chance it's true.
The HG's, crossover pipe, and oil cooler supply lines can leak coolant on the bottom of the engine.
But cracked or no - a $700 JDM engine as he said drops right in and there's another 100,000 miles rather easily. $700 engine, $500 install, two $2 bearings and you've got another 100,000 reliable miles.
Ok well after reading everything I'm going to try and have the dealer put it up on the rack and show me the crack in person....the dealer told me after they looked it over that the spark plugs were burnt up, engine mounts were gone, and it had a crack in the block...they also said it was low by a gallon of coolent when I brought it in (Ima mechanical engineering student and I had to drive to class before I could bring in the car to the dealer)...they claim that the coolent is leaking into the engine and burning up (again no signs of leaking and no smoke out the back) ....thanks again to everyone I really want this car to work out!!!
that takes like 2 to 2.25 gallons max volume. ...so a gallon low is surprising.
when hot: was it laying a cloud of coolant mist down the street behind you to drive it hot out the tail pipe? or pumping exhaust gas into the coolant over flow tank?
please take some pics.
when hot: was it laying a cloud of coolant mist down the street behind you to drive it hot out the tail pipe? or pumping exhaust gas into the coolant over flow tank?
please take some pics.
Ok so I just looked at it with the dealer and the tech there claims it's either a bad head gasket or cracked head (they don't know which head it could be either)....he said that he put it on the lift, filled it with coolant and then noticed that it was blowing bubbles out of the coolant as he burped the system...so I don't know how hard it is to pull the engine but I'm guessing it's the headgasket leaking on the inside ? Don't know if there is any way to test wether it's the head cracked or head gasket....I think I'm going to try and pull the engine and take it apart to see (head gasket kit online is like 60 bucks)...it's a 2001 but it was owned by an older engineer friend and it looks like it just rolled off the lot as far as the cosmetics are concerned so I would really love to keep it
Do y'all think it's better to go ahead and pull the engine and go for the head or look at replacing/testing something else ? (I still have an aftermarket thermostat and radiator cap in it) ....im definitely open to ideas but I would hate to spend a lot of money on small parts when the head is cracked or the head gasket is busted....again I can't thank you enough for your advice, this is my first Subaru so I'm in new territory
miles on this car?
this is a regular thread on this board.
easy cheap economical fix for time / energy/ frustration / money, for blown head gaskets on a EZ30D is to get a JDM engine and put it in,
that way you can fiddle with the old one at your leisure. or just scrap it. its a longer harder job to do head gaskets on this engine then a EJ251 of the same year, and not all engines are in nice enough shape to bother with.
here is a JDM engine, (they sell these with the world model years listed, and when they were sold and used in japan).
some JDM shops $600-$700, plus freight, some of the ebay places want a mint for the same old 212hp one.
(the later 250hp EZ30R type is not a drop in,...and would need a whole lot more parts / electronics to get to work the right way,...and not that much faster behind the wheel anyway as it only has 9 more on torque).
https://jdmnewyork.com/product/00-0...egacy-lancaster-6-3-0l-engine-jdm-ez30-ez30d/
this is a regular thread on this board.
easy cheap economical fix for time / energy/ frustration / money, for blown head gaskets on a EZ30D is to get a JDM engine and put it in,
that way you can fiddle with the old one at your leisure. or just scrap it. its a longer harder job to do head gaskets on this engine then a EJ251 of the same year, and not all engines are in nice enough shape to bother with.
here is a JDM engine, (they sell these with the world model years listed, and when they were sold and used in japan).
some JDM shops $600-$700, plus freight, some of the ebay places want a mint for the same old 212hp one.
(the later 250hp EZ30R type is not a drop in,...and would need a whole lot more parts / electronics to get to work the right way,...and not that much faster behind the wheel anyway as it only has 9 more on torque).
https://jdmnewyork.com/product/00-0...egacy-lancaster-6-3-0l-engine-jdm-ez30-ez30d/
I doubt the head is cracked, or the block is cracked, (ultra rare for anyone to suggest that),
melted head gaskets.
...blowing exhaust gasses into the coolant over flow is typical. (these EZ30D like to do that if the head gaskets fail).
If you were running around with only one gallon of coolant, I am not sure if you would want to even crack it open vs. just scrapping the engine and going JDM.
1. It's the headgasket. They fail internally and push exhaust gases into the coolant. It is not a cracked head/block, that's sad people throw that around, but there are non-sinister reasons they do that.
I would be able to tell in person but since I'm not - to confirm that you'd test for hydrocarbons (exhaust gases) in the coolant.
There's a liquid test you can get at automotive stores - but it's not super reliable. If your engine "passes" - it doesn't mean youre clear.
An exhaust gas analyzer can detect much more accurately the presense of hydrocarbons in the coolant - but they're expensive and few shops have them. Call around and ask until you find a place that has one.
2. Those heads are an enormous job - the timing chain covers and gear are brutal.
* Use Subaru headgasket only
* Absolutely make sure you resurface the heads. You can even easily do that yourself at home - find the links to it and go for it. It's 10x easier than the overall headgasket job.
* Get the FSM's and/or EndWrench articles online - they're everywhere, and follow that. Ask questions after you've skimmed the procedure.
I would be able to tell in person but since I'm not - to confirm that you'd test for hydrocarbons (exhaust gases) in the coolant.
There's a liquid test you can get at automotive stores - but it's not super reliable. If your engine "passes" - it doesn't mean youre clear.
An exhaust gas analyzer can detect much more accurately the presense of hydrocarbons in the coolant - but they're expensive and few shops have them. Call around and ask until you find a place that has one.
2. Those heads are an enormous job - the timing chain covers and gear are brutal.
* Use Subaru headgasket only
* Absolutely make sure you resurface the heads. You can even easily do that yourself at home - find the links to it and go for it. It's 10x easier than the overall headgasket job.
* Get the FSM's and/or EndWrench articles online - they're everywhere, and follow that. Ask questions after you've skimmed the procedure.
My H6 seeped coolant externally for about 100k miles (at least) then pushed exhaust into the coolant with no burning of coolant, hydrolocking, etc. at up around 270k miles.
I bet I could have built a gas-liquid separator for it and driven another 50k.
I bet I could have built a gas-liquid separator for it and driven another 50k.
1 - 20 of 20 Posts
Join the discussion
Join now to ask and comment!