[Gabriel144]

I own a 1997 Subaru Legacy Outback that is having heat problems, that car has 241K miles on it but it is not leaking or foaming oil, it does not have a sulfur smell or smoke of any kind and there is no new residue in the coolant reservoir. It has recently had new belts put on it and a new t-stat. Is it possible that the gasket is going out? I do know i need to get new front ball joints and a tie rod boot, what would you guys say is the best to replace those with.

 

[1 Lucky Texan]

is it pushing coolant into the overflow bottle?

did you install t;stat from the dealer?

 

[subiesailor]

Non subaru t stats are famous for causing this issue.

 

[Gabriel144]

It is not pushing coolant that i know of, any info on replacing the ball joint or tie rod?

 

[Saint J VT]

If it is the lower ball joint connecting the steering knuckle to the lower arm, good luck removing the cross-bolt without breaking the head off, especially if the area around that bolt is rusted, at all!

The ball joint will not come out of the knuckle until that bolt is fully-removed, as there is an indentation on one side of the OEM ball joint cup where the bolt runs (a replacement ball joint I installed has a ridge all around the perimeter as opposed to just on one side in which the bolt extends to hold the cup in the steering knuckle).

I replaced the right one and it took me three days to remove that bolt, even then, being as careful as I was, the half without threads broke off.

If that happens, you can drill the bolt out beginning with a small bit and moving to larger. Some people have drilled the bolt hole the next size larger and simply installed a hardened bolt through with a nut and lock washer on the other end as opposed to having the bolt threaded into the steering knuckle on one side of the split.

 

[1 Lucky Texan]

It is not pushing coolant that i know of, any info on replacing the ball joint or tie rod?

start squirting everything with Kroil, PB Blaster or acetone/ATF mix now.

do a search here, as said, lots of techniques for dealing with stubborn/rusty bolts.

 

[barkeater]

doesn't sound too unknown to me. It has heat issues. I assume that it is overheating but maybe you could add a little more detail. Like, how hot is it getting, and have you had your antifreeze tested. Under what conditions does it overheat (assuming it is overheating). Since your likely bringing your car into the shop to have the ball joint, etc. work done, just tell them about your heat problems and see what they can do.