about to give up on my legacy...

[speedmaxx]

Im starting to get very disappointed with my legacy, all from when I turboed it so its my fault I guess. well any ways a few months back I threw a wrx turbo set up on my car. car ran like an animal but would overheat every now and again, it progressively got worse.

ended up at the point where I had coolant coming from the exhaust so I went ahead and tossed in new hg's. along with having the heads machined and installing a new water pump. all went well, needle didnt go past half. a few weeks later I sprung a leak at the iac vavle. needle started to climb so I had her towed home and fixed here up. yet again all seemed well.

a couple weeks later I got a evoscan cable which made me relize my temps were still to high although not showing on the needle. so I ended up bypassing my turbo and just running it oil cooled. temps begain to sit perfectly at the lower end of 180 degrees and my dead max in slow trafic was like 190. everything was perfect for about a week.

today my temp went up again, right away I turned it off, got her home and poked around a little. I tightened up all hose clamps and tryed here out temps were in the 200 range. to high for my taste

about a year ago she got a new radiator, new upper and lower hoses and oem thermostat. recently she got a new oem radiator cap, oem waterpump, oem thermostat again, oem head gastkets.

what the hell is going on!!!!! please help

thanks

[legacywagon]

Did you flush the system completely? Really can't think of much that would cause that since you have replaced nearly EVERYTHING. Or could it be a bad temp sensor? Just reading wrong. I would check your thermostat again, test it and drop it in some boiling water to see if its stuck. lol

[kimokalihi]

Is it overheating without going into boost at all?

[speedmaxx]

thermostat should be good cause all was working well, I had checked it when I first got it and it worked fine. I originally just thought it was a bad temp sensor untill I stated usinging my evoscan cable. like I said my temps were fine.

going into boost acually seems to cool it down a little lol then once im out the temp rises back up again.

so I just drove around the block and coolant puked out of the resivoir as if the radiator cap wasnt holding. Im thinking i may have a defective cap??? maybe? atleast I hope.

tommorow Im just gonna eliminate the thermostat and try my old radiator cap again, maybe ill try flushing the system with the garden hose. ill acually hit it with a preasure tester too.

it just amazes me that she was running like a champ for like the past week. no overheating at all. then all of a sudden shes back to over heating.

[kimokalihi]

Do you have an AF/R gauge and wideband to see if it's running lean? 200 isn't that hot. My metro has a scangauge installed in it and it normally operates at 198 and regularly fluctuates between 190-205.

I should hook my evoscan up again and see what it runs at.

[evolutionmovement]

I know you wrote that you replaced them, but that sounds more like a head gasket than anything.

[H4_Deucer]

I know you wrote that you replaced them, but that sounds more like a head gasket than anything.

That was my thoughts also, when the head gaskets were done, did you check the block for warpage or cracks also?

[speedmaxx]

Other then a visual inspection on the block it looked fine, but the heads were all good they got checked at the machine shop.

It just amazes me how she was running 110% just last week, the temps were super low and I was beatin on her too. I just don't get how out of the blue I start over heating

[Legacy777]

Just for my own clarity....did you turbo a non-turbo motor, or swap in a turbo motor?

The non-turbo radiator will provide enough cooling. I'm running one on my turbo setup in Houston. Redline Water Wetter does help the cooling system work better, but it sounds like you have a problem elsewhere.

If you're running a turbo motor, how do you have the cooling system plumbed up and are using the non-turbo radiator?

If I'm going off on a tangent from what your setup is, please provide more details on your setup and exactly how things are setup.

[speedmaxx]

93 legacy l with na 2.2l that I added a wrx td04 too.

Im using the original na cooling system. Originally I just taped into the heatercore lines for the turbo coolant lines, I found out that wasent gonna work so I just didn't cool the turbo with coolant. I tied the heatercore line that I cut into back together and all was well. I was back to my 100% oem cooling setup and all was good temps were great.

Out of the blu about a week later the temps began to rise

[Legacy777]

Are you sure there's not air in the system? Did you bleed the system with the bleed screw open on the passenger side of the radiator?

If so, I'd say it sounds like a head gasket...

[speedmaxx]

Tell u the truth I've never used that blessed screw, I always just leave the cap off and fill her up and usually it all works out. But I mean the cars temps were fine for about a week then all of a sudden.

Anyways u pulled the Tstat out. Temps are like 150-160 consistent, about 140 if I'm just cruising nice and easy.

I read somewhere I can drill holes in my thermostat to help with air bubbles, so I'ma give it a shot. But where exactly do I drill it? Next to that little giggle valve? I'm just gonna tear everything apart and check every hose in my coolant system and see what I get, I also picked up a new radiator to try out. I'll see what happens and report back

[evolutionmovement]

You should burp the system before attacking the thermostat. Get it up to temp, park on an incline with the radiator facing up, and open up the top screw on the opposite side of the cap. It also helps to squeeze the hoses. It usually takes me a couple times to get the air out after refilling the system. If the thermostat is doing its job, you shouldn't have to drill holes in it, nor would that likely help.

[speedmaxx]

okay so I installed a new radiator, put the thermosat back in and pressure tested the system. she held at 90 kpa for 10min no problem. I drove her around for a little and all seemed well. temps held in the 180-190 range. at idle she got to 200 but the fans kick on adn the temps go right back down.

I think Im good!!! thanks everyone!!

but I did check the resivor and I did see a few air bubbles, the level was still perfect and everything seem to be working well but whats the deal with the bubbles?? im thinking there was just some leftover air in the system or something

[asotwavb]

Purchase a spill free funnel, they are awesome

[Legacy777]

Did you bleed the system with the bleeder screw open?

[speedmaxx]

Yes I did, no bubbles today though. I think she's good. Must have been a little air left in the system

[GTwagon]

Purchase a spill free funnel, they are awesome

they are very awesome.
very cool kit for under 25 bucks and it works with all systems.
http://www.amazon.com/Lisle-24610-Spill ... 608&sr=8-1
never worry about "did i get all the air bubbles out".