legacycentral bbs

There is a bleed screw on the passenger side of the radiator on the n/a cars which needs to be removed while filling/bleeding the radiator. Without removing it, you WILL have trapped air in the radiator, and it will be an unbelievable pain the arse to bleed.

If you remove that screw, it's not an issue, and does not require a lot of babysitting. Just fill full with bleeder screw open, start car, keep radiator topped off until coolant level does its burbling thing, put bleeder screw back on, and put radiator cap back on. Fill up your overflow tank, go drive the car, and you should be alright. I'd check the overflow tank again as well as the level. You may need to add a little more, but I wouldn't consider any of that babysitting.

Well - parked the car at a 30 degree angle with the front up nice and high, waited till cool, bled the rad out as much as possible, fired it up with the resevoir halfway between add and full, and put on an OEM rad cap. (Rad cap was replaced back with everything else - looked fine)

So far it looks like it's worked. In another cold snap, and while it's just warm at idle, it's not going cold.

I think it just needed the cooling system bled, but figured it's the rad caps job to ensure the cooling system is at the right level so replaced it just in case.

Thanks to all for the suggestions!

Rabin

I'm having this issue too, kind of sort of. I was asked to replace the thermostat with an OEM thermostat and bleed the cooling system with the nose up in the air. I did just that, and I took it one step further, I bleed the cooling system using a smart funnel to be absolutely certain that the system was free of air bubbles and no head gasket issues. And I might add that my engine is not using coolant or leaking coolant.

Since I installed the OEM t-stat, yesterday. I have also done a complete timing belt / water pump / front engine seals / idler pullies / tensioner (complete timing belt package) roughly 10,000 miles ago. This issue existed before the timing belt package.

Here is what I'm experiencing:

The engine temp gauge needle will be at normal operating temp. I will experience luke warm heat for about 15 minutes AFTER the engine has already reached normal operating temperature. I get no heat, as the engine warms up, regardless of engine RPM. Blend door work fine. I can hear it smacking the end stops. Also, once I do get normal heat. I notice that I get 145 deg. from the center vents at idle and 160 deg. at the center vents at 3,000 RPM

I almost feel as though the heater core might be restricted. I'm thinking of trying some calcium lime and rust remover on the heater core. Is this a possibility on these Legacies ? Is it common ? Is there anything else to check ?

I'd say it was your heater core as well If engine temps are normal. IIRC Mercedes has a cooling system cleaner that works well, but I would likely remove and clean the heater core separate, or replace if the price wasn't crazy expensive.

I haven't owned a Legacy in a long time, but I still like them a lot. (00 & 06 Volvo V70R's now)

Rabin

Sounds like your heater core, I changed mine last year here's my post
http://bbs.legacycentral.org/viewtopic.php?f=5&t=51007

I've did everything I could think of before I changed it. One year later my heat is still hot and -40 is still toasty.

One thing I have noticed about bleeding the cooling system on my car, is that I find it much easier to pour the coolant into the bleeder screw than it is to pour into the filler cap. I will pour coolant into the filler cap until it briefly tops off and then the level drops. But once the coolant reaches the top, that first time, it's like the system gets air bound. I then move over to the bleeder screw and pour coolant into the bleeder acre hole to fill the the remainder of the cooling system.

So, if anyone is having troubles filling their cooling system, try pouring coolant into the bleeder screw. I know it sound very awkward, and it's a small hole (target) to hit. But it works for me.

I'm going to try some CLR product and hope it doesn't eat my heater core alive.

Does anyone know the actual measurements of an OEM heater core ?

The reason I ask, is because I've heard about the horror stories about the aftermarket heater cores being just slightly too big. Now, I have seen heater cores that measure 6" x 7.5" x 1" and I have seen heater cores that measure 5.5" x 7.5" x 1" and I'm wondering if that 5.5" x 7.5" x 1" will fit because it's a 1/2" shorter.

Found an "OES" heater core at Rakuten.com Not sure if they are still available at the dealer, or not. Posting this just for future reference, in case they go NLA at the dealer or what have you.

http://www.rakuten.com/prod/1990-1994-s ... =237078455

I'll keep everyone posted as to how the CLR (Calcium, Lime, Rust) cleaner / remover treatment goes. I think it might cause more harm than good. But, I'm willing to take that chance to spare $300.00 and to spare one disaster of a heater core job. LOL

Feel free to chime in with opinions of this "OES" heater core that I found on Rakuten.com. Does it look OEM like they claim it is ??

That's the issue with using any sort of corrosion remover - the chance to expose future leaks is pretty significant... Thats the big minus for any of the chemical treatments. (Plus cleaning a coolant leak out of the interior is a PITA)

Rabin

I think CLR should be ok for use with aluminum, but I can't say that for sure. If it is I'd definitely disconnect the engine coolant lines from the heater core and try cleaning the heater core separately. You could try back flushing the heater core with a garden hose to see if that helps.

When I do this CLR treatment, I'm going to disconnect the hoses at the engine. Raise the hoses above the heater core and pour the CLR down the hose leading to the heater core and keep filling until the CLR is coming out the other end. So that the heater core is full of CLR. I'll let the CLR do its job for whatever the recommended time is (on the bottle), and then I will back flush the CLR out. "Eric, the Car Guy," has a pretty good system for back flushing a heater core. His video is on YouTube.

http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=dcL_0TWeZJY

I would recommend disconnecting the hoses at the heater core and buy some generic water hose and use that to pour your CLR into vs. using the molded Subaru hoses. That way in the event the CLR doesn't treat the rubber nicely you're only out the cheap water hose vs. the Subaru molded hoses.

Great idea, Josh.

Thanks !