1998 Subaru Outback overheating problems

[tlbigstump]

Hey guys my 1998 Outback with 2.5 has an overheating problem. It has been a great car and coming back from work one day I pulled into driveway and shut off car and I noticed alot of steam from under the hood. Here's what it does now. I will start up and go for a drive and between 5-15 miles the temp guage will climb up to the high mark, slow down to idle and will usually come down slowly,but not always and never seems to go any higher than the hot line on guage and will overflow the overflow tank. I have replaced thermostat and radiator cap. I've heard that these can be a pain to bleed air out of system, but I've tried many times and can still get air bubbles to come out with cap removed. Open to any ideas (as long as the words head gasket aren't involved)

[Jeremy airjer W]

If you are getting constant bubbles they have to be coming from somewhere.

Usually you can open the overflow and take a smell. If it smells like exhaust the head gaskets are bad.

The fans are coming on correct?

Whe you had the t-stat out did you check to see if the impeller was still solidly attached to the shaft of the water pump? I can't recall if this has ever happened on a Subaru hat I have worked on.

[Macgyver55]

If there are no visible external leaks, if I were you I'd start opening up to that idea, its a fairly common issue with these. If you want to confirm it, test the coolant for combustion gases. That will tell you for sure if it is or not..

[tlbigstump]

Not getting constant bubbles and never did check the impeller. When I have it idling slightly downhill and engine warmed up the fluid level will be down slightly then if I slowly rev engine up, level will come up and burp some bubbles out and show slight rainbow effect on fluid. I can never smell any exhaust in overflow tank and it never stumbles upon cold start up. I have also pressure tested radiator and that was fine. What is the proper way to tell if the water pump is doing its job. Sometimes when it's acting up it will blow only cold air out of heater vents. Fans do come on also. Stump is stumped

[deadeye]

Um well I hate to be the one to say it but I think if you got yourself a blown head gasket.... Might want to pressure test the system and do a combustion leak check to be sure but yeah that's what my call is.

If the fluid level is varying with revs of the engine the water pump is likely working fine.

It can be a huge pain to bleed the air out of these too. Usually I try to have the front end up on ramps or on Jack stands. Worth trying to see what burps out.

One other thing to look at is the radiator and see if there is a bunch of stuff on it externally blocking airflow. This past year I have had 4 cars I have dealt with that were either full of cottonwood fuzz or had birds building a nest in between the radiator and condenser. Makes the radiator not do what it should.

Anyways, back to the head gaskets, just did them on my 04 outback last month. It's a pretty common problem with these cars. I did mine with the motor in the car and had it done in a day of working leisurely at it. If I did it again I would pull the motor just cause its a lot easier and yanking the motor is super easy. Idk about the first gen outbacks but I was able to get turbo gaskets from the dealer to eliminate any issue with head gaskets again.

[trolloni]

i bought one for for a hunting/work car this spring [28mpg better than 12 to 15 i was gettin with my4x4 tacoma]anyway i did some research before i commited everything stated here is spot on [makes it a great read everynight]one thing i read on a subaru site was that if the battery connections are corroded its a good canidate for a blown head gasket ,i guess the ground is to the frame and it creates some kind of chemical reaction that eats the gasket on one side .i like that thing put 7500 miles on so far and had check engine light pop on once it was a knock sensor no biggie but still a buck twenty only thing i dont like is when i go on my fishin trip to northern minn.,is i see bunches of em with equal stickers on the back of em [geez]! when i go through the cities!mine has a browning,remington ,ruger ,benelli ,savage,mathews and hoyt stickers on it ,thinking of puttin a camo kit on it !!