Subaru - Legacy :: 2001 - Cooling Fan Running More Often Even Temperature Gauge At Normal
Dec 17, 2012
Have a 2001 Subaru Legacy GT, 5 speed manual, 194,000 miles.
A few months ago, I started noticing that my cooling fans are running more often. Even when it is cold out and the temperature gauge was at normal temperature. The fans would turn on, and just keep running. Obviously, they would turn off when I shut the car off, but if the car is on, they will stay on. However, I found a trick to get them to turn off. If I am in neutral, and I race the engine up to around 3000 RPM's or so for about 10 seconds, and let it come back down to idle speed, the fans are now off. Works almost every time, not just a coincidence.
I know my car, and this has never done this before. I know it is not normal. I have replaced the following- thermostat, coolant temperature sensor, flushed the system, changed the fan relays, and most recently, I put a brand new Subaru radiator in. All of this, and the issue is still there. I am beginning to wonder if it is the water pump. Coolant not circulating fast enough, so the fans come on to cool down, but when I race the engine, the water pump works harder circulating coolant faster? Also recently, the temp gauge starts to climb going up long steep grades. If I pull over and race the engine, the temp gauge drops almost immediately back to normal. The pump is not leaking or making any noise, so I'm not sure if it could go bad any other way.
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Today my a/c stopped working, it just blow normal temperature air not cooling, never had a bad experience with it before, I even use it not on the lowest set up, always on 19 Celsius. It was working fine when i arrived at work, 10 minutes later My boss told me to pick something up and when I turned the a/c on it Never worked.... Is this normal?
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My husband has a 2013 Subaru Legacy, and we have noticed that on days where the temperature is below 35 degrees Fahrenheit or so, it is having trouble starting. It cranks for about 7-10 seconds prior to starting, or will not start until after a few attempts. We have owned the car for about a year, and did not notice this problem last winter.
So far, we have taken it back to the Subaru Dealer twice. The first time, they told us they found nothing wrong with the car. The second time, they tried draining and recharging the battery. Our car is still having issues starting, and we are not sure where to turn to next. Is this a known issue with Subaru Legacy? Our car is still under warranty.
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I have a 2004 Subaru Legacy Wagon with around 90,000 miles on it. I purchased the car in 2008 with about 26,000 miles on it. Starting two years ago, whenever the air temperature is below 15-20 degrees, my car will develop a smell of antifreeze in the cabin when I start it and let it warm up for a minute or two. It did not do it for the first winters I owned it. I have not been able to detect the smell outside of the vehicle, and I have not been able to detect the smell in the summer months, even if the car is left idling for several minutes. The White Whale (my cars name according to my wife) was worked on by my local mechanic (where the car was purchased) last winter. They considered and replaced the thermostat, a leaking (or at least they thought it was possibly leaking) hose, and then finally after consulting over the phone with the Subaru dealer that is a little over 45 miles from my house, decided that the problem was likely the head gasket.
So at around 65,000 miles I had the head gasket replaced by the Subaru dealer. Problem is, they replaced it in March, and the temps were high enough that I couldn't really tell if the fix had fixed the original problem or not. It had seemed that the smell was at least less intense, but hard to tell. So, here we are in the midst of January, yesterday the car started beautifully (which is one reason that I love this car) after sitting outside all night at -11 degrees Fahrenheit with wind chills down to below -30. Last winter, in these conditions, the smell would be so strong that I would get nauseated driving the entire 15 minutes to work.
This winter, since the repair, the smell seems limited to only the first idling time. After that, the cabin seems to get cleared out with fresh air, and the smell dissipates. There have never been any check engine lights, the oil and coolant levels have never been a problem, the temperature is never higher than just above the mid-line on the gauge which has stayed the same all throughout the time I've owned it, and performance has been completely unaffected by the smell, other than my performance as a driver when trying to navigate in a car that reeks of antifreeze. Also, I have never noticed what some describe as a haze or liquid building up on the windshield when a heater core goes out and my mechanics, both dealership and local, assured me that this was not the problem.
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The temperature gauge in my 2006 S60 2.5 T suddenly stopped working and I noticed that the cooling fan was stuck on relatively cool Michigan weather. In addition I also noticed a 2-3 mpg reduction in average fuel economy and a reduction in overall power. I did a little research and found that the 2006 2.5T models had an ECT recall. Turns out the ECM was telling the engine to operate at overheating conditions,due to a faulty ECT.
Picked up a new Engine Coolant Temperature Sensor (OEM is recommended by most authorities for replacement sensors). I replaced the ECT without even removing the engine cover, it didn't fix the problem at first. Then I pulled the fuse for the ECM, a 5 amp fuse in the box mounted on the drives side fender, and let the ECM reset for a few minutes. Then, had the temp gauge back, and had peak engine performance at operating temperature.
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Just wondering if this is anything to be concerned about. I have a 2006 Saturn Vue. It has just over 80,000 miles on it. The temperature gauge has always registered just below the "second mark" once the car is warm. As of last week, the gauge is now registering slightly past the "second mark." So, higher. It is no where near the "red" zone, and nothing seems to be wrong, but it has me concerned. I took it in for service and they said "it is still well within the normal range, don't worry about it." But I think something made the gauge go higher, and I am concerned about a problem lurking. Am I being a Nervous Nellie? I love my Vue and want to take good care of it.
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A few days ago, the temp gauge in my 1995 Subaru Legacy went sky high in a matter of 2 minutes. I immediately stopped the car, let it cool down & checked the radiator. The reservoir was empty and radiator took about 1/2 gal of water (I figured water was fine since the weather is 90 degrees here right now). Suspecting a leak, I also added a bottle of that "Bar's Stop Leaks" stuff. I hesitantly started making my way home, about 16 miles away. The car was perfectly fine -- no overheating at all. Next day, I drove the car maybe 10 miles & again no problems. Yesterday, I went to a friend's house -- about 50 miles round trip. I assumed (I know, dangerous) that all was well ... until today. This morning I noticed a small puddle of antifreeze near driver's front tire. The reservoir was down by about 1/2 it's capacity BUT the radiator itself was almost full (if it took 3 oz. that was a lot). Now I figure there's a leak, but if there is then why wouldn't the system drain itself all the way? Is it unusual to have a leak that limits drainage?I am also tempted to add another bottle of stop leak but looking around this ...
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1996 Miata. The hood of my car is so hot that you could fry an egg on it. The hood is so hot that you can not put your hand on it. The heat actually comes through and can be felt on the legs of the person in the passenger seat. The temperature gauge reads normal. This began recently. I took it to the Mazda dealer who said it was normal?
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I have never seen any of my other cars do this and I just want to see if this is normal. It happens like clockwork every time I get in the car with a cold engine. I let the car sit while the RPMs are high and as soon as the tach drops I start to drive the car softly. The engine temp gauge reaches normal operating temp in a normal amount of time, it does not just jump to the middle. But after about 1 minute it just starts falling quite quickly, as you can see in the video. It's very predictable - happens every time I drive it so it was easy to catch on video. I don't notice any difference in engine performance. Is this normal for a VW GTI or is something wacky going on?
You can skip to 19-20 seconds in the video to see the needle drop.
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My 1994 honda accord station wagons cooling fan is working but the temp gauge still goes all the way up then back to normal numerous times while driving.. I park on the side of the road while the car is on, pop the hood to check and see any signs of over heating but the motor seems to be normal.. What could be happening??
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2nd time happening to me: I started my car, backed up and drove few hundred feet before stopping at a traffic light.
While stopping there, I noticed the engine cooling fan was running at max and the temperature was going rapidly up (in less than 10sec the gauge almost hit the red line).
While the gauge was going up I shifted the gear stick to P and the gauge dropped to normal in less than 5sec.
I shifted back to D and the car drove normally ever since.
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I have a 98 f150(4.6 V8) that has 'seemingly' overheated for about 5 seconds twice in the last month. I noticed the temperature gauge went all the way up after about 1 mile of travel, then it immediately fell back down to normal. The truck has 198k miles.
I flushed out the system using a Peak Flushing Tee, replaced the thermostat with spring facing the engine block, and refilled the system.
I haven't had another overheating instance but I am having problems with my heater....the truck seems to warm up fine and the heat starts off working well. The temperature gauge reads normal for a few minutes then drops and I lose the heat. The truck blows cool air for a while, then will start blocking hot air again.
I believe the water pump has been replaced fairly recently...the pulley has no slack and I don't see any leaks or wetness around the pump or its weep-hole.
I read it could be a blend door or blend door actuator. I don't hear any funny clicking and obviously get some heat.
Should I try another new thermostat? Intermittent water pump problems?
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My running/tail lights and my dashboard lights don't work. Every other light works though(low/high beams, reverse, break). I don't know much about cars but My neighbor just put in a new relay and the running lights worked fine for about a week. Then the dashboard lights started flickering on & off for a day or two & now I don't have dashboard or running lights at all.
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I have a 2007 6.0 that this has happened to twice now. It's fine around town but I never hear the can come on. Friday when on the interstate my my temp gauge started to rise past normal operating temperature before fan came on. Is this normal? After the fan came on it stayed at normal temp for the rest of trip....
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I have had some slight rough running with a cold engine and stumble <2000rpm. Finally it tripped a CEL which was read as a misfire code.
The mechanic swapped the coil and plug(recent) and no change. He did a compression test and air blew out the exhaust. So.......the car needs a valve job which entails motor removal and fixing the head and reinstall. He rough estimates this at $2000 and rate is $65/hr.
He mentioned looking at pistons and may be a bit more if rough.
This car well maintained (170,000 miles 2005 Legacy turbo wagon with manual)...
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Tempature gauge on my 2001 sierra (4.8) has been running low for awhile. The highest it will reach is round 160. It's currently running rough/rich and bad mpg. I replaced the ECT sensor but didn't work. I'm not sure if there are two ECT sensors on this model. I don't think it's the cluster. Is there a second sensor I'm overlooking?
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Twice in the last year my 1999 Ranger (@138,000 miles) has started running very loudly: I checked dash and see oil pressure gauge says no oil pressure. First time this happened, I pulled over, had it towed. At garage they start it up: gauge normal, they check oil says its OK. I take it to the dealership, they replace sending unit, but can't explain why it was running loudly. Today same thing happens: I checked oil pressure gauge, it's OK. After an hour, starts running loudly, gauge in red. Park car for 15 - 20 minutes, start it up: all is well: gauge OK, running quietly. This is amy 'spare' car, so it only gets driven 1 -2 times per month, short distances.
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I bought my Subaru in 2004 with 14,000 miles on it. The check engine light began coming on soon thereafter. The Subaru dealer has replaced my catalytic converter (the so-called problem) -- 3 TIMES up to 85,000 miles. The check engine has continued to come on and it goes off since then. Mostly, it's on, but now and then, it goes off. I bought my own diagnostics kit because I got tired of taking it in every time the light came on. I'm told it's the usual problems plus they usually have me get the oxygen sensor repaired. I've also been told to make sure my gas cap is tightly closed. Still the check engine light continues to come on and now and then it goes off (it's currently "on").
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During the summer, my Celica runs just fine. Now, the temps are as low as the single digits outside (Fahrenheit). While I'm out driving, it can easily take 30 mile or more miles of driving before the engine finally warms up to the normal operating temperature, according to the dash gauge.
My mechanic is quoting me $135 or so to replace the thermostat. I haven't heard of thermostats getting stuck open and resulting in "under" heating conditions too often though.
Any thoughts on what the likely cause of this cold engine condition is? My gas mileage has also taken a good sized hit. Lost 5 mpg or so.
Can I just put a piece of cardboard in front of the radiator for the winter and call it good?
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I drive a 2002 Honda Civic EX with about 105,000 glorious miles on it. I decided to hit the road and made a weekend road trip to pick up a stranded family member. I live in Ohio and drove Lou Dobbs, my car, to Florida. It was about 950 miles one way. All was well until I got to Florida. I hit my first traffic jam and was sitting with the windows down enjoying the Florida air. Suddenly, the temperature gauge started to climb! It got pretty close to the red but traffic began to flow at that point. As soon as I reached 40-50MPH the temp began to fall again. I picked up my cargo and headed back. Each time I would hit traffic or a red light the temp would climb without hesitation. This is without the A/C running. After I got back to Ohio, i asked a friend who knows about cars. Over the phone, he had me remove the radiator cap and reservoir cap to take a look at the fluid levels. After this though, the car has never overheated! I don't understand. Can air get into the system and I let it out by removing the caps? I can sit in rush hour traffic for a half an hour with the AC running and the needle stays right in the middle. Should I still take it in to be looked at?
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My temp gauge (which very seldom deviated form its position) is showing above normal temps. Yeah its over 90 here but this is unusual for my car to run hotter. I put in a new thermostat about 3 years ago. I've also been adding water/anti-freeze because there was a small leak (that I finally found in the hose) that I corrected. Could it be that my mixture isn't a 50/50 mix or is it my thermostat again? They say they don't last long anymore???
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