Subaru - Legacy :: Temp Gauge Went Up High / Reservoir Was Empty
Jun 30, 2012
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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We have replaced the sensor twice now and it still pegs on high. Sometimes when we just start up the car, other times after we are driving.
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I have a 2000 subaru legacy outback with about 160,000 miles.
The brakes are spongy. The reservoir is full. I took it to my regular mechanic, and he said the lines are good. He also said that if it were the master cylinder, after pumping the brakes up the peddle will sink to the floor, which it is not doing. So he's stumped.
What this would be? I've had several scares when I had to slam the brakes and wasn't sure the car would stop!
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2004, 3 door Accent, 150K miles. This has been going on for many summers now (had an idea when driving from work). Well when I got home from work, gauge still read E, turned the car off, then back to ACC, still read E.
Opened the fuel cap, didn't hear any hissing noise or any indication that there was alot of pressure build up, put cap back on, turned to ACC, and gauge read normal.
So after a long story my question is this, is there a pressure regulator that when it over pressures, lets it vent, and what is it called and where is it located? I am thinking that regulator might be stuck closed.
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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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"93 Subaru legacy 175,000 miles: Just picked it up yesterday after timing belt/water pump replacement. Now it makes a high pitched whining noise sounds like from engine, the mechanic called it a whistle, but it ain't no whistle and wasn't there before.
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My lovely little 99 Forester was running fine up until about 6 weeks ago. Now it has always burned oil and my dealership gave the the run around saying it was "normal". Fine, so I've driven around with quarts of oil in my car for the last 8 years, and I dump a quart in every 500 miles. Every time I bring it into for oil changes them I've told them it burns oil.So 6 weeks ago, I start the car and no heat. The temp gauge shoots up to H and then the heat kicks on and the temp gauge goes immediately back down to N. I call the dealership - they say the thermostat is sticking and I'm find to drive it - I get an appt for 2 weeks later.
2 weeks later, car is in the shop and I'm told because I've been driving the car and its been overheating the headgasket is cracked. So I pay the $1,700 to repair it and replace the timing belt and temp gauge.I pick up the car and it is running WORSE than it was when I brought it in with the cracked headgasket and sticking temperature gauge. I call the dealership from the traffic signal up the road. They schedule another appt for a week later.
Week later I bring the car in and the oil light blinks on as I'm driving car into their driveway. Get a call the next day saying I need a new shortblock and it will be $3,000.I meet with dealership and tell them 1) they should have checked the engine/cylinders when they replaced the headgasket and 2) I'm not repaying them to do the headgaskets twice basically.
So they tell me they are crediting me for the headgasket repair job. And get this - the price is $3,000. It actually is $5,000, but they are crediting the headgasket repair job to that.I'm just disguisted and furious at this point. Car has 140,000 miles, and I'm really anal about changing the oil every 3,000 miles - despite the fact since 12,000 miles the car has been having 6 new quarts of oil dumped into it between changes.They are telling me "its my fault" the cylinders are bad because I allowed the engine to run repeatedly overheated.
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Have a 2000 subaru outback 2.5l, automatic, with about 245k, I replaced the thermostat,water pump, the radiator and the car is still overheating. both fans are working. no leaking coolant. Maybe this is related- over heats mostly when driving on the highway. But if a shift the gear to neutral and coast for a minute the shift back to drive the temperature gauge goes down. Whats wrong, running out money fixing the car, but love it driving it in the snow.
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I drive a 96 Subaru Legacy. What does it mean when one of the high beams is dimmer (less light output) than the low beam? I am using a brand-new bulb. It's not an adjustment issue because I was looking at the bulb when it was outside of the housing and it clearly gets dimmer when you switch to brights. However, they are equally bright when on low-beam, so I don't think its just a crossed wire.
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I replaced my battery. Once I connected my new battery, my fuel and temperature gauge started working strangely. They would either be high, then go low, then go back high. My interior lights, clock, and radio stopped working. Could it be a relay? I checked all the fuses with a test light and they all looked good.
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Bad news kids... it's terminal. Took my 95 3/4 ton 4X4 6.5 diesel suburban in complaining of temp gauge going high and dropping, alternator... ball joint fears.... And I just got a call, it's got a cracked head. So this is how it ends. Husband aint never gonna fix it. I knew this day was coming. He said the temp gauge going high then dropping is some sort of coolant preasure build up and release. I seen it every morning for the last year. He said he took her up to 120 kms and it did exactly what I said. And he knows exactly what my problem is. It's true, Toni knows this truck. So any guesses how long I got? What will happen when it goes? When would you park it for good? My last over heat was a couple years ago when a belt blew off, big heat is the only thing that would have cracked a head right? So the crack might be that old. And it's sad news. Driving it since birth, 95.
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I have a 2002 Monte Carlo what recently had a new radiator, thermostat, intake manifold gaskets replaced. I was spewing coolant everywhere. Since the repairs with all new OEM parts, I still get the 'Hot Coolant Temp" warning on my dash. The temp gauge is pinned at 260 but minutes later drastically drop to under half way after which it seems to balance out at slightly under half way.
I also see the 'Low Coolant" as well even though I am full. All of this occurring while driving. I checked the oil and underneath the oil cap. No frothy or milkiness. Exhaust seems ok, no white smoke. The heat inside my car when i run it seems to go from warm to cold and back again. I'm praying it's not a cracked heard or blown head gaskets.
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I was recently given my first Volvo. Its an 88 240dl. While driving my temp gauge climbs up to the red and sometimes hovers inside of it. It normally climbs up at stop signs and comes down on straight always then climbs right back up close to red. When the gauge was in the red i stopped the car and popped the hood open to see that the engine was not actually overly hot.
first i replaced coolant. nothing
then i replaced the thermostat. nothing
flushed radiator. nothing
Today i finally had enough and decided to switch out the water pump with a new one hoping that it would solve the problem seeing as it still had the factory one on. It did nothing. the gauge continues to climb up. I did replace one of the two senders in hope that it would fix the gauge reading but nothing.
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On my 97 X SOHC, I have a temp gauge that is rather erratic. It reads high even with the engine off and cold and rises when the engine is running to the point the "Check gauges" light illuminates. Then bounces to normal then back near red line. This cycle continues.
To evaluate this, I bought a scan tool and the ECT reads as expected, around ambient to start, gradual climb till the thermostat opens, then hovers there while the radiator does its thing. Heater works as expected. So I'm fairly confident that my X doesn't have a cooling issue.
What my questions are: Can I disconnect the temp sender so I'm not watching the gauge bounce around and then the Check Gauges light is available for other issues that arise?
Does the check gauge light also send a signal back to the PCM?
Can I do any damage to the truck or will the PCM throttle the power back and flash the Check Engine light if a real cooling issue materializes?
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I have a 2002 F-350 6.8L, 4x4, crew cab, 8' bed, SRW, trailer tow pkg. I purchased it new in the fall of 2001. The truck currently has 54,000 miles on it (only gets used when I need to tow/haul something). It's kept in the garage and is in near showroom condition.
Everything on the vehicle is 100% functional except the transmission temperature gauge. Even when the truck sits for weeks, the needle will move to mid scale as soon as the key is switched on - haven't even started the engine yet! Put the scanner on it - no codes stored.
I'm attempting to trouble-shoot the TFT (transmission fluid temperature) sensor. Found some documentation online on the 4R100 transmission. It shows an electrical connector on the solenoid body with pins for the thermistor (so I can measure its resistance). However, I can't find a connector anywhere on my transmission that even remotely resembles the diagram I found online.
Question 1: When you first get in your vehicle and turn the key, does your tranny temp gauge read "cold" just like the engine temp gauge?
Question2: Does my truck have the 4R100 transmission? How can I verify that?
Question3: Looking for documentation on what connector and which pins are for the thermistor?
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I have a 2006 Jeep Liberty 3.7L that has a temperature gauge on the dash that reads an overheat when driving. The oil looks normal, there is no white smoke, no bubbling from reservoir. I have replaced the following:
Radiator
Thermostat
Water Pump
Coolant Temperature Sensor
Coolant Reservoir Tank
I am not leaking any coolant and the reservoir level has been fine. I have let the vehicle idle for 20+minutes, with no overheat. When I drive it around, the temperature gauge will read an overheat. When I stop the car and pop the hood, the engine is not overheated and both rubber hoses to/from radiator are flowing the coolant. The only thing that will bring the gauge down is turning on the heater full blast. Could this be the gauge itself being bad? Could it be a short in a wire somewhere? I had thought maybe a head gasket, but have no symptoms of a head gasket.
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I have an '01 GTI VR6 and I was driving a couple weeks ago when my coolant light came on. I popped the hood and the reservoir was basically empty. I filled it up with 50/50 g12 and water but it was all gone in about a week. I put water in the car and ran it to see where coolant was leaking from and the only thing I noticed was some brownish colored water dripping off that black ball near the oil pan(I'm guessing it was dripping onto it and not from it). What can I do to find out for sure what's causing the leak and what needs to be replaced? One person told me that my water pump and radiator could be rusted.
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For reasons I can't figure, the Temp gauge on the wife's Explorer is shooting from normal to high in just seconds. Then, it drops back to normal. When I looked at it this afternoon, I noted 2 things.
1) There was no sign of a coolant leak or overheating.
2) There wasn't ANY coolant in the tank!!!!!!!
The truck has evidently been running fine while this is going on.
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I lost my power steering on the way home from work today (40 mile commute). Stopped at a gas station half way. About 5 miles after noticing the problem. Lifted the hood and noticed fluid along the line towards the radiator. Reservoir was empty. So I added a quart just purchased from the station and noticed the fluid level immediately began to drop. Decided to finish commute home. Stopped after 10 more miles, reservoir was empty so I added another quart and finished the drive home.
My camry has 150k miles so I am not surprised. So I parked it at my house and looked under the hood/car, I definitely have one hose leaking in the engine area. It is the hose located near the radiator on the passenger side that comes from the reservoir. The "U" portion is metal and has corroded away. It spits fluid when the steering wheel is turned. The pump actually is pretty clean with no leaks from it.
But when I was underneath the car, there is a hose completely severed. Roughly 2inches of exposed hose before it disappears into a manufactured hole in the car floor with a rubber gasket around it to hold in place. Where this hose is supposed to connect too. It drips P/S fluid, but nothing changed when turning the steering wheel.
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It has happened to me several times.. The car asks me for coolant but today the reservoir was almost completely empty... I have no leaks and my cooling systems is working fine so where does the coolant go?
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I have a 2006 3.5L Sante Fe. and i noticed there were coolant drips under the car and that my coolant reservoir was empty. In the engine bay below what i assume is the water pump i noticed the coolant pooling (See Photos). I am not sure if the seal is bad where the top radiator house connects to the water pump (circled in red, or if the thin metal line (circled in Blue) sitting in the coolant pool would have anything to do with it, since it seems to trace back to the radiator.
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