Subaru - Overheating - Outback :: 2000 - Temp Gauge Goes Up / No Coolant Leak
Feb 14, 2011
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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So a couple weeks back I'm on expressway home and I look down and and temp gauge is pegged out overheating I immediately pulled off and shut it down and towed to a buddy of mine's shop he flushed it filled it up w antifreeze and checked for leaks and couldn't find one. I drove it for about a week and got out to for a quick stop , Ex parked on a slight decline and came out to prolly half gallon of coolant on the ground..I limped it to my buddies shop as it was not running hot .. he has checked it out but can't find any leaks, even after having it run 30 or so minutes..
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I have a 2008 Subaru Outback that is telling me that it is overheating, the gauge is showing me that the engine is as hot as it could possibly get. However, its not actually overheating. It happened after a 15 hour day of driving from Cali to Colorado on 2 lane highways. In the morning it took 6 tries to get started, just sounded like maybe there wasn't enough gas or something to get it going and if I fluttered the gas pedal the car threatened to quit on me. Since that moment the temperature gauge has been stuck on high, the check engine light is on, the cruise control is disabled and flashing on the dash, and the AC doesn't work. I have turned the car off several times since the incident and it starts up just fine so far but the gauge and lights are still on. ......
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I had overheating problem on the highway. Towed car to Automotive Clinic - They said I needed new radiator and hoses, so I installed. Couple weeks later, overheats again, this time said I need new head gasket, so I go ahead. Soon as I get back, my car overheats AGAIN. Now back in the shop, and they told me the head gasket blew again...they have taken all apart, and now say they can't find out whats wrong. The coolant is leaking, but they don't know why...it failed hydrocarbon testing. What can it be?
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my friends mechanic is telling him his 2000 outback (2.5 4 cyl) has a blown head gasket. there is NO water leaking/seeping out from anywhere outside the motor AND there is NO water in the crankcase motor oil. the thermostat has been replaced. the cooling fans work. I'm inclined to say it's a plugged radiator. he is considering replacing the head gasket (to the tune of $1500+) on advice of his mechanic. is it possible to have a blown head gasket and not be leaking coolant?
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A month ago, my 99 subaru outback started to smoking white smoke. I open the hood and coolant was all over the engine. I took it in and they supposedly put a new radiator in. Three days later the car stalled out and coolant was leaking everywhere. The shop told me it was a bad radiator and replaced it. A month went by, now all the coolant leaked out as though the car had a hang over a throw up out of the coolant hose(lower left hose). Leaving a huge green puddle in a parking lot. What do I do? Has the radiator die again (because the third time is not charming)? Should the shop guys have replaced the hoses when they replaced the radiator the first two times?Is it normal to have to take your car to the shop a month after it was fixed for the same thing?
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Got a '98 rodeo 3.2 with 160k. A couple weeks ago when stopping at red lights I noticed the temp gauge creeping up to the hot when stopped. This happened about 4 years ago and I was just low on coolant. I kind of figured that was the problem this time and added coolant. Then I started noticing coolant on the ground dripping from the skid plate a little toward the passenger side. The vehicle is parked on the street in front of my house so the vehicle may lean slightly to the passenger side. This rodeo is only driven during the week and then sits for 2-3 days on the weekend.
Over the last couple weeks I have noticed that it doesn't really leak during the week when it's being driven daily and if it does, it's just a drop or two. Now when it sits for 2-3 days there is a pizza sized leak under the vehicle probably about 18 inches wide. Since the overflow wouldn't hold coolant, I figured that it was cracked or had a leak. I removed the reservoir and didn't find a leak. I seen no evidence of a leak anywhere else, however since it's dripping from the skid plate, I assume that it's leaking on the front side of the engine. What to check. Seems strange that it doesn't really leak when running or hot, only when sitting for a few day.
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2000 Subaru Outback. The head gaskets have begun to leak slightly (oil and coolant), even though I brought it in for the recall at 80K and the dealer put in the additive. I recently (111,000 miles) put in another bottle of the additive coolant conditioner and the leak seems to have at least slowed to a trickle. Is it really essential to have the head gaskets replaced? Or could I just keep an eye on the oil and coolant levels and put a bit of kitty litter in my garage? Some of the information I googled indicates that the recall of this car is for an OUT leak and not an INNER leak--which would be worse. Is it true that an OUT leak is not as worrisome?
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I have a 2004 Grand Prix and it is displaying the symptoms of overheating but the temp gauge is not going above normal operating temp. I replaced the thermostat twice, and after driving for about 10-20 mins coolant comes out of the overflow. I'm at a loss, I'm thinking temp sensor(?) But I don't want to keep throwing unnecessary money into it. The fans work fine, the heater blows as it should.
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I own a 2002 Outback. It is overheating. We have replaced hoses, thermostat, water pump, the temp sensor, had the radiator tested. Nothing has changed our problem. My husband is at a loss and the mechanic who has is now has no clue as to what else it could be. The mechanic is referring to it as a ghost problem.
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My wife has a 2005 Subaru Outback XT w/auto trans, about 135k miles. We live in SoCal.The car runs great...well, most of the time. During the summer, or when driving up steep mountains with the AC running, the needle will climb steadily north towards overheating. Call me timid, but I've never been curious enough to find out what happens if I let the needle get into the red.To let the needle drop, I have to turn the AC off. This isn't the best option now since we've been experiencing over a week of temperatures higher than 103.I also noticed that the temp needle will drop to normal within a couple of minutes if I turn on the heater.
I did open the bonnet when we returned from a trip and with the car running, checked to make sure both fans were running.
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My 98 Subaru only overheats when going above 60 mph for more than 10-15 minutes. When it does and I pull over,the cap has blown off of the coolant tank. After letting it cool off and adding a bit of coolant - it doesn't occur again and I can drive for hours at high speeds. I drive the car every day, up and over mountain passes and up to the ski hill and never have a problem any other time. I know subarus have a tendency to blow head gaskets, but wouldn't there be other warning signs?
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I have a 2000 Subaru Outback with a little over 162,000 miles. About 3 years ago I had the head gaskets replaced. This past March the car started over heating while on the highway driving back to Boston from New Jersey. It has been doing this intermittently since then, and I have had two mechanics look at it.
The first mechanic, who is my beloved mechanic in Maine (where I am originally from), checked the sensors and relays. He even replaced the relays for free, and it still overheated on the way back from Maine to Boston. Needless to say I did not give him enough time to really look at my car to figure out the problem.
I then went to my back up mechanic in Boston, who kept the car for about 4 days. He said there are no leaks and the car did not actually over heat while with him. He had one of his guys drive the car home at night and back to the shop in traffic in the AM, and had it run for hours while on a lift, and on the ground. Still no overheating. However, he did say that the car was eating up coolant, which indicated to him that there might be a head gasket problem.
I was a little upset by this diagnosis because I had them replaced already, and also because I am getting married this summer so this obviously is not the right time to be buying a new car. I should mention that both mechanics looked at my car at the end of August. I have still been driving and watching the coolant.
The car is still randomly overheating but i tend to notice it happen more while in stop and go traffic and when I accelerate. The needle will go all the way up to red, stay there for a few seconds and then slowly creep down. This happened this morning, and I had checked the coolant yesterday and it was full! I checked it again at lunch time to see if it had used all the coolant during rush hour and it was still full. This chain of events seems to keep happening and I constantly check the coolant. Since August I have only had to fill it once. I have also noticed that when I open the radiator cap the coolant is not sitting level like I've been told it should. I've put a decent amount of work into the car and everything else runs perfectly.
Is it possible that this is a pumping or air bubble problem, and not a head gasket?
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I have a 2001 Subaru Outback Limited with 135K miles on it. In the last year, I had two complete head jobs (the second because the new water pump failed while on the highway). In addition, I have had multiple water pumps, lots of thermostats and a new radiator installed. The last thermostat is an OEM. The car had been running fine for about a month and now overheats after about 30-40 minutes of combined, but mostly highway driving. At first, the gauge would rise to about 3/4 and then drop after about ten seconds, but now it goes to almost red and drops to 3/4. If I blast the heat, it will drop pretty fast. My mechanic told me that while diagnosing an earlier overheat issue (just before the good period), he noticed that the gauge would rise, but the computer temp would remain stable. He tried a new sensor, but said it made no difference, so he returned it. What is left to replace?
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My Subaru just had the thermostat replaced, and it seemed to work until the wife took it she said it over heats when not driving the fans are working, it's over flowing out the reserve tank the fluid looked good when changed the thermostat so I don't think it's the head gasket my next guess would be either the water pump... After I last changed the thermostat and test drove it I felt the upper radiator hose it was hot but the bottom one was cool/warm.
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Every once in a while in heavy traffic the engine overheats. I can't get out to check on the highway bit I suspect a an isn't on. I can drop the temp in the usual way of blasting the heat but I can also drop it precipitously by turning on the AC! It seems to stay down even if I turn the AC off - at least for a while. The radiator is new and it has plenty of fluid.
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I have a 2002 Subaru Outback that has started overheating only when I try to go up into the mountains. It starts within a few miles of starting up a steep grade and cools down the instant you start down the mountain. I have had no problems with regular driving conditions. The only pertinent info might be that it did have a coolant leak last summer and overheated then.
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I brought my Outback to one mechanic due to overheating and a strange skipping feeling when accelerating. First mechanic said head gaskets needed to be replaced, I wasn't surprised since I have about 142k miles on it and it has been leaking oil, quoted between $1800 and $2000. I took it to another shop, recommended by a friend, and they agreed the gaskets needed to be replaced and there was also a misfire due to the spark plugs. This shop quoted me at $2200-2600 for the head gaskets, spark plugs, all wires and timing belt, all other engine gaskets, thermostat, engine oil and coolant. I still owe a good bit on this car (parents bought on the fly from a less than stellar used lot and now it is my problem), and my thinking is I do not want to bring on more debt by attempting to trade this one in and go for a new car. My question is, do I go with the second mechanic that wants to basically rebuild to top of my engine, or would I be ok limiting the repairs to the head gaskets and spark plugs?
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My Outback gets the DTs in the steering wheel. 2003 with 300K highway miles. New tie-rods, brakes, brake master cylinder, alignment & balance (all from great shop with great rep) have failed to eliminate the problem. It comes on suddenly at highway speeds, usually in cold weather (below 20); but not necessarily in snowy conditions. Slowing down to 30/20 mph does not stop the shudder (though it slows and reveals itself as a fierce twitch to the right). Eventually the shudder is accompanied by a rhythmic scraping sound somewhere in the left front wheel well, which maybe is there all along but inaudible at higher speeds.
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my car has tge 3.6 motor and has 2500 miles and seems to be loosing coolant...
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I am having an engine temp issue when climbing steep hills. The gauge goes from normal to the red line but not into the red. The VDC OFF light is on but the CEL is not one. Once I reach the top of the hill the engine begins to cool off and returns to normal. Yesterday I had the radiator flushed and the thermostat changed. Am I looking at a water pump or head gaskets?
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