rossw46 Posted December 30, 2014 Share Posted December 30, 2014 Hi All. My Impreza turbo 2000 overheats within 10 mins of the engine running, so what is going on ?? I suspected the head gasket because :- It's loosing coolant, there is quite alot of vapour coming out of the exhaust, the heater doesn't get warm anymore, and I see some steam and bubbling in the overflow tank when the engine is warm. I'm confused though, because I bought a sniffer tester online, that you put into the header tank hole and it detects CO2 gas in the cooling system, but I couldn't get the colour of the liquid to change from blue. Also, before I start the car, there is no coolant in the header tank, but within say 2 minutes, the coolant rises up the header tank fairly rapidly, and will overflow if the engine is left running. This makes using the sniffer impossible aswell. I did try the sniffer on the overflow tank, but again the colour of the liquid didn't change ? The car is a V reg, standard, with 120 000 miles, just had a full service and new radiator, and I've just put in a brand new thermostat too. Could the temperature sensor be faulty ? It sits as low as it can go for about 5 + minutes, then moves up tonominal in around 30 seconds, then after a further 2 or 3 minutes at 2000 rpm it rises up and keeps going until the engine is stopped ? If anyone has any words of wisdom I'd appreciate it. In a sad way I'd be grateful even just to know it definately was the head gasket, that way I could at least crack on while I'm off and start getting the engine out. Thanks, Ross Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scooby Pete Posted December 30, 2014 Share Posted December 30, 2014 AIRLOCK!!!! I have spent many Many Hours chasing an Airlock on my classic with exactly the same symptoms you have. If you have just had a new rad fitted then I reckon its an Airlock in the system. Scoobs are notorious for airlocks. Drain and refill the system and this should clear it. Even better would be if a local garage can refill the system under pressure as this will be easier than doing it the old fashioned way. (Loads of threads about airlocks on Scoobs around the interweb and how to fix them.) I think its 5 1/2 ltrs of Coolant you need. I went as far as to measure it exactly to refill mine just to try and avoid the airlock. The tank on the left of the engine IS NOT a header tank, its an expansion tank and will appear empty when cold, it only fills when the coolant is up to temp. Hopefully that will point you in the right direction. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rossw46 Posted December 30, 2014 Author Share Posted December 30, 2014 Hey Scooby Pete, Thanks, I will be over the moon if this is the case ! Couple of things though :- The new rad was fitted by a Subaru Specialist, and I managed to drive the car home 25 miles and there was no overheating, it was a couple of days later the overheating started. I drained the system, put in a new thermostat, and then re-filled with the front of the car raised on jack stands. I put coolant in until it was up into the expansion tank, I think from memory a bit over 4 litres went in ?? I'll search for a fill procedure now, as I'll try that again ! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steveuk260.Esq Posted December 30, 2014 Share Posted December 30, 2014 Expansion tank is plastic and sits next to Battery. Header tank is metal and sits next to intercooler area. Like pete said airlock is a massive possibility on turbo subarus. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rossw46 Posted December 30, 2014 Author Share Posted December 30, 2014 Thanks Steve. So is there meant to be coolant in the metal header tank when the car is cold or not ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steveuk260.Esq Posted December 30, 2014 Share Posted December 30, 2014 Thanks Steve. So is there meant to be coolant in the metal header tank when the car is cold or not ? Yes m8. It needs to have coolant in it when its cold. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rossw46 Posted December 30, 2014 Author Share Posted December 30, 2014 Thanks Steve, I'll try refilling the cooling system tommorrow mate. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scooby Pete Posted December 30, 2014 Share Posted December 30, 2014 Sorry got mixed up with sides lol. It may be a pin hole leak, lose Jubilie clips, split hose if it ran ok for a few days. I found the best way to fill the coolant was to fill via the top radiator hose rather than the header tank. Also the header tank shouldn't be full to the brim when cold. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steveuk260.Esq Posted December 30, 2014 Share Posted December 30, 2014 Classic and new age are different. My 01 forester classic is to brim and that was done by a motorsport specialist who knows subarus. On the other hand my 03 sti is half full. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rossw46 Posted December 31, 2014 Author Share Posted December 31, 2014 I drained the cooling system toaday and re-filled in a more sympathetic mannner. Started the car up, and within a couple of minutes I could feel decent heat coming out of the vents, happy days ! I drove the car for 18 miles, and no hint of overheating, and the heaters stayed hot. I hope this is problem solved, but I'll give it a few days to confirm. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scooby Pete Posted December 31, 2014 Share Posted December 31, 2014 Nice one, hope it's stays happy :) 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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