April 16, 201510 yr Hello everybody, I bought an 04 Wrx on Monday and obviously the second thing I did after buying it was to become a member of this great club. Ive read a load of questions and answers on here already and from what I can tell you all seem to be a very friendly, helpful bunch. My question is: my temperature gauge on the dash, it seems to early always be in the same spot all the time, between a 3rd and half way, even after it's been sitting turned for an hour or 2 (apart from when it's left over night and you start it in the morning) and even then, it seems to get up to temperature really quickly, like 2 minutes. Is that just how subaru's are? All my other cars have taken much longer to warm up. Firstly, it's the first time I've owned a petrol turbo and i'm all paranoid about warming and cooling the turbo down as it is, secondly - my last car temperature gauge seemed to work even after my engine overheated and destroyed itself. As a side subject, I was considering getting a turbo timer but then I thought, wouldn't they come as standard if they were necessary? I thank you all in advance Gary
April 16, 201510 yr Author Nearly* instead of early Turned off* outside. Didn't re-read it before I posted, sorry
April 16, 201510 yr Welcome to the club! I can't help you with the temperature I'm afraid but in regards to turbo timer, some guys stand by them and others don't use them. By the time I've sorted all my bits out or got my boy out the car it's basically cooled down the same if I had a timer. [emoji5]
April 16, 201510 yr Author Ok cool, cheers, am I right in thinking that if the last half mile or so of my journey I don't let the turbo kick in, then I can just turn my engine straight off. Loved Scoobys since I was a kid, finally got one
April 16, 201510 yr I was the same! There's no better feeling. It all depends how aggressive you've been driving. I let mine cool before getting home and still let her idle for a bit.
April 16, 201510 yr Author Ok, that's what I shall do. Cheers Loved Scoobys since I was a kid, finally got one
April 16, 201510 yr Turbos are water cooled so for general road use turbo timers are waste of time, effort & money totally. Common sense is good though & thrashing a cold turbo engine is not good, also after hard drive short distance at light pace helps take heat out quickly compared to stationary with engine running. Main trick is quality ester synthetic oil & frequent change with quality filter, turbo & the motor love quality clean oil.
April 16, 201510 yr Hi mate welcome to S.O.C Don't have anything to add to what's been said. But I do have a turbo timer but agree not needed really in modern car's now. But on a spirited drive I do like to use it. Saying that I still leave it for 30 seconds on a normal drive but mainly because it's there. the 55 plate I don't have one and will happily turn it off . :)
April 16, 201510 yr Author Thanks everyone. With regards to my first question. Does everyone's temperature gauge act like mine. As in does it warm up really quickly with slow driving and does it stay around the same temperature even after you start it up again after the car being switched off for an hour or so? Loved Scoobys since I was a kid, finally got one
April 16, 201510 yr Yep the temp gauge is a bit poor to be fair, As long as you let it come up to half way before giving it some you'll be ok, Mine takes 5mins of stationary idle before it's about halfway, the only reason I don't drive before that is mad piston slap which is embarrassing. Anyway it gets up to temp and doesn't move that much, but by the time it's gone to the red you'll have problems cooked the engine anyway. So you could either fit an aftermarket one if your that worried, or just keep an eye on all your fluids. It's a big old engine with the blower strapped onto it next to no 3 cylinder so it takes a good couple of hours to cool completely Have a look at the expansion bottle about an hour and a half later and it will still be at the hot full line
April 16, 201510 yr They do take some time to cool. I've been shocked sometimes after leaving the car a good hour + only to come out to a warm car. I still do a cold start to make sure the oil is warm and circulating again. I let mine get just above the bottom line and then trundle along in 1st to the end of my road by then I'm up at half. Still give it some time after to let gearbox warm up. My needle sits below the bottom line before moving up after a minute or so.
April 16, 201510 yr Author That's is as highly as the needle ever goes. The fan kicks in from time to time so I'm assuming the thermostat is working fine. I just timed it when I just left my house. It took 6 minutes of slow reasonable driving until it reached that point and never went any higher. Loved Scoobys since I was a kid, finally got one
April 16, 201510 yr The temp gauge does go up fairly quickly. Well say 5 minutes of driving. And after that because it's warmed the engine up already doesn't seem to take as long as in the morning. Your oil will take alot longer to get to full optimal temperature though so just keep in mind even if the needles been sat nice and warm position for awhile.
April 16, 201510 yr Basically the gauge should not fluctuate much over the normal hot running point, jap cars tend be very efficient on temp control & don't spike so high before fans kick in etc so overall the coolant stays in a tighter controlled range. You could get a data reader display for the OBD output to read coolant & other values or adding some extra guages is not a bad idea.
April 16, 201510 yr Author Ok. Cheers guys. If I'm honest I didn't really fancy fitting the extra gauges but if that what's needed to stop me worrying then maybe that's what I'll have to do. So does where the needle is sitting look alright or should it be bang in the middle, if different scoobys sit at different levels then I won't worry but if mine is the only one that sits at that level the. I'll have to dive deeper into why. Loved Scoobys since I was a kid, finally got one
April 16, 201510 yr Mine sits below halfway. But have seen it go to just below half when it was a hot day stuck in traffic but the fans brought it down again and we had started to move again. But only time ive noticed it go that far up. But I'd say each car is a tiny bit different. Because of grades of coolant and such.
April 16, 201510 yr Author Cheers Gambit. That puts my mind at ease, and good point about the coolant. For all I know there is no anti-freeze in there at all. I'll probably have a better idea how it really is next week after I've changed the cam-belt and serviced it. Thank you all for your speedy replies guys. Really appreciate it. Ps. Just remembered, when I got it home I realised there was no air conditioning belt, weirdly when I test drove it I tested the air con and it was quite cold but not brilliant, I assumed it must have just needed re-gassing which I thought was a minor. When I noticed there was no belt I realised that all I was feeling was the cold air. Really noticed it yesterday when it was 24 degrees stuck on the m25. Fingers crossed it's just the belt missing and that they haven't taken it off for more expensive reasons. [emoji45] Loved Scoobys since I was a kid, finally got one
April 16, 201510 yr Get a decent oat longlife coolant/antifreeze 50.50 mix if you buy concentrate and you'll be laughing, Since I've cjnaged I've noticed my expansion bottle isn't getting quite as full as before, maybe it's working more efficiently. As for the a/c maybe removed it as it's not working, or weight saving, the compressor should be sat to the right of the alternator
April 16, 201510 yr About 3 years ago my air con pump sounded like it had ball bearings in it so cut the belt. Off to be fair I did think about removing the pump for the weight just bever got round to it lol. Bit id say chances it will be the pump gone if its got no belt. Can get a second hand one though if it is and you want to replace it.
April 16, 201510 yr Author The units in there it's just the belt missing. I see there are a few available on eBay that ain't too expensive so if it doesn't work once I put the belt on its not the end of the world. Nice one boys. Loved Scoobys since I was a kid, finally got one
April 16, 201510 yr On my old legacy I had a temperature guage that sat a bit low (lower than yours looks), when I replaced the thermostats the entire Middle had been cut out! I then discovered the temperature sender was knackered because I could get the supposed engine temperature to drop by bringing the revs up... Long story short, yours seems to be reacting normally. Welcome to forum. You won't regret your purchase one bit!
April 16, 201510 yr Author Cheers Sam, I can't wipe the smile off my face. Every time the turbo kicks in, or when I drive under a bridge and hear that beautiful boxer purr I just can't help grinning from ear to ear. Loved Scoobys since I was a kid, finally got one
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