Indrojit Posted April 24, 2014 Share Posted April 24, 2014 Hello everyone, Writing in from India. I have just bought a Subaru Forester 2.0 Non turbo here. The car need new shock absorbers and suspension bushings to be changed. I did that and the car was fine in that respect. When I bought the car the car used to give white smoke on a cold start. After which things would be fine. And also used to consume oil but it would be about 1quart per 1000kms. The car was quite sluggish as well. Finally decided to open the heads up and change the valve seals. So I order all the necessary parts and also a set of valves just incase they would need to be changed. Once I had all the genuine parts I opened the heads and found that the valves on cylinder number 3 were the worst as there were traces of engine oil on the valves. So I got the new valve seats remed and fitted the cylinder heads back using new head gaskets and manifold gaskets. The car is running much much better and also no smoke or oil cosumption any more. After the rebuild, I have been driving the car around. It drives fine if you drive between 2000 and 3000rpm. If I drive the car between 3000 and 4500 rpm the temperatur of the car starts rising consitantly and then I start driving slowly and it comes down. I do all my driving with the Air conditioner on. I took out the thermostat valve put it in boiling hot water and the thermostat valve is working. I have changed the coolant. The fans are working fine. The car has a new timing belt. I am using 20W50 as the outside temperatures are 40degrees celcius. I am now contemplating changing the radiaotor. Please advice with what you guys think. The car has only run 100miles after the rebuild. Thanks Indrojit Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
4758nigel Posted April 24, 2014 Share Posted April 24, 2014 hi mate and welcome to the site not too familiar with the foresters personally but i'm sure they'll be someone on here that can offer some advice ;) hope you get sorted Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stants Posted April 24, 2014 Share Posted April 24, 2014 Well done one the head rebuild your braver than i am ! Have you checked the expansion bottle when hot for signs of overflow or bubbling ? If so its not great news :-( Are you using a genuine subaru thermostat & what coolant are you using ? May be worth popping a new one in just to see if it makes a difference If theres no dramas from the expansion bottle i'd check the rad hoses for cold spots could indicate an air lock, then try burping the system. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tlag Posted April 24, 2014 Share Posted April 24, 2014 +1 for the above advise. All the flat four Subaru engines can be a pain to bleed the air out of the coolant system when refilling them. Ideally, it needs to have the front of the car in the air. Fill with coolant and start the engine, with the filler cap off. Put the heater on full heat and aim the air at the windscreen so you can feel the temp with your had from outside. Keep topping up as required. You should see bubbles in the header tank that will eventually disappear. Just after that, the rad fans will come on and go off. At that point turn the engine off, let it settle and cool a little. Top up the coolant of required and replace the cap. Before you do that though. Just go for a drive. When you stop, open the cap of the overflow tank ( the one by the rad) and look inside. If you see bubbling and frothing, it's probably head gaskets. I know you just rebuilt it, bu did you get the heads skimmed? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Indrojit Posted April 24, 2014 Author Share Posted April 24, 2014 Hello, Thank you for the replies. I did do the bleeding got the air out and then drove the car. The process of the temperature building up was much slower compared to the previous times, for instance it would hit the 3/4 mark in 2 rounds. Now it hits the 3/4 round in like 8 rounds. No bubbling or frothing in the coolant bottle. No signs of over compression like pinking or knocking. No engine check lights. No oil or coolant consumption. Heater works fine. The thermostat is the original one that came with the car. The temperature before the rebuild never ever went up more than 1/4. Even with the air conditioner and prolonged driving. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tlag Posted April 24, 2014 Share Posted April 24, 2014 It sounds like you have an air lock. It probably worth trying to bleed the coolant again. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Indrojit Posted April 24, 2014 Author Share Posted April 24, 2014 Also I did run the car without the thermostat valve with the radiator cap open. No air bubbles or water being thrown up. I did the valve clearance for the the intake at 0.008" and the exhaust at 0.010". No skimming to the heads. Also to mention, I took off the rockers from the heads but didn't take the cams off. Please find the attached pics of the radiator. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tlag Posted April 24, 2014 Share Posted April 24, 2014 Not the best looking rad in the world, but I've seen far worse that still worked well. Flush the rad through from both ends. Also, whilst the rad is out, flush through the whole engine, heater, etc. Is the water pump, the original? I wonder if it's become weak and preventing full flow. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Indrojit Posted April 24, 2014 Author Share Posted April 24, 2014 Not the best looking rad in the world, but I've seen far worse that still worked well. Flush the rad through from both ends. Also, whilst the rad is out, flush through the whole engine, heater, etc. Is the water pump, the original? I wonder if it's become weak and preventing full flow. I did put in some liqui moly radiator flush and nothing came out. Will try and do the flushing of the radiator tomorrow. The water pump is original. The car has run only 64000KMS. I am thinking about the timing belt slipping from the waterpump pully. Also wondering if the fans are running slow for any reason. Bad earth? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jay762 Posted April 24, 2014 Share Posted April 24, 2014 Wotcha and welcome - sound advice above Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gambit Posted April 24, 2014 Share Posted April 24, 2014 Hi mate welcome to S.O.C I can't add anymore I don't think. Cheers Tlag great advice as always :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Indrojit Posted April 28, 2014 Author Share Posted April 28, 2014 Hello Gentlemen, Have manage to solved the problem. The radiator was completely choked. We have a radiator specialist in our locality who opened and removed the lower tank and we found that the water galleries in the radiator 95% choked. We cleaned it and serviced it. Put it back into the car, put the front end in air and all is well :). Now the next thing that needs to be done are the rear wheel bearings and the power steering pump. Any suggestions for a power steering pump? Thanks Indrojit 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gambit Posted April 28, 2014 Share Posted April 28, 2014 Glad to hear it's back on the road and at least it was a small problem and noting major again :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Indrojit Posted April 28, 2014 Author Share Posted April 28, 2014 Glad to hear it's back on the road and at least it was a small problem and noting major again :) Thanks :) Any recommendations for a good power steering pump?? Thanks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stants Posted April 28, 2014 Share Posted April 28, 2014 Good news glad it wasn't a major issue [emoji3] As for the pas pump I wouldn't have a clue sorry Sent from my SM-T210 using Tapatalk Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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