raditatior problems

Asked by matthewlin2 Oct 10, 2011 at 06:04 PM about the 1997 Subaru Legacy L Sedan AWD

Question type: Maintenance & Repair

I'm loseing fluid in my raditator not dripping out and not mixing with my oil i used a pressure tester and it seems to be blowing back pressure with raditator filled car gets about 30 to 40 miles before heating up and car is turnedoff it quickly takes everything from the overfill container. Car has 160000 miles on it and i've tried almost everything i think

6 Answers

275

I suspect you may be suffering from a blown cylinder head gasket.

1 people found this helpful.

i had the same problem, it was the fact that it wasnt filled all the way, what i did was lifted the driver front side of car so the cap was the highest piont, started car and it allowed all bubbles out and i could fill the radiator

165

It's my understanding that if it's a BAD blown head gasket your oil will be a murky chocolate-milk like brown instead of the normal color. Heater, head gasket....water pump?

275

While it is indeed true that when coolant is getting blown in to the oil, you will get yucky oil chocolate or greyish oil in your crankcase, this isn't the case with the early 2.5 liter Subaru motors. On first generation (so called Phase I) EJ25 (1996-1999) Legacy motors the coolant isn't getting in to the oil. Instead combusted fuel/air mixture is getting into the coolant and pressurizing the coolant overflow tank. After even short trips you should see bubbling in the tank and the coolant in the tank will eventually turn a dark colour. Yes, if you are very lucky it may be that you haven't purged your coolant of air. It is worth a shot.

2 people found this helpful.
105

just a thought, could it be just a new radiator cap thats needed.

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