aahhh help!!!!! overheating

[suby]

So this has been going on for months now. I keep thinking the problem got fixed but then it happens again. The problem is when im driving normal around town or trying to go snowboarding seems to be the only times it happens. It runs and drives great then desides to overheat very rapidly. I mean seconds and I have to turn the car off. I've tried blasting the heater but it comes out kinda luke warm...? I've changed the coolant and t-stat already didn't do it again for months the overflow tank fills up a lil bit when it happens and sometimes there ar bubbles coming from the lil hose into the tank. Any help would be much appreciated. Btw its a 2006 wrx tr with 80k and manual trans. Could this be temp sensor? Or is it head gasket? Water pump? I just don't know anymore

[DoWork]

Sounds to me like you have air in the system somewhere....have you tried bleeding/burping it?

[rollo]

Yeah if not a sticky thermostat then it could be air in the system. Also make sure that the fan is kicking in when it should be, and that the siphon hose isn't stuck to the bottom of the expansion tank (should be cut at an angle if it isn't already).

Problem is, if it was okay before, and now there's air in the system, where's it coming from? Hopefully a pinhole leak or something in a hose. But yeah you could also be looking at a slow HG failure :(

If you pop the expansion tank lid open while the engine is running, do you see a consistent stream of bubbles in the coolant?

[suby]

I've burped the system a thousand times. There is always good pressure on the top hose. Bottom hose stays cool to the touch. Motor doesn't seem real hot when I pop the hood. This leads me to think temp sensor. Or hot air going past temp sensor from ie head gasket... and it does not always bubble from overflow tank. Jus sometimes

[rollo]

Yeah.. it could be a very small gap in the HG that is only opening up under certain circumstances.

Are you using the official Subaru coolant? I seem to remember that they also have a version of it that is specific to cars that are experiencing potential head gasket issues.

[suby]

Well im just taking it into the dealer tried to get there and it just keeps on overheating so now im waiting for a tow truck so no further damage is done. Thanks for your input guys.

[pigpen]

Yeah.. it could be a very small gap in the HG that is only opening up under certain circumstances.

Are you using the official Subaru coolant? I seem to remember that they also have a version of it that is specific to cars that are experiencing potential head gasket issues.

not a different version. they have an additive that can help prevent HG failures, and it can sometimes even fix small leaks that are already started. they call it coolant conditioner IIRC...actually, my local dealership calls it headgasket in a bottle. since you have a turbo car, you don't want to use it a lot, but it is fine to use once in a while to avoid a HG failure.

[Two5RS]

Honestly, I wouldn't use that stuff. It can clog up other things like your radiator and heater core. Your just prolonging the problem. Get a compression and leak down test. More than likely it's the head gaskets. Is your fan turning on? If not turn your a/c on and see if the fan turns on with the a/c. It should.

[pigpen]

Honestly, I wouldn't use that stuff. It can clog up other things like your radiator and heater core. Your just prolonging the problem. Get a compression and leak down test. More than likely it's the head gaskets. Is your fan turning on? If not turn your a/c on and see if the fan turns on with the a/c. It should.

it's heat-activated. the last things it should clog up are the radiator and heater core, which are two places that the coolant gets cooled. it's designed to find the hot spots in your engine, which the coolant will certainly find if it is seeping past the headgasket. unfortunately, the turbo also tends to be a bit of a hot spot, which is why you don't want to use it on your turbo motor often. but I ran it every other coolant change in my STi with no issues up to 115k (when it was totaled), and I changed my coolant more frequently than every 30k. I also tracked my car regularly, so my coolant saw some reasonably high temps.

[suby]

Thanks for all the info! Its at the dealer now. They are runnin tests and whatnot but they said probly hg leak. Guna be around 2000 bucks. But for peace of mind that's not bad I guess..... trying to look at the bright side. Lol

[rollo]

Jeez. That sucks :(

How many miles on it? I wonder what the hell it is with the EJ25T that makes it so prone to the HG(s) going so soon?

[suby]

its got 80k in it. it overheated once on the way over the grape vine going to la. i think that had something to do with the hg going they also said it had a blockage in the radiator. furthering chance of hg failure. so now i need a clutch and i just got a radiator. i got a mishimoto for 150 bucks on ebay.

[kurt.]

The problem is with the stock head studs, they suck. They're referred to as "rubber head studs" on nastysock. The fix is to do stock hg with arp studs. Maybe OP can have the dealer install these if its not too late.
I'm pulling my motor this weekend because if this problem.

-Kurt