V4 wrx sti import overheating+no heating
 

Just got myself the above really tidy car,, just on way home the temp started to rise the more gas u gave it,, also have no heaters in cabin,, car has new big alloy radiator init and fans both work,, but once pulled over and managed let cool down to top it back up with water at local services seemed fine blew loads of air out then pretty much settled down but always kept trying to rise up untill u give it some throttle,,, so guessing water pump is fine,, drive on steady managed keep the temp around Halfway I decided to stop and check the pipes,,top hose to radiator is cold and no pressure init at all,,

Also lot of brown rusty colour gunk on the clear coolent pot by the wing?

Head gasket or case the thermostat is stuck closed causing temp to rise under load?

Also noticed at one point that temp was about 3/4 of the way up and then a quick blip off throttle while driving and it suddenly went back down to half way on gauge,, and checked top hose out if block to rad and its warm,, bottom one cold,, just unsure why no heaters not at all in cabin and overheating

Sounds like a air lock, Probable best to drain all the coolant out,refill with coolant and antifreeze mix, while squashing the bottom radiator pipe all the time, Slowly filling it up to absolutely full at filler tank. go round all the hoses and keep squeezing them.

Start the car and keep going round all the hoses and keep the tank topped up. Once you done this you can put the car back on the tank. Rev the engine to say 1500 rpm max using the engine throttle next to the inlet. Tighten the cap when coolant is at its maximum to help force the air out.

Keep the heaters on when started on maximum heat.

Always worked fine with me this way

Before all that, probable worth changing the thermostat, and taking all the hoses off, wash them out. pour water threw the system to help flush any crap out as well.

Thank u for the feedback,, what is all the rusty colour stuff in plastic coolent bottle then?

rusty water, car may have been run without coolant/anti freeze.

Ok will strip all coolent pipes off wash system out and replace the thermostat,,then try get all air out system to see if I can get some heat in car,,

If the thermostat was sticking would this cause it to overheat and would it come out the plastic coolent bottle?? As when first got hot this is where I noticed it had leaked water as was all over inside of my wheel and little drips of coolent on floor from that area?

Checked car once got home,, hardly a drop in the header and there is some in the plastic coolent bottle near the battery,,,,

Had quick look at thermostat housing and looks to me as someone had changed it or removed it due to fresh sealer pressed out around it

But here are few pictures of what's in plastic coolent bottle


http://i1336.photobucket.com/albums/...ps93867c76.jpg

Also this colour stuff is underneath my car down n/s,, guessing this is due to coming out the overflow from the bottle,,

Why is this??

Is it a case of due to air lock or thermostat sticking or blockage it's boiling up in the engine and this is the only way out the system?

looks like there hasnt been much antifreeze put in it, that can be very bad for headgaskets, aluminium and steel dont like each other and can cause rotting with out antifreeze.

if you can see evidence of someone trying to fix a coolant issue recently i would be inclined to say the hgs are gone.

the coolant coming out can be caused by trapped air or its being forced through the water lines in the engine via a leaking hg.

you need to flush the system and fill up with antifreeze, change the stat while you are there and see what happens, if its still pushing coolant out the expansion tank after you have bled the system properly its hgs mate.

Is it just worth doing a sniff test to test the gases in coolent?

And what road do u go down about doing headgaskets? Is there anyone good in bristol area?

yep do a sniff test if you can get one done, rule it out properly. the probelm with hgs is that really you need to replace the big end shells, common for them to go after a hg as been fixed.

Yes Iv been reading up and heard that its best to do that.. Recommend any builders? And anything else worth doing,, I don't want some back ally garage rebuilding it to go bang a month later!

What sort of price range are looking at? And anything else worth doing while at this stage?

Just thinking if its not gone I wouldn't of thought its far from it by looking at state of coolent?

One step at a time but if your hgs are gone I would go for a forged build with someone like API or enginebuilder, maybe even a Stroker kit. That is around the 2k mark.talk to them and see what they say, they are on here btw. I would say it would cost you at least 1k anyway tbh

Yes contacted api,, just waiting hear back,, not really looking to gain more power as such,, I'm happy to keep it pretty stock,, and just do upgrades to pro long the life

Give Advanced Automotives a ring, they are in Kingswood, Bristol.

Well going strip all coolent system apart tomorrow and see what's what,, I am right on thinking that water flows in from drivers side of rad? Out passenger side then to thermostat??? Just usually thought thermostat was at top hose? Not off the bottom one back into the engine??

Ok here goes,,so Iv bleed system through filling up turbo water pipe off the header,,finally got heaters in the car,, left it ticking over for about hour.. Temp gauges seemed to stay stuck at halfway and didn't move at all,,

Took car for drive and now will drop the temp right down cold on the gauge,,..still little bit heat coming out the heaters but not like it should

Park up gauge goes back to halfway,, heaters pick up heat,,all seems fine as it should,,

I'm guessing that the thermostat has been removed to cause this on because the head gasket may be going as still getting water build up in overflow bottle,,

Overflow bottle was slightly overfilled and I haven drained or flushed the system..as just wanted to see what was going on,,

But guessing from what Iv seen coolent will only come out the over flow when pressure is to much in the system,, eg head gasket?

May I add that now ok parked up gauge is halfway with heaters on there cold,,

see how it goes, did you see if your stat was in. temp gauge should sit on halfway,thats how they are, if it goes higher something is wrong, wierd that it goes lower so like you said maybe no stat.

A couple of different angles to look at this

Have you suspected that you may have a cheap water pump on the car causing cavitation?
Have a read into it and im sure a lot more knowledge people will provide insight. Essentially air bubbles being produced when the water pump blades rotate.

In addition you could have a blockage somewhere on your coolant system, resulting in cold coolant meeting very hot coolant - result in bubbles to your overflow tank.

While on boost does your temp reading drop to near zero and then pick up when off boost? I have this and my car runs fine 0 suspect it is related to being an older car and a thermostat which opens at a lower temp, resulting in cooler water cycling past the temp gauge.

Food for thought - not always as simple as head gasket

Blast from the past!
You would hope in the 6 year since the fault that it might have been sorted :lol1:

FFS lol knowing Subarus prob not! haha