RE: All wheel drive question

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Joful said:
Sorry to hear that, Jake! I assume you're talking about your 2003 Subaru... and you're thinking of buying another Subaru? It seems your Honda has almost twice the mileage, and half the problems.
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The other night as I was babying the car to get it home I was a bit snarky (I'm not fun when I'm tired) and said something about Subaru's reliability, but my wife pointed out that it has been good up until recently . . . still . . . I agree . . . seems like 120K is not a lot of mileage for major repair issues to crop up . . . but maybe that's just me.
 
Swedishchef said:
Is the thermostat stuck? Sorry to hear that jake...when you start having issues and lose confidence in your wheels it sucks.

Keep us posted,

Andrew
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One of the mechanics recently changed out the thermostat . . . so I'm thinking that isn't it. Going to have to take a closer look today I guess and see if I can rule out some things.

And yes . . . the worse part of this is that I thought the car was doing well and was reliable . . . very happy that I didn't end up going camping for this long holiday weekend.
 
firefighterjake said:
Yes . . . replaced a few months ago.
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After reading that article about Subaru's head gasket problems I linked to earlier I am wondering if that job was done well. It looks like a lot of care has to be taken in order to not give problems later.
 
I would go back on the dealer, if a little stray rtv was to find its way into a thermostat..... was the work done at a dealer? The subaru thermostat is a fickle thing, only reliable one is the oe part. also have you metered the temp sensor yet? if that was going bad it could cause these issues.......
 
Done by a local guy who works almost exclusively with Subarus . . . not an official Subaru shop, but on the flip side he has done a lot of head gaskets.

Bob . . . I think checking the thermostat is the next thing to check . . . I've noticed the upper radiator hose is wicked hot but the radiator itself is normal ambient temp. Five minutes after driving I've got an overheating situation.
 
Been checking for possible signs of a head gasket leak/cracked head . . . haven't noticed anything yet (oil/anti-freeze mix, lots of bubbles in the overflow, etc. and I did a block test a few weeks back before changing out the radiator cap.)
 
Well if its not the head gasket gone bad, its either the TStat, or a bad water pump.....

So seems like you are on the right track checking the stat next.
 
i would bet on the stat, especially if it wasnt an OE part. Pain in the ass to get to, i make a routine of timing belt, tensioner and pulleys, stat, and water pump all at the same time. It saves alot of labor in the long run.
 
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I got my timing belt changed 2 years ago and didn't bother getting anything else changed. I have never replaced my head gasket or anything else other than a bushing, distributor cap and 2 link kit. My impreza has 105 000 miles on it.

Personally I don't change parts unless I have to. Otherwise it never ends.

Keep us posted Jake, has to be the pump or the stat.

Andrew
 
Joful said:
It seems your Honda has almost twice the mileage, and half the problems.
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In my experience, that's a pretty good rule of thumb when stacking Honda up against other makes. I used to say that about Toyota, but not so much anymore.
 
branchburner said:
In my experience, that's a pretty good rule of thumb when stacking Honda up against other makes. I used to say that about Toyota, but not so much anymore.
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You don't generally get the latest and greatest with Honda but they are generally very reliable and often high on the most stolen lists :-)

Every time I see a Ridgeline I think of 2005 all over again.

Edit: I should say their mainstream brand as they have decent tech in their Acura line.
 
I'm now second guessing myself since the mechanic replaced both the water pump and thermostat ... the water pump when he did the head gasket a few months back and the thermostat just a few weeks ago. I am perplexed ... after replacing the radiator cap and flushing the coolant reservoir everything seemed to be working fine and then wham ...
 
I was looking around some of the Subaru forums. Do you think replacement head gasket could have gone bad again? A few mentioned the exhaust getting into coolant and causing air pockets that would thus cause an overheat condition.

A block leak detector test would need to be done to see if that was the case though.
 
I would think that it is air bound. did you put a 15psi cap on it? it may have had a lower psi cap.
Also the thermostat should be OEM in Subaru or you just never know.
 
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I am a Sales Manager for a Honda dealer and will say Subaru is a real good vehicle. Anytime I get cross shopped it's usually Forester vs the Crv though. Anyone looking at Subaru is definetly not comparing the Ridgeline or Pilot
 
firefighterjake said:
I'm now second guessing myself since the mechanic replaced both the water pump and thermostat ... the water pump when he did the head gasket a few months back and the thermostat just a few weeks ago. I am perplexed ... after replacing the radiator cap and flushing the coolant reservoir everything seemed to be working fine and then wham ...
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A car that overheats can only be a few things and we've mentioned them all. Unless a gremlin now lives in the engine, it has to be one of them. This is perplexing me...
 
NE WOOD BURNER said:
I would think that it is air bound. did you put a 15psi cap on it? it may have had a lower psi cap.
Also the thermostat should be OEM in Subaru or you just never know.
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I replaced the cap with the one the guy at the parts counter at Subaru gave me . . . well after I gave him some money . . . it wasn't free.
 
I've pretty much resolved at this point to talk to the mechanic at work who solved my original problem without even turning a wrench or laying eyes on the car . . . see what he says . . . if it's too much of an expense or hassle I may just dump this car at auction even though it has much fewer miles on it than the Honda.
 
If its not rotted then its worth repairing, but the right way to do head gaskets in a Subaru was outlined in a previous comment on this thread.
 
NE WOOD BURNER said:
If its not rotted then its worth repairing, but the right way to do head gaskets in a Subaru was outlined in a previous comment on this thread.
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Hehheh . . . we're up to six pages. Which is the right way?
 
pulling the engine
 
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VWs have pretty low ground clearance.
I have studs on both our fwd cars, but I'm thinking of switching out my studded tires for non-studded winter tires because of the noise: hideous.
 
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