club.liberty.asn.au

Hey guys , just wondering now where is the 2.2 and 2.5 NA engine specific area ??

I`m lately having a few minor overheating issues in my GEN2 Lib wagon (Ej22) , whats happening is (sometimes intermittently) after a bit of driving the temp gauge rises into the HOT area , when this occurs I use the old trick of turning on the heater high to soak up some of the heat and usually works ok . Some strange things happen though , like the aircon working for a bit then losing temp , and today the heater didn`t appear to blow hot air (fans still working..) after a few slides of the temp slider and switching the fan on and off it came back and then the radiator temps cooled again as expected !!!

I`m a bit FIIK , but I guess it`s a good place to start looking at the thermostat and possibly the water pump ?? Any suggestions ??

Thanks

Sorry, I have no input, but, there is the "2.5i engine specific" area that may have some info for you.

your heater core is blocked
common fault

remove the heater hoses that go through the firewall (plug up the pipes running into/ out of the engine)
using a garden hose flush the core from one side and then from the other until all the water runs clear from both directions.
replace one heater hose and refill the heater core and engine (to prevent airlocks)

car will probably be fine now

Ah , will give that a try then !! Thanks Robbks

Flushed the core today , will take a decent drive later and hopefully no more issues !
Is there anything else to do like bleeding the air from the radiator to prevent this blockage re-ocurring ? ?

yep

Stolen from Al on RSLC

Originally Posted by Al
The air trapped often can not be bled out once it is in the system for a period of time. I usually dump the coolant and start again. I use a castrol brake fluid bottle with the bottom cut out of it as a header tank to add more head pressure to the system.

Leave one heater hose disconnected and fill the bottle(it is pushed into the radiator cap hole and the reservoir hose is blocked), once coolant runs out of the engine end heater outlet, block it off with your finger and keep filling till coolant comes out of the heater core end of the hose. Sometimes I even force more pressure into the header to force all the air out of the core.

Reconnect the heater hose and fill the tank up. Jack the front of the car up till the rear bumper hits the ground and start it. This is the important part. You have to repeatedly rev the engine from idle to about 4k while the thermostat is shut to quickly circulate coolant through the heater core and remove any trapped air. Continue revving the engine until it get's to temp and then wait till the fans cycle before removing the header and fitting the rad cap.

Hard to explain but the only way to do it properly. This is the official method of preventing air pockets in Liberty's from Subaru.(Except for the cut off bottle , that was a genuine part$$$)

Yeah, nahhhhh. We have funnels we put in the rad to make it the highest point of the system (can use like a coke bottle or something with the bottom cut off) if it has a bleed nipple in the heater hose or on the rad top tank, unscrew it til coolant comes out. run it up until the fans have cycled on and off at least 2 times.

If the fans come on but dont turn off you have an air lock, sit the car for 20 mins with engine not running and try again. that generally lets the air find its own way out. and as an extra precaution we top the coolant overflow about 4cm above the full line just incase.

never had an issue with that. we dont jack the car up or anything, thats just stupid and unnecessary.

That`s definitely fixed the overheating issue Rob ! nice work mate a very easy fix for what was such a PIA !
Thanks for the info guys

Dropz wrote:Yeah, nahhhhh. We have funnels we put in the rad to make it the highest point of the system (can use like a coke bottle or something with the bottom cut off) if it has a bleed nipple in the heater hose or on the rad top tank, unscrew it til coolant comes out. run it up until the fans have cycled on and off at least 2 times.

If the fans come on but dont turn off you have an air lock, sit the car for 20 mins with engine not running and try again. that generally lets the air find its own way out. and as an extra precaution we top the coolant overflow about 4cm above the full line just incase.

never had an issue with that. we dont jack the car up or anything, thats just stupid and unnecessary.

the thing is, you want the radiator cap to actually be higher than the rest of the system
it's much faster this way and i have seen the above method done several times to the same vehicle with no result.

each to their own (yours being the Subaru Dealership way....)
and the way i do it being instructed by a highly experienced, reputable, independent Subaru Specialist.

Yeah the funnel makes the rad cap the highest point.