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| 1999 Subaru Forester Left Side View |
I have an 1999 Subaru Forester that keeps overheating. It was overheating previously and I went to the mechanic and he checked it for a blown head gasket and said that it was OK, no visible radiator leak or visible leak of coolant. After the mechanic said it had no problem, I though of changing the thermostat
and after changing it, amazingly it ran fine for 2000 miles including a
500 mile trip to Boston. Then it went back to overheating again, I
thought changing the thermostat again will solve the problem but it
didn’t, it just made it take much longer to overheat the next time it
did. I am now confused what the problem is and would appreciate some
suggestions. Thanks.
Answer: Several possibilities come to mind, but
first: the ’99 Forester was available with the 2.5 DOHC engine in the
first 4-6 months of its run and then came with the 2.5 SOHC engine. It
would help a lot if you could let us know which of the two engines are
in your Forester, thanks. And head gasket issues in Subaru are very difficult to diagnose. They do not put water into the oil or vice versa, and can pass most of the old school headgasket integrity tests.
The 2.5 SOHC engine only rarely had head gasket issues, while the 2.5 DOHC engine was and is “famous” for them, but in either case it is definitely curable and the “fix” long lasting if done correctly.
Looking at the front of the engine there is a black plastic cover over the timing belt area and behind the crankshaft pulley. The two cam engine will have only two bulges on the sides for the cams while the four cam has a massive cover with four bulges over the cams.
Radiator/gasket sealer is a temporary fix for a short period of time but I don’t recommend it as it will overheat again when the coolant gets pushed into the reservoir and enough of an air pocket gets down by the thermostat to where it slams shut (can’t read air temps only in coolant) and the temperature soars with a potential for major damage to engine each time it occurs.
The 2.5 SOHC engine only rarely had head gasket issues, while the 2.5 DOHC engine was and is “famous” for them, but in either case it is definitely curable and the “fix” long lasting if done correctly.
Looking at the front of the engine there is a black plastic cover over the timing belt area and behind the crankshaft pulley. The two cam engine will have only two bulges on the sides for the cams while the four cam has a massive cover with four bulges over the cams.
Radiator/gasket sealer is a temporary fix for a short period of time but I don’t recommend it as it will overheat again when the coolant gets pushed into the reservoir and enough of an air pocket gets down by the thermostat to where it slams shut (can’t read air temps only in coolant) and the temperature soars with a potential for major damage to engine each time it occurs.
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