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L-series Cooling System Help

Posted: Tue Jul 22, 2008 10:41 pm
by 1986touringwagon
heyy
i own a 1988 L wagon DL it dosent have A/C

the car is making a gurgleing noise in the heater core?

the car just before i brought it had a new radiator in it and i just replaced the thermostat but that hasnt changed a thing.

the car was running quite hot and somtimes overheated but i seem to have fixed that problem but it still runs semi hot i put a new clutch fan on the car as it didnt have one when i got it

i dont think the car has a blown head gasket as there is no water in the oil.

what is the best way to bleed the cooling system

any help would be awsome

regards andrew

Posted: Tue Jul 22, 2008 10:44 pm
by Matatak
BrennyV wrote:I started by jacking up the front end slightly, then I removed the outlet hose from he heater core and started the engine wile poring in the coolant till it came out from the heater core then secured it again (wile engine was running) then let the system fill and get upto temp (with the cap off)
i refer you to that Post in THIS thread

Posted: Wed Jul 23, 2008 11:49 am
by El_Freddo
Actually the reason for the gurgling is because the heater hoses are on the wrong way... Don't ask me how this works but I've tried and tested it with good results on my sister's L.

You just need to swap the heater hoses near the firewall under the spare tyre.

Let us know how it goes.

Cheers

Bennie

Posted: Wed Jul 23, 2008 8:03 pm
by Matatak
Not always elfreddo...also dont see how either lol

Posted: Wed Jul 23, 2008 8:44 pm
by El_Freddo
Matatak wrote:Not always elfreddo...also dont see how either lol
If the coolant is as full as you can get it, bled etc etc and it still gurgles when the engine is revved the hoses are the wrong way around.

I don't know how it works, I just know this is what was recommended to us and it solved our gurgling problem. I'm guessing if the water is coming in from the high hose under the dash it would allow an air pocket to gather in the top end of the heater core, a rev increases the water speed thus pushing around this air bubble, creating a gurgling sound, but doesn't push it around enough to get it though the core and back to the radiator through the lower heater hose.
Reversing the heater hoses will allow the air bubbles to be pushed out through the top heater hose and effectively back to the radiator. That's how I see it... It may be another L thing you haven't experienced...

Cheers

Bennie

Posted: Wed Jul 23, 2008 8:52 pm
by Matatak
sorry i was meaning 'Not always' as it wont work on every car. (not narrowed down to subarus)

Posted: Tue Aug 19, 2008 7:56 pm
by AlpineRaven
Have you bleed the air out of the system? Sometimes there is bubbles sitting there.. Is there a bleed valve on the L series?
Cheers
AP

Posted: Mon Sep 15, 2008 6:46 am
by suby87
With my L I beleve that there was a pin hole leak in the heater core that was laking a small amount of air into the system. I never ended up fixing this it fixed after trying to get up a step hill with benny it exploded so I would get it seen to. First thing try and bypass the heater core by bending one of the hoses around and see if that fixes it.

Cheers Kris

Posted: Mon Sep 15, 2008 1:36 pm
by Suby Wan Kenobi
Generally if you have a leaking head gasket in an EA NA engine it leaks into the combustion chamber till it leats go. I had a leaking head gasket in an L once and it took nearly 18 months for it to let go in a spectacular fashion.

Your problem however seems to be the heater box not bleeding out properly, they can take a few days to bleed out the air sometimes. I have also had the switching of the hoses around work too "sometimes"