The AUSubaru.com.au Forums

I just picked up another L wagon for next to nothing.

The car has near new clutch, driveshafts, water pump and radiator. Last November the PO had overheating problems that ended up with him shelling out over a grand to have one replacement head fitted - original had cracked.

The hassle being that the mongrel still runs very hot. No sign of overheating at idle but drive it at 80kmhr it sits above the middle, at 100kmhr it starts nudging the red. Slow back to 80 and it cools a bit. The thermo fan works fine.

Coolant seems to stay in the motor, it's nice and green, it doesn't look frothy or have any oil in it.

Any ideas?

Is there a thermostat in it? I ran an EA81 once without a thermostat (not even a restrictor plate in its place) and it behaved exactly as you've said.

tim_81coupe wrote:Is there a thermostat in it? I ran an EA81 once without a thermostat (not even a restrictor plate in its place) and it behaved exactly as you've said.

It's all there, I replaced the thermostat as well but it is still doing it. The radiator is a 12 month old reco unit, water pump was replaced about the same time.

The business that did the head replacement isn't a known local subaru repairer. is there any way that he could have stuffed the job?

check that the thermo fan blows the right way
and check timing
double check radiator, the oem version is POS.
If water pump was really replaced, it should look nice n shiny compared to the rest of the motor too

This car has had $4,000 spent on it in the last two years by the p.o.

Last November it was overheating and diagnosed with a cracked head. He had both heads pulled and one replaced. At the same time the clutch and both driveshafts were replaced. Prior to that the water pump and the radiator were replaced. The radiator with a reco unit.

I wondered why I got it for next to nothing until I drove it home and it started overheating at anyhing over 80kmhr. Stay below 80 or just take it back to idle and the thing would cool to around two thirds on the guage.

I took some of the advice here and replaced the thermostat and swapped the thermo fan with a good spare......no luck. The timing seems fine.

I had sort of resigned myself to yanking the motor but decided to swap the radiator with the one off my parts car. The needle didn't move above one third, up hill down dale at any speed with air con off or on.

The shiny black "reco" unit I removed seems to pass the water OK and the flush runs clear without gunk but there must be sufficient blocked or crimped tubes in there to cause the problem.

I guess it always pays to check the bleeding obvious before shitting your jeans.

I feel for ya mate .
Ive got the same problem with the Vortex .
The car runs at 1/2 till 80 then 2/3 to 3/4 at 100
and thats only after i took the side tank off and cleaned the cores.
My radiator keeps getting clogged with sediment.
I dont dare run the aircon.
All the bits have been changed except the radiator.
So thats the next job The 83 auto radiator is a great replacement its a 2 core monster that will
keep your car on 1/5 even on 40 deg day
Cheers Pete

83 MY radiator is a twin core yes, but its a copper one with less surface area and less cooling capacity than a stock single core L series one

Its taller, shorter but at two cores its twice the capacity of a l series.
i had one in my old 82 coupe .
It didnt even get over the 1/6 mark on the gauge in winter or summer and if you add a 160 deg thermostat and twin thermo fans then you never got to have the fans running even at idle on a 40 deg day.
We went down to our Natrad the other day and done the math to sort out the cooling probs in the Vortex. The 83 was a better choice but requires mods to fit.
The l series dont make a twin core and $675 for a custom twin core
is out of reach for the moment.
The great thing about the engine bay in the Vort is theres tons of room up front, so i can mount the radiator in front of the radiator support panel
instead of behind it.
Cheers Pete

coupe wrote:Its taller, shorter but at two cores its twice the capacity of a l series.

I concur, I got it recored, and I think I did get them to replace the core, with a bit longer one they found suitable, I think. There is no comparison to the previous L series one, It beats it hands down.
However the lower exit port, straight out is not real suitable, best see if the rad shop can fix it at an angle like the original L one, else its a b** finding a suitable hose pipe.All up its cheaper than a fully custom one.
I welded the bottom mounts off the Lseries one, to the my one,worked out perfectly. The upper rad support requires bending too.