2011 Legacy 2.5l

[CriticalNX]

I have a 2011 legacy with around 80k miles. It overheated due to rotted lower hose and bad radiator connection. Radiator and hoses were replaced by reputable shop( not so sure anymore) it started leaking again and coolant was blown around driver side on fans and top of battery more like sprayed all over than straight leak even into fins of radiator. Shop replaced rad again saying defective( no charge). same thing happened again looks more sprayed even into the fin area of the radiator. No more shop no I'm digging in. Pulled rad and checked all not leaking or overheating after 10 min run at 2k rpm top hose is hot but lower hose is still cool. Heater in car is working after warm up. Next step to pull thermostat and verify operation after that thinking maybe head gasket. Has anyone used the combustion leak detector? My coolant and oil have no indication of issues, oil color is fine and coolant nice green, no indication of head gasket leak( brown residue) on oil cap either and no blue or white cloud at exhaust. Engine also idles smoothly.

I also did use the funnel system with car on ramps to burp air.
I did notice that both rad hoses firm up after run ( pressure) and this should be relatively normal to a point. I didn't notice any bulge points on either hose after the 10 min run. Thinking if too much pressure could be leaking past lower rad clamp and spray around since that was the area that seemed to be the source.

Any ideas on how to test water pump flow or any other ideas would be greatly appreciated.

 

[Rgates99]

Did you ever resolve this issue? If so what was the outcome? I have a 2011 with 220,000 that is doing the exact same thing. Cold lower hose is my biggest symptom and I put a new Subaru thermostat in this morning and bled it properly.

thanks

 

[CriticalNX]

Yes, I got it fixed, bad head gaskets. I had tried testing with block tester kit and it passed but I found a video that described the issue exactly

.

The key was the sloshing noise behind the dash. I did my own gaskets and timing belt and water pump for around $600 without pulling the engine. I just loosened motor mounts and used a ratchet strap to pulling the engine to each side and get "Just" enough clearance to get bolts out. You may need an extra set of hands when you reinstall the heads, one person holds the gasket and slides the bolts as the other aligns the head. Use really good assembly lube on head bolts. I had a digital torque wrench which is needed. It took me about 4hours total, not bad for 1st timer. pretty easy to do just go slow and take pictures as you go. fyi- DON'T PANIC IF THERE IS A LOT OF BURN OFF SMOKE after you replace- lots of chems and lubes burn off after restarting lasts few minutes