Overheating 2000 outback

[rithomitis]

I have an outback that was over heating so I took it into the dealer.
They just told me that I need to replace the radiator, upper and lower
hoses, ac belt, power steering belt and the thermostat. They said the
lower hose was collapsing due to the vacuum. Is that normal to replace
the whole shoot and match or would you start with the radiator cap and
a new lower hose?

 

[Edward Hayes]

I first would check that the cooling fans were both operating. I would
flush the cooling system and replace thermostat to start. The flush &
stat will probably fix it but, if not then look further.

 

[pldawg]

yeah the fans are working great. I was going to flush and replace the
lower hose, radiator cap and stat... although I wouldn't be surprised
if it was a head gasket, should have put that in my original post, he
said that they weren't sure if replacing the radiator would fix it and
that the head gasket may need it also.

When I mentioned that the head gasket was still under warranty there
was a long pause, and a reluctant "yes" My sinking suspicion is that
there is nothing wrong with the radiator but they want some money out
of the repair instead of just replacing the head gasket first under
warranty.

I picked up the car and will try a few things first, then take it in
for a head gasket next week!

 

[Dmitriy]

yeah the fans are working great. I was going to flush and replace the
lower hose, radiator cap and stat... although I wouldn't be surprised
if it was a head gasket, should have put that in my original post, he
said that they weren't sure if replacing the radiator would fix it and
that the head gasket may need it also.

When I mentioned that the head gasket was still under warranty there
was a long pause, and a reluctant "yes" My sinking suspicion is that
there is nothing wrong with the radiator but they want some money out
of the repair instead of just replacing the head gasket first under
warranty.

I picked up the car and will try a few things first, then take it in
for a head gasket next week!

In these cars, if the head gasket is bad, there is usually a visible
leak.

Are there any visible leaks?

 

[Edward Hayes]

The HG is still under warranty? 5/60,000? Why mess with it at all,
just let the dealer do it. I think you may have the 8year/100,000 mile
EXTERNAL HG warranty IF you used the "Subaru colling system
conditioner. The 8y100K is for external weeping only which is
apparently not your problem.

 

[Rick Courtright]

In these cars, if the head gasket is bad, there is usually a visible
leak.

Are there any visible leaks?

Hi,

In my limited experience, Subies suffer from two types of HG leaks:
external "weepage" that makes a mess but isn't really all that serious
if you just keep the coolant topped up, and the internal "blown" HG that
causes the heating problems. If it's the latter, coolant's quite likely
disappearing into "nowhere" w/o a visible leak.

Rick