01 Foerster getting hot and coolant hose pulsating
Asked by Stephen Nov 07, 2019 at 01:55 PM about the 2001 Subaru Forester
Question type: Maintenance & Repair
I bought a used 01 Foerster yesterday. It ran fine all
day with no issues. I drove it again this morning
and immediately noticed the temp gauge was
getting very hot. No heat through the vents either. I
turned it off, for about five minutes and turned it
back on. The heat started working and the temp
slowly went down to normal, then fluctuating on
my way home. When I pulled in the driveway and
put it in park, the heat was normal, but there was a
clunking sound coming from the engine bay. I
opened the hood and instantly noticed the top
radiator hose was pulsating. It stopped shortly
after I turned the engine off. I checked the bottom
radiator hose, which was cold. The person I bought
it from said it recently had the engine swapped.
Again, it was running 100 percent fine yesterday
with no issues with coolant temp.
10 Answers
Here is a video I took of the sound and hose https://youtu.be/zUWlkJ4W41I
Purge all the air out of the system but if the problem returns the head gaskets are probably shot. I don't need a video to diagnose this problem as it is all too common in old Subaru's.
Much appreciated. The engine still has six months warranty on it. I'm hoping the problem is that he just didn't get all the air out, or that maybe the radiator cap is bad. The hose looked like it was sucking in on itself. The weird thin is I drove it 20 miles yesterday with absolutely no issues and now this
Good luck to you. I would also suggest a compression test and an exhaust gas test for the coolant.
lincolnscott49 answered 5 years ago
Exhaust gas check is a chemical test to determine if exhaust fumes are getting in the cooling system caused by a blown head gasket. Simple test takes a few minutes but not all shops have the tester apparatus . watch this utube video https://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=chemical+block+test&&view=detail&mid=3B3F0C74FA6A14D829733B3F0C74FA6A14D82973&&FORM=VRDGAR
Likely another Subaru head gasket bites the dust. This is an all too common occurrence.
Yes unfortunately this is your head gasket I had same issue on my Outback this is a 1000+ job. Common flaw on Subaru.
TheSubaruGuruBoston answered 5 years ago
Sounds like percolation. Thorough HG job should cost $1.6-1.7k inc t-belt and pulleys. If seller won't cooperate dump the vehicle.
