2001 Outback overheating, again

Mine is doing the same thing,,,,last thing to try is therosate and radiator cap! That's what I'm getting done today, hope it fixes it

Have a competent mechanic check the head gaskets. They are a known issue on the Subaru 4-cylinder engines from that era. I had to replace them on my 2001 Forester.

Thanks, I have replaced head gaskets, twice, plus radiator and thermostat already, along with radiator and water pump. What else could it be?

I did have the heads replaced, water pump, etc, last summer

Good luck Kathii444! Let me know if that does the trick!

I think I missed something???? If what does the trick????

How many miles are on your car, I hope it's not the water jackets, if so, you're in deep trouble. I see that you've done the radiator, water pump, thermostat a year ago, did they use factory specified parts. I assume you still have confidence in your mechanic?

I didn't do radiator, just heads, water pump timing belt, but not radiator.....I got word that it might be therosate.....Keeping my fingers crossed that it's just therosate....Wish me luck!!!!

Install a "brand new " radiator and thermostat , that will solve your problem. Your car is a 2001 and 14 years old, the fins and copper tubing are probably clogged like bad arteries. You don't want to over heat your car and risk a head gasket failure again. Cheap insurance, you'll thank me for raising this issue.

Thanks....The funny thing is the car never actually over heated, no steam coming out the engine or anything like that, just the needle going to hot....When I drove it on the highway for a good 20 minutes to the mechanic I had the heat on high and the needle never went up....The heat was good and hot all the way there except for 5 seconds it felt like cool air coming out then it went to hot air again...When I got to the garage and parked the car I didn't see anything steaming or anything....

Kathi, one of my prior cars was a 1995 Honda Accord, left home and within 3 miles the needle jumped towards the "red" zone. You really don't want to take a chance with this, honestly, your car's circulatory system is at risk when the temperature gauge or warning lights flash or come on. If your car is in good shape and you maintain your car, it will serve you better. How many miles are on your car? It's also a matter of age. I think my Honda Accord radiator failed around 15 years, so, that's another reason I brought this up for you to consider.

14 years old....I'm still waiting to hear back. From my mechanic....There very busy there but I hope to hear something today...

Mark-a new radiator was installed-thermo was not new I don't think. I did find this info online...a bit discouraging. I may sell my car I don't want to continue having problems! http://www.sueeasy.com/class_action_detail.php?case_id=341

Good luck, I'm sure they'll recommend replacement of the radiator. My only suggestion for you is get a brand new Subaru part, you'll be a lot better off than an after market unit. Sometimes you can get away with after market parts, this is not one of the times to try and save a few bucks.

How many miles on your Limited? I have 70,000 on my 2010.

Hi... I know this is an old thread but hoping you will get this msg. I have 2000 outback doing exact same thing did you wver get it figured out?

i have a 2000 Outback with 146K ........... if i drive with the AC on the temp gauge is fine, once i hit a bit of stop & go, the needle rises to the line below red. Radiator checked and no leaks ............ what next ?

Well, well, well.... overheating AGAIN? - the title of this thread. Maybe, LCMac99, this is NOT your situation a second time... BUT, once again. I'd like to remind people that there's a time and place for everything and it's definitely NOT A PRUDENT thing to be "pennywise and pound foolish" when it comes to taking care of your car especially the cooling system....IF the engine overheats, it can blowout the head gaskets, warp the entire head, and much more....SO, contrary to Mr. Boston, I recommend that you replace the water pump, coolant, thermostat, and radiator every 100,000 miles... Why...? Sooner or later you're going to have a problem..so, think of it this way..it's going to happen... wouldn't you rather be proactive and do it at your convenience or be disabled waiting for the AAA.?? Your choice?

LCMac99 - - check your cooling fans to see it they are working. Also check the coolant level. You may also want to flush the system and install new coolant and "burp" the system.

I just bought a '99 OB. Ran great for 3 weeks then started going hinky on temperature. Fans work. T- stat appears to be working. So long as I leave radiator cap loose, she stays cool. As soon as I seal cap, she overheats. Ideas?

Possible head gasket issues which run nearly 100% on older Subaru's. I would try to purge air out of the system but if that does not work the HG's are probably leaking compression or coolant into the combustion chambers.

Know this is an old thread... but... I have a similar issue that went catastrophic. I am now trying to figure out what happened. I have had the car since 4/23/18. Very low mileage for the year (2002 subaru outback (vin does pop up as a legacy though which is weird)) 124k mi. Posting with 8/24/18. New tires New tire stud front passenger New cv axle 2x- first had a bad bearing they think New head gaskets Oil change Rocker work New serpentine belt New water pump New thermostat Still overheated on the highway. It stalled out when the heater was running to cool it off and I stopped at a red light. Did that 2x. Acted like it wanted to die when I had the heat/ac on at all. Turn the ac on, the car red lined after no more than 10min. Went down a hill this past week, heard something that sounded like metal shredding and bouncing around under my car. Then realized my engine had died, the brakes were useless, and my power steering was also useless. When I got it to stop, it turned over, but didn't fire up. My garage got it to fire up, but they think something at the bottom of the engine let loose. The head gaskets, oil change, serpentine, thermostat, and water pump were not done all that long ago. Exactly 2 weeks ago and 1,050 mi. Anyone have thoughts?! I am new to Subaru's.

My 2001 outback does run pretty hot also. I live in AZ though so it gets pretty hot here. It gets very close to the top line on the temp gauge. I was reading the book that came with the car and Subaru stated that anything below the red is considered a normal temperature although I think the needle almost touching the red is too hot. I looked over the engine bay and it looks like Subaru could have done a little better job with air flow. on mine at least the only place there is for the hot air to escape is though the small cracks along the sides of the hood, there might be some flow on the bottom of the engine but it doesn't seem to be sufficient So the fans run there just isn't really anywhere for the air to go. You could just take the hood off the car and I would venture to say that would fix the problem but who wants to do that. I know I am going to just let the car idle with the hood up when it is 110 out here again and see if it will idle cooler. I can target that as an air flow problem at that point. If you stand by the door on most cars when the fan is on there is a lot of hot air blowing on you, I feel nothing next to my little outback. If you haven't done it I always try to start with the cheapest possible thing it could be IE make sure the radiator is clean on the outside than thermostat etc. If you have a bad head gasket you will be loosing coolant consistently. My opinion on replacing a thermostat at least is to go with a factory thermostat, Subaru designed those engines to run at a specific temperature and a low temp thermostat wont fix overheating. In my experience water pumps work or they leak all over the place its generally pretty obvious when they have gone bad. on rare occasion there is a bearing in the pump that will make a growling noise when it is on its way out. Waterpumps have whats called a weap hole on the that coolent comes out of, again ive only seen them do this when they are about toast. Cheak for drips under the car, if you see that happening then we might be talking about replacing some expensive parts. I think its best to do homework like we are all doing to figure out what the fix is. I feel like alot of mechanics make things up to get paid. I think anymore an honest shop is very hard to find. I have seen this so many times where people replace all kinds of parts and spend tones of money just to figure out it is something as simple as burping the radiator.

The thermostat was likely replaced with a failsafe thermostat or other aftermarket. They are designed for 2.5 not 3.0 despite what they think. Oem from junkyard was much longer. Also the radiator cap has 2 gaskets. 1 can seize onto the radiator (inside under the cap) like a lip hard plastic. That will keep coolant from siphoning back into radiator from reservoir.