Car over heated and shut down?
Asked by StoneWalker Dec 10, 2020 at 07:50 AM about the 2003 Subaru Outback Base Wagon
Question type: Maintenance & Repair
My 2003 Subaru outback has had head
gaskets, clutch, pressure plate and
water pump and timing belt all done at
130,000 miles. A year ago. Fast
forward
I was driving my 2003 Subaru outback
and it lost power and then over heated,
and then engine shut down. I leak
antifreeze and was all steamed. Got it
back home with a 200 mile tow. Where
do I begin?
It has been using a bit of oil since we
got it. No leaks or drops on the ground.
4 Answers
How does your radiator look? With the car being 17 years old, the plastic portions of the radiator may be old and brittle. That can lead to them cracking and letting coolant out.
First and foremost is to trace the leak down.
Buy a new engine or better yet a new car as yours is not worth fixing.
New HGs on a 2000-2009 2.5i usually hold up well, but only if NEW head bolts are torqued carefully and heads were sent out to be pressure-tested and measured for flatness. Yes, determine where the leak is. If at any corner of the lower motor then your HG job has failed. If NO leak but overheating then check for percolation of exhaust gases from radiator cap (see other threads for my procedure). If burst radiator, Luke's correct. Check also to ensure OE t-stat was used when HGs were replaced, as smaller cheap t-stats will fail to allow full-flow of coolant. Check FRONT of radiator for leaves/debris, as well. Note that TOPS of radiator are where they tend to crap or burst. If HGs have externally (leakage), or internally (percolation) failed, toss this dinosaur and replace, as FOR suggests, and perhaps have a talk with whoever did the HG job last year. But be nice, as they may still have been diligent with parts and machine shop testing of the heads. But there are right ways and wrong ways to do this major job. Sorry. Good luck.
