Subaru outback vdc

If you have white smoke coming from the tail pipe then its the head gasket. Yes you could have a bad thermostat, you could be low on fluid, a bad radiator cap or fan sensor may be bad not turning the cooling fans on...

Mandy- sure stability control or vehicle dynamic control is a different issue than overheating of course. You could drive without VDC , carefully, but, an overheated engine is a much more immediate problem. You may want to investigate the newly designed multi layered head gaskets if you need to replace the heads. I agree that it could possibly be any one of the issues described above. If you decide that you have a bad thermostat be sure that you get an original equipment Subaru thermostat for your car.

I have changed many thermostats on many car brands. After full engine resealing of my 2002 outback h6- head gaskets and from top- bottom, front to rear I thought i would take the precaution of fitting genuine oe subaru thermostat @ 64$ au. . on the run in period, i have had near red temp on the guage, i verified this via obd diag. Realtime. . after much jacking about, double/ triple rechecking- rad cap 2.2 bar, custom full alloy radiator fitted.. The thermostat i deleted. Problem solved! Less than 1 years use- 2 months of troubled driving- subaru refused to refund. In the 3 decades of car fixing and diagnostics, i have NEVER BOUGHT A DUD BRAND NEW DEALER THERMOSTAT. except at subaru. My 002cts is buy aftermarket. Tridon, or others, and TEST FUNCTIONING BEFORE FITTING !!. luckily its 25 deg c min. here in queensland , where i live so running sans thermo is no prob. Believe me i have gone through the cooling system a-z.. DO NOT CHANCE A NEW SUBARU THERMOSTAT !!.. Hks, sti, or whoever does uprated ones.