Over heating

[graphicsman]

So this is my second thread.

I guess let me start from the beginning. I bought an 02 Subaru Midnight Black WRX with 90k miles from this mom and pop's car lot for 9 out the door. Well my buddies and I had noticed the after market radiator and turbo timer on the car. Long story short, i drive 50 mins to work and back, so my car is a fun drive. I get home late last night and went inside to play with my daughter, and my wife screamed out my car was on fire. I ran out, popped the hood, and a coolant line had busted and was spraying coolant all over the up pipe so it was smoking really bad. After driving around town for 2 hours i finally found a similar piece and threw it on, drove to work today and noticed when i turned off the car, the turbo timer had a .40 time on it, watched the gauges and the thermostat doubled then the time ran out, never went into red, just stayed below half then when turned off went to 3/4s. So my questions and concerns are:

Should i be worried in the doubling in temp (I haven't noticed it or paid attention to it before)??

I (and some buddies) assume the after market radiator installed was due to probably the old one taking a crap.

When the old one took a crap, they didn't replace the coolant lines and the line just finally went out.

Are there any good after market coolant line to get (links if possible)?


So what you guys think??? Assumptions seem correct?? If you guys love pics, ill post some when i get them loaded.


Graphicsman

[SD_GR]

Should i be worried in the doubling in temp (I haven't noticed it or paid attention to it before)??

Yes. It may be an air pocket in the system. Burp the system. This takes time and patience; the only car I've dealt with that's equal or worse as far as the need to burp completely is mid-engined, to give you an idea of the severity. There are several "burp" threads around if you need instructions.

I (and some buddies) assume the after market radiator installed was due to probably the old one taking a crap.

Probably. Only the paint is of worse quality than the original Calsonic radiators.

Are there any good after market coolant line to get (links if possible)?

Probably, but I avoid imitation parts and prefer authentic parts wherever possible. The authentic coolant lines are not that expensive and will fit correctly. I'm not crazy about the clamps though, truth be told.

[graphicsman]

are there any special procedures?? I'm sure that i need to leave the heater on high and defrost on, but i tried the old radiator cap off but it overflowed. I'm used to being able to leave the cap off on my other rides and massage the upper coolant line. Anything special on these??

[graphicsman]

can you provide links please??

[SD_GR]

are there any special procedures?? I'm sure that i need to leave the heater on high and defrost on, but i tried the old radiator cap off but it overflowed. I'm used to being able to leave the cap off on my other rides and massage the upper coolant line. Anything special on these??

That will work but not quickly. In fact that's generally how I do it; I actually begin doing this with the motor off, as I'm refilling the rad. Then when it seems I can't get any more in I turn the motor on and continue burping until I think I'm done. Then I do it for at least as long again, since I'm never done when I think I'm done. It does take patience. The factory manual has verbage about relative heights and topping off after driving but I generally use the massage method.

A search for "burp" yielded these threads; have a look as I'm on the road at the moment:

ClubWRX Forum - Subaru Impreza WRX and STi Community and Forums - Search Results

[oguitar]

A proper burping does take a long time. Get your self a good funnel that fits tightly into the reservoir by the turbo. This will help with the overflowing part. Do this after you change your hoses though. No need to do it twice.

Don't let your car overheat. It is not good for the motor at all.

[graphicsman]

An update: It took 4 hours to burp the system. Also a key note we found out is that the aftermarket radiator cap and res cap were the same PSI, which i was told that one has to be larger PSI then the other and the car as no overflow tank, so i will be looking into getting an aftermarket one to install on the car. Other than the 4 hour massage (i was dirty to my car, lol) everything seemed to be cool. I will need to go back and keep checking the other coolant lines.