I just bought my first WRX, a 2002, and I was hoping there is someone or a shop near Windom in Southwest Minnesota that works on Subaru's that I can go to for help with repairs and mods??? No problem paying for help just am hoping I don't have to go to Mankato or Sioux Falls to get any work done seeing as they're both over an hour away.. I already changed out the upper radiator hose on my own with help from all of these great forums but just running into more issues due to my lack of mechanical experience.. Please let me know if you are near Windom and can offer advice or have a way of helping me get familiar with my new love
Let me guess: My car is doing better but occasionally gets hot on temp after replacing the upper coolant hose!?!?!?! Do not fear! You just have air in the system and need to re pressurize it. This may blow your mind but when the engine is cold, unscrew the radiator cap....not the plastic one but the one that says "Danger: DO NOT OPEN WHEN HOT" Then start the car with that cap off....let car run for a few seconds, and kill. Put cap back on and boom air bubble gone. Now seriously, what issue do you need help with? You're not giving us much to work with here. Oh and welcome!
Perfect! About the simplest explanation I've seen for that problem. The heater isn't blowing hot, part of the same problem?? I'll give that a try in a bit and let you know Now the other stuff after I bought it in Mitchell, SD and drove it home the 2.5 hrs everything was fine. Next day I get a car wash and a little later the CD Player and clock fully go out and haven't worked since. Same goes for both sets of dome lights. I haven't changed All of the fuses, just the ones that seemed relevant.
Actually let the car run (idle) until it's at operating temperature, or at least until the thermostat opens to ensure that any bubbles trapped in the entire system have the chance to be burped.
He is correct, start with this. For your lights and radio, check your fuses located behind the coin holder(by your left knee).
When I do this I always make sure the fans kick in. You move a lot of fluid when the fans kick in. That is what I would suggest. The hotter the day the quicker this happens. Don't be surprised if you wait 10-15 minutes.
^^ Listen to those guys...my car was still warm when I did mine and mine bubbled within 30 sec. Also don't forget to re check your level as that air that was in your system made your coolant level look good but when you take the air out you need to fill appropriately.
I'll drive it around a bit tomorrow and see if my burping attempt was successful. I checked the fuses in the Main Fuse Relay Box and changed out a 15 amp fuse and everything came back I appreciate all of the help
To do the job properly, you're going to want to get a radiator funnel. They're available at auto parts stores, they'll have different adapters to lock a funnel into the radiator fitting. You'll fill that with coolant and start the car and let it idle until the fans kick in, then you know the thermostat has opened up and the system is flowing coolant. That will purge any bubbles that come out, and the system can only suck in coolant instead of air when it burps. There is a plug that's included to plug the funnel so you can disconnect it, I recommend doing that after the car cools down so you don't burn yourself. Then you can do your own coolant flushes too.
