My Legacy is giving me so much crap, it's getting annoying. It overheated again today on the freeway up to my moms. It wont overheat until I get off the freeway, then it gets really hot. We have replaced the radiator, thermistat (twice), water pump, coolent flushed, currently has coolent in the car. I might be forced to buy the MR sooner than I want to.

 

when your on the freeway air is helping to cool the engine. When you get off and slow down less air flow and the engine heats up. Check the fan and see if there is any debris in the front grill.

are you losing any coolant??

 

It looks like you forgot to test one important thing, the radiator fan

Carlos

 

try here http://www.forumsubaru.com/t3400-ove...90-legacy.html
water pump maybe?

 

-Check for any leaks.
-Does it smoke?
-Does A/C + Heat function properly?

-Inspect Thermostat/Gasket.
-Inspect Radiator/Fans.
-Inspect Radiator Cap.
-Inspect Waterpump.
-Inspect Hoses.

-Check type of coolant (some cars are sensitive to what kind of coolant they receive, green/orange types.)
-Use distilled water in the radiator.
-BLEED the system from any and all air pockets.
-How long before it overheats if turned on and set at idle?
-Check to see the rad/ac fans turn on automatically once at normal operating temps.

 

you're probably out of coolant and/or the radiator fan isnt working, also possibly the engine oil may have been depleted.

 

Thanks man. ill check it out.

Carlos, I'll have to check that out asap.

Frozen, yes but over a long time.

 

Well, I just changed the oil, which it was low on, so that's out of the way. I'm going to replace the thermistat tomorrow when I have some more time and flush out the coolent. I need to still check the radiator fan. Thanks guys.

 

Just for the record...thermostat. Is it possible there are leaks or blockages in the coolant lines? Aside from what has been mentioned I can't think of anything else. Most likely it's a fan problem. If it was the water pump it'd always be hot, but the heating at low speeds seems to indicate that not enough air is passing through the radiator when it's not being forced.