Top 10 1990 Subaru Legacy Questions & Answers

Like the previous poster said, take the cap off the radiator start the car and fill the coolant, also if you recently installed the thermostat make sure its the correct way around, the subarus thermostat is upside down and has to be put in the opposite way than whats written on the thermostat AKA the Rad end goes toward the engine, and the Eng end goes toward the rad... otherwise the thermostat never opens then your left wondering why your engine is glowing orange.

The coolant temp. sensor usually causes this & needs to be replaced.

which transmission does the car have? this could be a bad transfer case in the transmission or a damaged axle

I hate to tell you this but the guy isn't returning your calls because the head gasket is blown and he probably knew it.
As for the 1990... have you checked the water pump for leaks? (front/ driver's side on the bottom of the engine) My guess is that it's faulty and unfortunately, it's behind the timing belt.
Both of these repairs will be a pretty penny.
Good luck!

Pretty common on subaru's, try elevating the front of the car whilst bleeding the cooling system.

I posted this in a different web sight I hope it helps.


Re: Overheating and blowing cold air
I have been a mechanic for 20 years. Your problem is the heater core is plugged. The cold water from the radiator blows directly at the thermostat keeping it closed even when you are overheating! BAD DESIGN!! If you look at the water flow charts in AllData you will understand. If you rev the motor to 3,000 rpm's the turbulent HOT water at the water pump impeller (near the thermostat) will reach the thermostat to open it and the car's temp will fall very fast to the correct temperature. If you remove the thermostat it will not overheat but will run way to cold. If you bypass (loop) the heater core it will not over heat.

The hot water that leaves the heater core returns to the engine at the thermostat. It is the only hot water introduced to the thermostat to keep it open and allow the water to flow from and to the radiator. I normally just back wash the heater core and get large chunks of rust flake out then its fixed. Back wash then froward wash repeatedly many times. Also flush out the motor so you don't re plug the heater core. I hope you have now blown the head gaskets or cracked a head yet. Make sure to run the proper coolant in the car so you don't promote more rust flakes. And bleed the air out as mentioned in detail by other posters.

Nobody knows this little secret. Not even Subaru mechanics at the dealer, no TSB (Technical Service Bulletins a special note after the fact to mechanics). After days and days of trouble shooting a 1993 Subaru Impreza (2.0?) I looked at the water flow chart and then it was clear what was happening. This phantom overheating problem stumps the best mechanics and sends many Subarus to the crusher.

http://www.subaruoutback.org/forums/...threadid=17264

does your heater work? if not than your thermostat is stuck. be careful not to get the car hot as those engines are sensitive and will warp the cylinder heads quickly.

The first thing you can always do is check your fuses. there might a blown fuse that need replacement.The 1990 Legacy has a mechanical speedometer . The speed sensor is a read switch in the speedometer head itself. So if your speedometer is functioning ( needle working properly ) then the internal read switch is defective. That requires replacing the entire speedometer OR it can be a defective connection between the speedometer and the ECU.If the speedometer is not working, then you can have a defective speedometer, cable, speedometer cable adapter ( on the tranny ) or internal speedo gear in the tranny. Thanks. you can rate this solution and show your appreciation.

We had a 96 outback blow it's gasket just last year, the radiator shop did a compression test to determine the extent of damage, just one cylinder, est cost was $1200, We said, holy cow!! That is just the one side, we got the car back to the house here and ordered us a new engine from ebay, japanese motors or something like that, the engine went it and worked perfectly, fired right up, smoked for a second, . No problem. I scrapped out the old engine and parts for a few hundred bucks , helped pay for the new engine. We figured by the time we get the head off with the engine still in the car, which is close to impossible, if not impossible, it's hard to change the spark plug let alone the head. then put it back together, with the new head bolts that they recommend, they cost $100, And we didn't know what was going to blow next, so we went for the engine. The engine was $900. No trips to the parts store, the only thing that didn't fit was the ac compressor, but that didn't matter, the car is living in Oregon right now and ac is the farthest thing from their minds. Hope this helps.

Hi,
So, both sides are not working? Check for voltage @ the brake light bulb to see if you're getting power. Also, look in the fuses.

check out the online Subaru forums, too.

GL,
Td