I purchased a 2007 Subaru Legacy GT yesterday (only 70k, very tidy). Generally very happy, but however the one issue I've noticed is it takes a very long time to warm up (5+ mins of 50km/h driving) and it also cools down extremely quickly (engine is cold after 30 mins).
I'm not extremely mechanically minded but I'm thinking it could be the thermostat? Or is the slow warm up normal?
Any way I can check?
Thanks in advance
skin1235,
Jul 14, 7:17am
sounds like the thermostat to me too, although 5 mins is not an excessive time, by what means do you gauge how long it takes to cool down, any way to check the temp gauge though ( are you basing the speed of warmup on that or the heater) whats the heater like, should be pushing some warm within a minute or two, and turn down from full temp quite soon after that
intrade,
Jul 14, 7:17am
thermostat yes missing or stuck open would be my first thing to pop to mind . . now your figures are not exactly long warmup times. Does it get propper hot out of heater ? and does it seem to blow cooler at highway speed then round town? or about the same hot once its warmed up.
suicidemonkey,
Jul 14, 7:54am
It's usually a bit longer than 5 mins. definitely a lot longer than any other car I've had. I had an 05 Legacy before than warmed up within a few mins.
I'm going by the temp gauge but will check the heater tomorrow. Cheers guys.
suicidemonkey,
Jul 14, 8:08am
I just went for a quick drive. The heater is warm within about a minute but it took 7 mins for the temp gauge to reach its normal reading
intrade,
Jul 14, 8:20am
just remember its never been this cold in this country and a small ice ages is coming if the tv news are correct lol. i got central heating and double glazing here as i knew it be getting cold up here one day . Now a 2007 subaru. i tell you what i did on a 2001 merc cdi 270 with my scantool i went and loged on to the body controll module and went in to heater there i selected re-aligne calibration motors of heater flaps test. it runs thru test modes and calibrates flaps and now its heaing better , but still takes a long time to get warm This is a diesel and there is a heater open circuit code. i am sure that heater is to help the engine get warm as diesel dont make as much heat . but the calibration thing could well be also on your 07 subaru out of synch when a 2001 mer has had that stuff already.
unclejake,
Jul 14, 10:12am
Central heating in Whangarei?
Jeepers. I guess you're having the last laugh now Intrade. Well played.
sr2,
Jul 14, 9:07pm
Steady there Intrade mate, it's good to hear you're keeping warm and cosy but we're not setting any records with the cold weather quite yet.
To quote Metservice. " Mr Kerr said such temperatures were "not every year, but not uncommon". "It's cold, but it's not breaking any records. We don't see it every year, but if we look at it over a five-year or a 10-year period we do see it."
Does it maintain the normal operating temp cruising on a motorway? In most cases a stuck open or missing thermostat will cause the engine to cool down at high speed due to excessive cooling.
Unless it's stuck partially open enough to cause slow warmup, but open enough to also prevent overheating under load.
Worst case is if you find it to be missing, usually owners do this to mask serious engine issues so they can flick it off quickly.
marmar1,
Jul 15, 4:38am
My 99 Subaru takes a good 5 min to heat up. (Turbo also )
skin1235,
Feb 4, 10:27am
after 5 to 10 minutes of running the heater should be getting to almost uncomfortable temps if on full high fan speed 1 or 2, because the thermo if working correctly should have the rad temp to 100 plus by that time
try stopping after the 5 mins is up, open the hood and see if you can leave your hand on the top tank for more than a few seconds, if you can then you have a problem - its not heating up quick enough, suspect rightly as in your first post - if you cannot leave your hand there suspect the gauge is incorrect
gauge midrange is approx 98 degrees, bottom of the green is about 90, bottom of the red is 104, top of the red is about 110 and the rad cap releasing water and steam
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