Hey everyone,

This is my first post here, sadly it's in the service area. :P
I am from Romania and I drive a EUDM '97 WRX, EJ20G engine,
it has a few mods, dyno shows peak hp at 251.
Mods:
- sti gearbox and rear diff
- new age brakes
- sti turbine
- silicone tubing for intake
- k&n air filter using the stock airbox, not the mushroom kind
- autobahn88 100mm intercooler top mount
- Running 1.1 bar boost.

Recently changed all fluids and oils, sadly my work hours are crazy so I had my old man take it in to the shop, would have love to been present, alas I still need to eat at the end of the day.
After changing the oil/coolant shop did not warn me of any foaming or mixing of coolant and oil. Also I did not notice a drop in the oil/coolant levels before servicing so I doubt it's a head gasket issue.

Now, on to my issue:

It's started snowing here so I've been taking the Subaru to work lately. It's a 120 km commute including the return trip.
Now the car runs lovely after finally fixing a boost leak that has been eluding me for 6 months, but I notice it runs very hot when stuck in traffic, which does happen when I get close to my destination.
After 15 mins or so the temp gauge slowly creeps up to maximum it can show, about 3 quarters up I usually have to pull over and let it cool or get moving really fast, whichever comes first.
After starting to move the temp drops down to around half.

It might also be worth noting that the cluster temp sensor might be going bad as it stutters like crazy under load, for example if I start pushing 130-140km/h it will rapidly jitter between zero and my current temp.
My engine is the kind with two coolant temp sensors, one for the ECU and one for the cluster so I'm not too worried about it.
It will get replaced next time it goes in to the shop for some electrical work (my rear defroster is not working).

Could it be my fans? I swear I never hear them coming on.
I've checked the fuse and it seems ok and I'm at a loss at what else I can do to check. It's pretty cold out too, so I would need to let it idle for like 20 mins or so to see if it happens.
Is there any way to force the fans to come on, to at least see that they work?

Sorry for the long post and any insight is appreciated.

R.

Edit:

So I took the car out for a mid-night drive on backroads where I would only wake up forest animals with that grapefruit launcher I have for an exhaust.
I still get engine stall after coming off of hard boost. I tested to see if it would stall while being still, revved it all the way to red, never dropped below 900 so my next suspect is that ricer bov the car came with when I bought it.
It's an HKS, supposedly, but I suspect it's one of those Chinese knockoffs.
I'm planning to fashion some sort of delete "flange", I will probably end up using one of those PVC plugs with the lip to keep it from getting sucked in and fashion a system to hold it down using a collar and some zip ties.
OR the more elegant solution, use one of those expandable boat drain plugs with the expandable rubber gasket.
Should I get a tune for a BOV delete or can I test it out as is, thing is I don't know if the guy that I got the car from had it tuned with a bov to lean out the fuel mixture during throttle off.

Would the knock sensor retard the timing to compensate for anything safely?
I've been thinking about a delete for a long time since I don't particularly like the ricer sound it makes, BUT love the turbo surge.
Wearing out the turbo isn't a big deal since I plan on taking this old engine to 300 horse come spring, which would likely include a bigger turbo, fmic and so on. Get what I can out of it and if it throws a rod I'm prepared to plop a 205 or 207 in it, financially speaking.

Appreciate the help

R.

Welcome mate you certainly have your car in much colder conditions than us but you could have a sticking thermostat if you don't know when that was last replaced. Also some subaru upper engine cleaner would be good to use on a car your age for the idle issue. I would check all your vacuum hoses on a car that age and boost gauge line if you have one as well.

Plus check you pcv Valve and catch can set up for and blockages played havoc with my old model. People round here are quite knowledgeable I'm sure you will get some more good advice.

Mark

Hey, thanks for the reply.

I already changed thermostat, water pump and radiator cap when I did the distribution, unless I got faulty stuff I don't think that's the issue.
The PCV valve is set-up weird, it vents directly to atmosphere, when I asked the former owner about it he said that's how the tuner set it up ()...
There is a small hose piece attached to it but it does not go anywhere. I don't have an oil catch can.

I checked all the fuses in the engine bay fuse box and far as I can tell, they are all good. Maybe one of the relays could be bad?
Secondary Fan starts up if I run the a/c btw, so I can at least use that as a backup.

Cheers,
R.

G'day Mate and Welcome,
Just a thought with the overheating issue. You may have a few air pockets trapped inside the cooling system which may not have been bled properly. Also with the thermostat fans, just turn the heater on and they should come on.

Yep I have a catch can set set up but it vents straight to atmo i am not running standard boost and my engine is getting on a bit so I have a bit of blow by. Yeh making sure you have no air pockets in the system is good advice. Head gaskets I have had them on other cars showing no symptoms apart from slight coolant usage can be funny things to diagnose sometimes.

Mark

Hey guys, thanks for the replies.
So if I'm understanding this correctly, if I turn on the car heater the main fan will come on? When I turn on the a/c the left fan comes on, I have LHD, don't know if it matters.
Right fan I have not seen come on for ages.
Is this correct so far?
As far as air pockets, I've had the coolant drained and replaced a month ago at the shop, it's been doing the overheating before that.

I'm really, REALLY hoping it's not the head gaskets, I would hate to have to pull the engine...

R.

Yes, if you put the heater on max the fans should come on. Another way to check your cooling system is to get it pressure tested at a radiator shop. It shouldn't cost too much, but will definitely tell you if there's a leak somewhere internally or externally.

Do you mean air con? Put the air con on and both thermo fans should switch on straight away.

Only the left fan will come on with a/c on, so I guess I have a bad fan/relay, I've checked all the fuses and they seem intact.

Any idea on what the relay specs are? I'd order new ones just to be safe.