Well I'm revisiting my over heating problem. I lost a few runs at the Brooksvill auto cross due to the heat climbing...

I have an 02 Wrx, 5spd, wagon, 2.0L, turbo....white...

My original problem, a few months ago, was a stuck thermostat. I removed the stuck thermostat and put a new one in but it did not fix the problem. I put the new thermostat in a pot of boiling water and it did not open until 200 degrees. So right now i am running no thermostat.

My problem right now appears to be under very aggressive driving for a long time the heat will climb and move all of the fluid in the system into the overflow tank until it spills all over the road. Under normal driving the heat will rise and then fall very quickly. After bleeding the system the erratic rise and fall goes away for about a week.
-Brand new upper/lower hoses
-No thermostat
-Radiator holds 16 psi on a radiator pressure tester.
-Pulled 185 awhp on a stock tune
-Tuned to have about 215 awhp right now @ 15.5 psi
-The heater works on and off
-i can blow water through the motor and radiator with out any blockages

I doubt it is a head gasket or warped head because of the pull and numbers the motor puts out. Along with the holding 16psi in the radiator with a pressure tester i doubt there is a significant leak, bad radiator cap, or bad head gasket.

I am so confused. Maybe one of the ancillary hoses, maybe a cap, maybe a clogged passage somewhere, bad water pump, or maybe worst of all a bad head gasket.

Is there any way to test a water pump? Defiantly getting fed up with the heat climbing, so i am just thinking about installing a large radiator and an electric in line water pump...

Thanks for reading or even skimming

 

Usually,when the motor empties all/most of the coolant to the overflow under high load,it's a blown headgasket.

The reason is,the gasket could be cracked and letting exhaust get into the coolant system,and forcing the liquid out of the motor.

Does the coolant in the overflow bubble alot when it's all forced into there?

 

Well it just forces coolant, no bubbles. The only bubble-ing noise is coming from the coolant line going to the turbo. I assume goes to the turbo. It comes from the back of that box with the upper cap on it and shoots 90 degrees down. If that is the technical term.
Could it be a headgasket, have absolutely no smoke, and pull really strong?

 

It could still be the head gasket. My RS did the same thing before one of it's engines died. There are tests you can do to determine if exhaust gas is leaking into the coolant. My DSM also did the same thing, pulled strong as hell, until one day the engine block cracked. The head gasket had been replaced with a metal one that didnt allow it to blow out, so the block took the overheating poorly.

I would do a few things first, 1 compression test and along with that examine the condition of all your spark plugs. These are the easiest to do with simple garage tools and hopefully will shed some light on what's up.

good luck.

 

Heater core isn't clogged, I checked it today. Ill do a compression test on Tuesday. I really really don't want to do Head gaskets on the wrx. Any way to do it with the motor still in the car?

 

no sir lol. They're a bitch.

 

God damn it... Fuck that, i'm going s14 SR with an Rv200. Thats right Deal with it.

jk

 

Definitely Sounds Like The Head Gasket Or Head Lifting........Could Even Be A Dropped Sleeve, Unlikely Though If The Motor Is Stock

 

I didnt read it anywhere but are the fans turning on?

 

You can't do a head gasket with the motor in the car? Are we sure about that? If it's on the passenger side, I would think you can do it, without a problem. The drivers side would def be a pain.