hey i have a 02 wrx with 30k miles on it. about 4 days ago i was in my car with the ac on on recerculate for about 15 min stopped at idle. when i drove away i noticed that the temp guage went past the middle point and was rising fast. it went 3/4 the way up and then i shut off my ac and drove my car at low rpm and the temp went down. i checked the coolant and it was past the full line in the overflow tank. then last night i was driving through the city in traffic with the ac on and my car started to overheat again. it went 3/4s the way up again and i turned the ac off and it went back down after driving really slow. does anyone know what this can be from? can i use my ac during a hot day? would it be because i dont have a turbo heat sheild? my car is completely stock so any suggestions would be helpfull.
thanks

possible rad leak or t-stat going out....

any smoke?

check for leaks in the radiator (the top seam is the typical failure point) - if you haven't changed your coolant, have the system flushed, replace the thermostat, and see if that solves the problem.

Fans / fan relay / fuse?

no smoke. also when i had the ac on and the temp was going up the ac was getting warm. would this be caused cuz of no turbo heat sheild?

No

Go check your fans to see if they are running - iirc they should kick on as soon as the AC compressor engages

My 02 was also overheating.... My radiator hose had been installed backwards and was the problem for me.

Is this not a powertrain warranty issue? If so your car is defintely under that warranty and use the dealer.

Also check if the thin pipe from the radiator to the overflow tank is broken - usually where it enters the overflow tank.

This may be the problem if you find that the radiator is losing water but the coolant overflow tank is full. Often causes intermittent overheating.

yep at 30k you should not have to play detective take it to teh dealer

my i had a crack in my radiator too a while back, the car never overheated. i knew there was something wrong cause i could smell the burning coolant. have you replaced any coolant hoses? the only time my car overheated was when the small hose going into the coolant overflow wasn't long enough and i was sucking in air. the odds are if you are overheating, your coolant is low and you have some air or the obvious leak. my .02

Is this not a powertrain warranty issue? If so your car is defintely under that warranty and use the dealer.


Only a powertrain issue if the water pump is leaking. If it is a radiator, hoses or fan, it is only covered under 3/36, which he is over by time.

first check your radiator but based on what you are saying i believe your cooling fans aren't cycling.

this morning when i stared my car and it didnt idle at 1500 rpm. it was weird it would go from 1200 rpm and move all the way to 2000 and then back to 1200 and it did that for a little while im getting really bugged out my car is acting strange. but when i floor it it still feels good .

so wait, the car is overheating but you haven't spent much time looking at it but you continue to drive the piss out of it? you are just asking to blow that thing up

this morning when i stared my car and it didnt idle at 1500 rpm. it was weird it would go from 1200 rpm and move all the way to 2000 and then back to 1200 and it did that for a little while im getting really bugged out my car is acting strange. but when i floor it it still feels good .

Add some more coolant.

you might have an air pocket in the coolant, that was my problem when i had my coolant flushed.

Took mine to the dealer $2000 for head gasket. took them 2 weeks and I paid $590 for rental car.

Drove home 30 miles away. After 20 miles EXACT thing happened.

Towed to dealer. spent a week on it doing block checks came back negative.Changed thermastat same prob. Btw: I flushed theradiater 3 times before I took it to the dealer.

Finally, They put on a new radiator cap and sent the radiator to a shop to have it cleaned. One of the 2 things fixed it. They didnt charge me anymore because I might have killed them LOL.

I paid $2,600 for a stopped up radiator because if it was the head gasket it wouldnt have done the SAME thing.

Top it off : I have an extended warrenty that says head gasket but because the dealer could provide no explanation of why it went bad, they did not pay.

Also, When I got the car home I checked and every c clamp on the engine was so loose you could spin them around with bare fingers. They also layed my cobb exhaust ON my intercooler and put a 2X1 inch gash in it that I tried to straighten with needlenose pliers. I know they did it because I went there to take pics for my lawsuit and I pulled the exhaust off of it.

My bottom line is that I now know that just because its the dealer it doesnt mean they know how to fix a wrx.

I would try a new cap( $5) at autozone or $30 at the dealer
Have a mechanic check it out without tearing it down and get the radiator vatted and a new thermostat. Dont let the dealer f you like they did me. Good Luck
With my Savings gone,SC

you might have an air pocket in the coolant, that was my problem when i had my coolant flushed.

I had an air pocket in the coolant in my old '91 Integra and it did exactly has stated above, idling roughly between 800 and 1500 RPM.

so how do you get rid of this air pocket? i'm somewhat running into the same problem... i have a feeling it's the thermostat bc my temperature seems to fluctuate and even drop below normal at times.. (p.s. just started happening yesterday)

sell it those cars are nothin but problems