The exact same symptoms as me 🖐. It turned out to be a very small head gasket leak where boost / combustion gas was getting into the coolant and forcing it out the overflow. The leak was small enough that liquid wasn't getting into the motor. Oil was clean, and compression tests were good. A head gasket service solved my problem. -2016 STI stock power. Better to catch it like this early before you get the milkshake.
Running thru the same issue here as well. After one track, she didn't like being in boost anymore without pushing coolant to the reservoir. Now I have a motor ready to drop with with MLS and arp studs. Just too lazy to pull the one in the car out and swap. 😂
@nolanmarketti I sort of diagnosed the issue, and the shop agreed after some testing. I did have them do the service for me as it's well out of my comfort zone. If you're planning on DIY, make sure to send your heads to a machine shop to check for Square. One of my heads did need a pass or two to make the surface true again. I had the shop reassemble with ARP 11mm head studs as opposed to buying Subaru OEM head bolts. If you're planning on using OEM head bolts, you have to buy new ones as they are torque to yield and can not be reused. Good luck.
@@jacobbaker9389 great to hear! yeah i'm getting APR studs, new gasket. and likely while it's out doing some other things. I'll be doing it myself, not to save money, but to learn and make some videos about. I'll def have the heads checked.
I would check the radiator caps specially the circle one that’s on the radiator. That radiator cap is a dual valve it has two function the hold pressure and release pressure. I had the same issue a few months ago. once you replace it I would bleed the system again it’s take about 45 minutes with the heater all the way up. EJ motors are very difficult to bleed.
I tried multiple caps. Both brand new and swapped ones from my STi. The radiator one is single, not 2 way. The top one on the expansion tank is 2 way. No issues with any cap combination on my STi and issue always persists on the WRX. The top cap has a lower pressure than the radiator. It's job is to relieve pressure and as the system cools suck coolant back into the system. The radiator is just to maintain pressure and has a higher rating then the resiviour. It never comes into play. When I first swapped the radiator, I did learn this and I had the STi aftermarket 2-way on the radiator the whole time. Ironically, I never had an issue with it. But after learning I threw it away and got new ones.
Awesome content man! Mine is in the shop right now because of the same thing! I can’t figure out what is wrong it but I’m pretty sure it’s because the previous owner modded it without the proper tuning. looks like I should consider a rebuild too 😅
Did you finally discover what the issue was? In Smeedia's case, it was the water pump. The company 23 water pump was the culprit. He swapped to a brand new OEM STi water pump and this resolved his issue.
Not yet. It's been way to cold here to work/film in the garage haha. I have that video on my "watch later" list, I'll have to sit down and watch it tonight! The water pump was replaced not to long ago, I believe it was the Gates kit. I'll have to ask prev owner.
@@nolanmarketti Ok gotcha. The company 23 water pump that was causing Smeedia's overheating issue was brand new for the record. He said he's going to send it back to the company so they can test what was causing the issue.
@@nolanmarketti Yea with anything that mass produced like that, you will get some bad batches or maybe the water pump was compatible with the mods that were on the car? You know more about me with this stuff but Smeedia did say some stuff was deleted as far as coolant goes. One of the reasons I didn't really mod my Hyperblue STi...lol. I wouldn't have time to deal with random unknown issues. But the Hawkeye STi he bought wasn't in good shape to begin with from the previous owner so that's another thing.
O and forgot to say I went straight to eliminating the heater cause I live in Puerto Rico so its always warm but. If you want to keep the heater I don’t know if the solution for the problem if thats the case is to replace the coolant lines from the heater or the a/c and heater console.
@@Glimpsin Ahh yeah, anything below 205. Once it hits 205 fans should kick in an drop it fast. That happened on the track, we pushed so much coolant out there wasn't enough in the system so it spiked up to 235. Shut it off immediately. Once I add coolant back into the system though, it won't overheat no matter how long I drive it. That just happened because we were doing 20-minute track sessions WOT full boost, lmao.
By any chance did you check the coolant lines that run through the heater? I have a 2002 2.5rs and I had to eliminate the heater lines cause it was my reason for heating and coolant consumption. Once I deleted it the heating problem stopped. Obviously yours is way more modern and turbo so I don’t know but you could check before you do a whole mess and tear down the engine.
I looked around at all the lines, but I didn't delete anything. Some people mentioned a common air pocket so I did burp it slightly elevated once. In general, the car does not overheat when driving normally. It only happened on the track, full WOT/boost for 20 minutes, and too much coolant was pushed out of the system that it started overflowing out of the tank.
Stupid question, did you test your radiator cap? If its bypass pressure is wrong it will let the coolant boil. What temperature is you coolant at when it was bubling into the overflow? If it is bubling when you are parked your theory that the boost is lifting the heads is most likely wrong because that would cause a combustion gasses to move for only a short duration which should bleed by the time you park it.
I didn't test the caps, but: 1. I tried brand new OEM ones 2. I rotated those between my 2019 STi (they are all the same) So even after rotating them and trying different caps, the Issue persists on my WRX but with any of the caps my STi is fine. Starting/parked it will not really bubble. It only happens after I go out and do WOT pulls under boost. If I drive around casually, coolant doesn't get pushed and it doesn't bubble.
This is probably very unlikely headgaskets. You should really get combustion leak detector before pulling the engine on this. Definitely seems, by your symptoms, more likely a coolant flow issue than head gaskets.
When I bought the car, the car came with STi caps on the radiator (I never knew that was a thing at the time). When I swapped radiators, people mentioned this and I bought new OEM caps...and unfortunately the problem still persisted. Why these caps are still sold is beyond me. I watched several videos about this topic. Def a good thing to know to ONLY run OEM caps.
@@nolanmarketti Glad you learned about the caps. Did you have your heater turned on full blast when you bled the cooling system? There could be air trapped in the heater core. I'm not trying to be a know it all, I'm trying to help a fellow Subaru STI owner diagnose their issues. I hope you find a solution. I had to relocate my overflow tank and create my own custom lines. I also lowered my AOS to ensure it wasn't the highest point in the cooling system hiding air.
@@BushidoPhoto No offense taken, I appreciate all the suggestions from everyone! This has been a real annoyance. I did have heat running, I also tried burping once with the front end slightly elevated. Some folks mentioned on some forums that it is known to be difficult to burp these cars. I've burped it so many times honestly I'm sick of coolant at this point. I also used a funnel system. I considered the thermostat, but it seems to be opening fine and the lower hoses are hot after it reaches temps. I didn't even consider the idea of the AOS location. This car doesn't have it, but I'll def think about it because I have one ready to install on my 2019 STi.
I love WRXs for what they are, but I don't know why people keep buying them. Even if you do everything right maintenance wise, there is still a decent chance it ends up a paperweight. Too many cars out there for that kind of money to justify buying one of these outside of keeping it a bone stock babied daily.
I think these cars get a bad rap for the most part due to 1. Horrific Tuning 2. Modifying and Not Tuning (more common then one would think) In general, they aren't as bad as people make them out to be. In my case, I bought this car with full intention to pull the motor anyway and rebuild it, etc since it's not a daily for me. It's more of a learning car. So, in all fairness I did beat it all summer and it was a blast.
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Having the same issues tbh might test the coolant for gases or for oil 🫠
I tried this and it was negative 🫠
The exact same symptoms as me 🖐. It turned out to be a very small head gasket leak where boost / combustion gas was getting into the coolant and forcing it out the overflow. The leak was small enough that liquid wasn't getting into the motor. Oil was clean, and compression tests were good. A head gasket service solved my problem. -2016 STI stock power.
Better to catch it like this early before you get the milkshake.
Wow, that's even on stock power on a newer car. Wild.
Did you do it yourself or have a shop do it?
Running thru the same issue here as well. After one track, she didn't like being in boost anymore without pushing coolant to the reservoir. Now I have a motor ready to drop with with MLS and arp studs. Just too lazy to pull the one in the car out and swap. 😂
@@danphan586 yep! I’m getting everything organized to do that. New gasket, studs.
@nolanmarketti I sort of diagnosed the issue, and the shop agreed after some testing. I did have them do the service for me as it's well out of my comfort zone. If you're planning on DIY, make sure to send your heads to a machine shop to check for Square. One of my heads did need a pass or two to make the surface true again. I had the shop reassemble with ARP 11mm head studs as opposed to buying Subaru OEM head bolts. If you're planning on using OEM head bolts, you have to buy new ones as they are torque to yield and can not be reused.
Good luck.
@@jacobbaker9389 great to hear! yeah i'm getting APR studs, new gasket. and likely while it's out doing some other things. I'll be doing it myself, not to save money, but to learn and make some videos about.
I'll def have the heads checked.
I would check the radiator caps specially the circle one that’s on the radiator. That radiator cap is a dual valve it has two function the hold pressure and release pressure. I had the same issue a few months ago. once you replace it I would bleed the system again it’s take about 45 minutes with the heater all the way up. EJ motors are very difficult to bleed.
I tried multiple caps. Both brand new and swapped ones from my STi.
The radiator one is single, not 2 way. The top one on the expansion tank is 2 way.
No issues with any cap combination on my STi and issue always persists on the WRX.
The top cap has a lower pressure than the radiator. It's job is to relieve pressure and as the system cools suck coolant back into the system.
The radiator is just to maintain pressure and has a higher rating then the resiviour. It never comes into play.
When I first swapped the radiator, I did learn this and I had the STi aftermarket 2-way on the radiator the whole time. Ironically, I never had an issue with it. But after learning I threw it away and got new ones.
Might as well rebuild the internals if you’re doing the gasket and studs
Awesome content man!
Mine is in the shop right now because of the same thing!
I can’t figure out what is wrong it but I’m pretty sure it’s because the previous owner modded it without the proper tuning.
looks like I should consider a rebuild too 😅
Thanks for watching glad you enjoyed it!
What did the shop say?
Rebuilds are always fun 😂
Did you finally discover what the issue was? In Smeedia's case, it was the water pump. The company 23 water pump was the culprit. He swapped to a brand new OEM STi water pump and this resolved his issue.
Not yet. It's been way to cold here to work/film in the garage haha. I have that video on my "watch later" list, I'll have to sit down and watch it tonight!
The water pump was replaced not to long ago, I believe it was the Gates kit. I'll have to ask prev owner.
@@nolanmarketti Ok gotcha. The company 23 water pump that was causing Smeedia's overheating issue was brand new for the record. He said he's going to send it back to the company so they can test what was causing the issue.
@@jeremyjackson8643 That's wild. Considering it's company 23, I'd figure it would be pretty reputable. Maybe just a fluke in quality control?
@@nolanmarketti Yea with anything that mass produced like that, you will get some bad batches or maybe the water pump was compatible with the mods that were on the car? You know more about me with this stuff but Smeedia did say some stuff was deleted as far as coolant goes.
One of the reasons I didn't really mod my Hyperblue STi...lol. I wouldn't have time to deal with random unknown issues. But the Hawkeye STi he bought wasn't in good shape to begin with from the previous owner so that's another thing.
O and forgot to say I went straight to eliminating the heater cause I live in Puerto Rico so its always warm but. If you want to keep the heater I don’t know if the solution for the problem if thats the case is to replace the coolant lines from the heater or the
a/c and heater console.
Yeah, it gets really cold here in Michigan and I like heat, lmao. I wish I lived in a warmer place sometimes...
@@nolanmarketti dang thats bad 😂😂well look forward to the new content coming soon
Yoo, have the same car. What coolant range is best, or are you looking for?
Nice! I love the hatch model year.
When you say coolant range, do you mean temps or in the reservoir?
@@nolanmarketti Temps, I saw you hit 223 at one point. My range is like 179-203
@@Glimpsin Ahh yeah, anything below 205. Once it hits 205 fans should kick in an drop it fast.
That happened on the track, we pushed so much coolant out there wasn't enough in the system so it spiked up to 235. Shut it off immediately.
Once I add coolant back into the system though, it won't overheat no matter how long I drive it.
That just happened because we were doing 20-minute track sessions WOT full boost, lmao.
By any chance did you check the coolant lines that run through the heater? I have a 2002 2.5rs and I had to eliminate the heater lines cause it was my reason for heating and coolant consumption. Once I deleted it the heating problem stopped.
Obviously yours is way more modern and turbo so I don’t know but you could check before you do a whole mess and tear down the engine.
I looked around at all the lines, but I didn't delete anything. Some people mentioned a common air pocket so I did burp it slightly elevated once.
In general, the car does not overheat when driving normally. It only happened on the track, full WOT/boost for 20 minutes, and too much coolant was pushed out of the system that it started overflowing out of the tank.
Stupid question, did you bleed the system ? That happened to me when i didnt bleed the system properly.
Yeah, multiple times. At this point I hate coolant lmao.
Good troubleshooting brother. Subies forever.
Thanks for watching! I'm lookin' forward to pulling the engine out and taking it apart. Will be a fun learning process.
Stupid question, did you test your radiator cap? If its bypass pressure is wrong it will let the coolant boil. What temperature is you coolant at when it was bubling into the overflow? If it is bubling when you are parked your theory that the boost is lifting the heads is most likely wrong because that would cause a combustion gasses to move for only a short duration which should bleed by the time you park it.
I didn't test the caps, but:
1. I tried brand new OEM ones
2. I rotated those between my 2019 STi (they are all the same)
So even after rotating them and trying different caps, the Issue persists on my WRX but with any of the caps my STi is fine.
Starting/parked it will not really bubble. It only happens after I go out and do WOT pulls under boost.
If I drive around casually, coolant doesn't get pushed and it doesn't bubble.
Those radiator hose clamps are hot
I read this at a glance and was legit confused for a hot second.
#BaltzAutosports
radiator cap worn out releasing pressure to soon into the overflow?
Brand new caps. Rotated caps between my WRX and my STi.
STi has no issues with any cap combination, the WRX always persists.
😥
This is probably very unlikely headgaskets. You should really get combustion leak detector before pulling the engine on this. Definitely seems, by your symptoms, more likely a coolant flow issue than head gaskets.
I've combustion tested it multiple times. Comes back negative very time.
@@nolanmarketti im a master tech and work for a subaru parts company, if you want help troubleshooting, let me know
@subislow thanks man!
Working right now so its hard to hear do you have the cyl 4 cooling mod?
I don't have the CYL 4 mod on either of my cars.
Word just checking was gunna see if that was a possible suspect
gaskets ftw
I bet your problem was using the wrong radiator caps.
When I bought the car, the car came with STi caps on the radiator (I never knew that was a thing at the time).
When I swapped radiators, people mentioned this and I bought new OEM caps...and unfortunately the problem still persisted.
Why these caps are still sold is beyond me. I watched several videos about this topic.
Def a good thing to know to ONLY run OEM caps.
@@nolanmarketti Glad you learned about the caps. Did you have your heater turned on full blast when you bled the cooling system? There could be air trapped in the heater core. I'm not trying to be a know it all, I'm trying to help a fellow Subaru STI owner diagnose their issues. I hope you find a solution. I had to relocate my overflow tank and create my own custom lines. I also lowered my AOS to ensure it wasn't the highest point in the cooling system hiding air.
@@BushidoPhoto No offense taken, I appreciate all the suggestions from everyone! This has been a real annoyance.
I did have heat running, I also tried burping once with the front end slightly elevated. Some folks mentioned on some forums that it is known to be difficult to burp these cars. I've burped it so many times honestly I'm sick of coolant at this point. I also used a funnel system.
I considered the thermostat, but it seems to be opening fine and the lower hoses are hot after it reaches temps.
I didn't even consider the idea of the AOS location. This car doesn't have it, but I'll def think about it because I have one ready to install on my 2019 STi.
Just sell it
I love WRXs for what they are, but I don't know why people keep buying them. Even if you do everything right maintenance wise, there is still a decent chance it ends up a paperweight. Too many cars out there for that kind of money to justify buying one of these outside of keeping it a bone stock babied daily.
I think these cars get a bad rap for the most part due to
1. Horrific Tuning
2. Modifying and Not Tuning (more common then one would think)
In general, they aren't as bad as people make them out to be.
In my case, I bought this car with full intention to pull the motor anyway and rebuild it, etc since it's not a daily for me. It's more of a learning car. So, in all fairness I did beat it all summer and it was a blast.