Overheating sti

Sti.ubie

New member
Hi guys, so I came across an issue yesterday on my 2016 wrx sti with 26k miles. I noticed my temp gauge was at 3/4 of the way while driving, when I stopped the gauge went down one small bar above normal temps, i turned the car off to let it cool down a bit. After 10 minutes I started her up and hit the road once again, after I got home, I started backing up into my garage and it started to overheat again slightly lower than 3/4 of the way. I turned off the car and checked for coolant leaks or ruptured hoses and found nothing. When I was going to check the coolant level I noticed that I?m missing the whole overflow tank? From my understanding I know that the overflow tank is only used to store excess coolant from the system, so I?m not convinced that it?s the cause of the overheat. I ended up trying to add some coolant from the top cap, but it wasn?t even low, I checked to see if the thermostat might be bad but it seems to be working properly. I also checked to see if I might be low on oil but Im also good on that. Any help would be appreciated since this is my first Subaru and I only have about 6 days with the car. Thank you!
 

Sti.ubie

New member
Okay so I noticed that only the driver side radiator fan is turning on, it seems like the passenger side fan was spliced by the previous owner? It has an exposed wire sticking out of the plug, and I did have my A/C on while driving when it started to overheat but even when I turned it off I stayed above middle temp.
 

Eagleye

Tinkerer
A few things. Check the coolant with the car cold and make sure it?s at or just above the min fill line. Keep the cap off briefly when you start it up to let any air bubbles out of the system. Get yourself an overflow reservoir, they are cheap.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/15-19-SUBA...-TANK-OEM-BOTTLE-STOCK-16-17-18-/264569239569

Get the fan fixed for sure. Sounds like it may have either had a front end collision/hit a deer/etc. or some aftermarket parts were removed before trading/selling.

A friend of mine had a switch go bad for his fans so I made home a jumper so that they were always on until he could get it fixed. So make sure they come on when needed and stay on.
 

Sti.ubie

New member
Yeah that?s what it seems like since it is a rebuilt title, & Okay thanks a lot for the recommendations, I bought the overflow tank I?ll be getting it by tomorrow as for the fan im going to look into it see if I can get it to start when the other one turns on, and I?m going to add some more coolant if needed and let some air out the system. Thanks once again!
 
Top