[mroregon503]

Hello, I've got a 2004 Forester X.

I've noticed that while the car is idling, at a light or whatnot, the heat goes cold. When the car is put back under load, the heat cranks back up. Seems like a water pump issue? Any ideas?

 

[rockyobs]

Somebody called in with an issue like that on a recent episode of Car Talk. I think the suggestions included checking your coolant level and checking for air in the coolant lines. This was for a different vehicle, though.

 

[funkymonkey1002]

Does the temp gauge fluctuate at all? Does it ever overheat?

 

[mroregon503]

Yeah I'm currently having issues with loss of coolant. The gauge has shown overheating twice in almost a year, and both times the coolant was low. The engine didn't seem very hot though.... The leak seems to be small.

 

[BlueBrick]

Have the head gaskets been checked? Mine had a small leak on the left side and would drip onto the exaust, causing a sweet smell to enter the cabin through the fresh air intake vents. I was aware of the leaking HG and kept a close watch on the coolant level.

 

[jgrote]

Move to FL.:biggrin:

 

[mroregon503]

Looks like I have a small leak where the water pump gasket is located. I need to replace the timing belt, might sequence those together....

 

[toddlamp]

Had the same problem with my WRX. Turned out there was a pinhole leak in the radiator and I was losing coolant. When I was at idle there wasn't enough coolant in the heating core. When at speed (i'm assuming here) the water pump was going faster and that had something to do with the heat coming back.

 

[sean85]

Looks like I have a small leak where the water pump gasket is located. I need to replace the timing belt, might sequence those together....

Good idea

 

[jgrote]

Hooray if it's not headgaskets. Hope you're lucky enough just to need a water pump.