Over heating

2005 SUBARU OUTBACK
173,047 MILES • 3.0L • 6 CYL • AWD • AUTOMATIC
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TSAR141
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My car keeps overheating. the car only overheats in idle if I am going fifty miles an hour or more such as traveling on the highway the needle goes back down to the middle. If I am idle and the needle on the gauge starts to rise up to the red and I accelerate to 5000 rpm's the needle on the gauge goes back to the middle. Additionally, when I have the air conditioner on and the needle rises towards the red area got air blows out the vents.
Jul 16, 2016 at 4:13 PM
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SATURNTECH9
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Is the radiator fan working correctly?
Jul 16, 2016 at 6:55 PM
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TSAR141
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Greetings, thank you for your responce and the fan is working correctly.
Jul 16, 2016 at 9:01 PM
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SATURNTECH9
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Sure sounds like it is not if it overheats at idle, but not while driving down the road. If the thermostat was not working right it would overheat while driving down the road also. So at what temperature or where on the gauge does the fan turn on at?
Jul 16, 2016 at 9:33 PM
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TSAR141
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Good morning, I turned on the car and immediately the fans turned on, the fans never turned off and it took 23 minutes before the needle started to rise towards the red zone.
Jul 19, 2016 at 6:09 AM
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SATURNTECH9
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So the AC was off when this happened?If so sounds like the fans aren't working like they should.
Jul 19, 2016 at 10:16 AM
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SATURNTECH9
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Was the temp gauge reading all the way cold when you started it?
Jul 19, 2016 at 10:21 AM
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TSAR141
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...Yes the temp reading when I first started the car was in cold then it went to the middle after about 3 mins then the gauge needle slowly started rising towards the red area.
Jul 21, 2016 at 9:28 AM
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RIVERMIKERAT
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Do you have access to a cooling system thermometer?
Jul 21, 2016 at 10:53 AM
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SATURNTECH9
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The radiator fan comes on with a cold engine a thermometer isn't going to help much with that.Have you had it scanned for codes yet?There may be a bad coolant temp sensor.
Jul 21, 2016 at 12:45 PM