this is the question i got from my local o'rielleys (sp?) store. they looked it up and couldn't find it for the fiero. so now what do i do? i know i need the non-vented one because a lot of you have told me that. also, since i'm going to be messing with my water system again, do i need to fill the overflow tank to the full level when burping the system, or whenever? that seems like it would have too much coolant in the system. i might have to let someone buy me a cap and send it to me.
Well...no radiator cap is "vented" but some have a little lever to release the pressure before removing the cap. You don't need this style. But, you do need a pressure cap (spring loaded) that will work with your overflow tank. Call a couple parts stores and get a part number for a Slant cap.
When burping your system, you need to add coolant to the thermostat housing in the rear (with the radiator cap off too). After it's all burped, you top off the radiator and add a little to the overflow tank.
vented caps say vented on them next to 16LBS use only nonvented most dont say nonvented just say 16LBS on cap. I couldnt find lever cap that was nonvented. but could be out there. any parts store will have nonvented G M cap. ray
The Stant book lists 10231 or 11231 cap for Fiero. The one you want is 10230 or 11230. Don't use LevRvent caps on Fiero. these often leak air into the system around the stem the vent lever connects to.
If you hold the 230 and 231 next to each other you'll see the dif right away. The check valve on 230 has a spring. 231's check vavle is loose. if you hold them seal side down the 231 valve will just hang there.
thanks for the info guys. theorge, i noticed that also and i pointed that out to the guy working at the time. when i went back he gave me another cap (10229) and the little disc thing springs back. the only difference in this cap is the psi. it's 13lbs on the one i got. is that too low? the vented one i had purchased before was 16. is this gonna make a big difference? i'll probably go back tomorrow, now that i have a part #.
well, the 13lb cap worked for a while. i drove around quite a bit yesterday afternoon, then again last night and it did fine. i had to stop for gas, and when i did i checked my coolant level. it was doing just fine. hadn't gone up any that i could tell. then i started it up, (huge cloud of smoke from my exhaust. it was a little cold, but it was ridiculous the amount of smoke) and i drove home. not even a mile home and the temp goes up really fast. all the way up to the red mark as i drove up the driveway and shut it off. checked the coolant level and sure enough it had gone up, a lot. didn't overflow though.
low lb cap cause this? could 3 more lbs really make that much of a difference? 16 lb cap what i need? i hope it isn't something really bad
Huge cloud of smoke is not a good sign. I would do a compression check to see if you possibly have a head gasket leak. Such a leak could introduce "air" into your cooling system and cause coolant to go into the overflow bottle.
[This message has been edited by Phil (edited 02-02-2001).]
The boiling point temperature varies by about 10 degrees F between 13 psi and 16 psi. The 13 psi cap will let the coolant boil thus overflow at a lower temp.
i knew it! it worked fine for a few days. today it blew. temp went up pretty fast and it overflowed. not very much cuz i got home before it got too bad.
I wouldn't drive the car anymore untill you do a compression check. Overheating can crack the head if it isn't cracked already. You're probably going to find low compression on one or more cylinders. If you end up changing the head gasket be sure to have the head dye checked for cracks before re-installation. I went through this same exercise when I bought my car year before last. Found three cracks around the valves. Mike
------------------ "The one who dies with the most toys wins!" bluewater46@hotmail.com 1986 coupe 1984 coupe
i sure hope i don't have a cracked head. i did do a compression check not too long ago with this same problem occuring, and it didn't check out too bad. there was probably about a 15-20 difference between all of them. i'm planning on doing a rebuild when it warms up enough for about a week. that doesn't happen very often around here, though. that's when i planned on checking for cracks or anything. and i'm planning on doing another compression check soon. thanks.