I seem to have gotten through my drive belt falling off and the car overheating with relatively few complications. The crankcase breather melted and the cooling system sprang a couple leaks. The former was quickly remedied, but the latter concerns me a bit.

There are two leaks, one on the bottom of the radiator on the driver's side and another from the thermostat housing cap. The leak from the radiator isn't even a trickle, but leak by the thermostat appears fairly serious. Every time the car gets hot, it leaks coolant all over the transaxle. Though not enough that it's left a puddle anywhere.

I assume I just need to replace the cap, but I thought I might need to replace the thermostat while I'm in there as well. And to my knowledge, such a project also requires the coolant system to be bled or flushed out, correct?

You need to buy a new cap. There is no need to bleed or refill coolant, as this is the top of the system. This is just a cap, not to be confused with the radiator cap. You need to buy a new cap at the store (cap where the thermostat goes) and then clean up the sealing surface as it may be rusty. You could install a new 195F thermostat while you are there.
Replace cap when engine is cool.

Make sure the cap is on properly. There is a first "latch", then a final one. The first latch loosen the cap, but doesn't allow it to fly off if someone turned it while under pressure.

[This message has been edited by jaskispyder (edited 08-06-2014).]

quote Originally posted by jaskispyder: You need to buy a new cap. There is no need to bleed or refill coolant, as this is the top of the system. This is just a cap, not to be confused with the radiator cap. You need to buy a new cap at the store (cap where the thermostat goes) and then clean up the sealing surface as it may be rusty. You could install a new 195F thermostat while you are there. Replace cap when engine is cool.

Okay, good to know.

I have a good understand of how the drivetrain works as a whole, but I'm still learning the details. What would be the benefit of a new 195F thermostat?

quote Originally posted by PurpleGryphon: Never mind, I got on Ogre's Cave and read up on the thermostats. As I understand it, 195F is the stock grade.

Yup, run this for now, as this is stock. A Fiero shouldn't overheat with this thermostat. If it does, then you have other issues.

quote Originally posted by jaskispyder: Yup, run this for now, as this is stock. A Fiero shouldn't overheat with this thermostat. If it does, then you have other issues.

Good to know.

The pressure helps keeps the boiling point up. A slow leak may lower the boiling point of the fluid causing it to get too hot. I would look at replacing the radiator soon too.

[This message has been edited by 2.5 (edited 08-06-2014).]

quote Originally posted by 2.5: The pressure helps keeps the boiling point up. A slow leak may lower the boiling point of the fluid causing it to get too hot. I would look at replacing the radiator soon too.

I've done extensive amounts of driving since the radiator sprang a leak, and it runs normally. I do plan to replace it eventually, but I don't have the money to replace it and do the brakes (as mentioned in my other thread from today). So I'll replace the thermostat housing cap to stop the main leak and get the brakes done and start looking for a new radiator for when I have the money.