sucks for me

[Grant]

Hope you didn't blow your head gasket...

[inhistoryclass]

So last night i was making a routine late night run to taco bell when i stopped to get some gas. When i opened the hood to top off the coolant resevoir, to my surprise i found the cap burnt on the headers.

Now im at ucsc, and they dont allow parking here on the weekdays. I need to get my car back to monterey which is a good 40 minutes away. Does anybody know of any alfa shops in the santa cruz area?

[Grant]

Wait, was just the cap damaged? Or are you afraid you overheated the car and blew the head gasket(s)?

[SamW]

Caps are hard to come by, seems you can't get them new, I have a few used ones if you need it.

[slyalfa]

you can drive it with the cap off as long as there is coolent in there. just take it easy.
I got a new cap not too long ago from centerline or IAP.

[bobsiopener]

Hi Slyalfa,
this goes against what I was tought. When the cap is in place isn't the system under pressure effectivly raising the boiling point of the coolant. If the cap is not presenant couldn't the coolant start to boil out?

[inhistoryclass]

hey everybody,
i found a local mechanic that works on alfa and had my resevoir and cap replaced this morning.

Im curious though, the car still puts out a little smoke when idling. Its seems to be coolant vapor? Another thing i noticed is that it eats coolant pretty fast. What can the problem be?

[bobsiopener]

there could be a crack in one of your coolant hoses. Thats the easiest problem to fix, so i'd check for that first.

[SamW]

Is it just on start up on cold days, or do you get the vapor even after it is warm on a warm day? Could be a failed/failing head gasket.

[slyalfa]

yes that is true. it will rase the boiling point. so will adding coolent.
and the system is set up for very hot out side under heavy load AC on etc. But if you take it easy and it is winter time it should be OK (try not to get in a traffic jam)
I have ran mine with it off with no problem even in the summer. and I bet his has been off for some time. but kepping a eye on the temp while driveing is good to do too.

[slyalfa]

when you checked the first time when you noticed the cap was off. was it low or out of coollent? has it been runing hot? are thet any drops on the floor? it is common with a bad head gaskit for it to blow air in to the system and the coolent will be pushed out the cap. I had this for a while and I had to fill each time I drove untill I pulled the head. The price I had for having a failing thermostat that was NLA.

look for leaks at the pump and the radiator and hoses. with a new cap you might have PSI in the system for the first time in a long time. So if there is a leak some where it might leak a lot more now under pressure.

[inhistoryclass]

OK, so...
I think its just a leak because theres no milkshake in the water and it seems to be consistently steaming from the back of the engine where the coolant once all drained out from.

On a side note, today my car felt sluggish and i noticed my oil pressure was a little off. Ill research it a little bit, but does anyone know what the ideal pressure should be? Like if im at idle and rev it to say 3k rpm?

-grant, i remember breifly meeting you at the school this year, although i was a little grumpy since my car wasnt running right. Hows it going?

[Grant]

How is your situation now?

I'm doing fine. I'm trying to get my car ready for the January T.T. Will you be there?

[inhistoryclass]

My cars much better now, it turned out to be a broken hose that was leaking coolant. go figure

I dont think ill be able to make it, i go to ucsc and it keeps me pretty busy.
If there are any track or driving events up in the bay area, i would probably go.

[Grant]

OK, I might be going to some auto crosses again soon. There aren't any real tracks in the bay besides Laguna, but it's quite pricey.

If you're up for a drive on highway 9 some time, let me know.