Fiero spitting out COOLANT

Hello,

I was driving my Fiero two days ago, and I actually dipped into the 4 rpm (fast acceleration) and my car is the 1986 4 cyl version. It was overheating, I pulled over and when I opened the hood of the car I could see the coolant spraying out of the coolant cap. I fortunately pulled over near a mechanic shop, and with just the visual inspection the mechanic concluded that nothing was damaged with the coolant, and all the coolant leak was from the coolant cap. When I opened the hood I observed the coolant was at maximum level, but by the time the mechanic came it was below low. Anyways, I topped off with the coolant I bought from the mechanic, and it was good to go.

Now, today, I was driving on the North Shore hill, stuck in traffic, and my car strangely was overheating AGAIN. I could hear sounds from the front of the car that sounded like "WHIR WHIR WHIR", and I could instantaneously feel it was coolant related. I pulled over once again and I noticed that the coolant was dripping from the cap, and the coolant level was at maximum, and by waiting 10 mins more the coolant was gone to below minimum.

Can anyone give me a rough or even a vague idea of why this is happening? I always check my engine oil and coolant level on a regular basis, and I know no coolant pipe has broke! 

I am sorry if I am burden to this forum with such silly Fiero questions!!! Thanks in ADVANCE!

I don't know what kind of fan I have.

If my fan has the heat switch I would best check it out by
turning on my car's A/C!

"http://www.calgaryfieros.com/OSGdocs/coolant-fan.html"

But how would I check my fan performance if it is the
electric one?

Thank you!

Hello,

Thanks for your responses! So, I turned on the air
condition for my car for maximum heat, and my fan was
working! So I can acknowledge the fan works!

Should I get this part then
(http://rodneydickman.com/catalog/product_info.php?
cPath=21&products_id=235)? It says its for 84-86 L4 Fiero
but I have no idea what L4 means...

What you need to do is let the car idle in the driveway with the front hood open.  Watch the heat gauge as it goes up and up.  Listen for the fan coming on or keep an eye out for it.  Make note when it happens.

Make sure your air conditioning is off.  We want it to come on because the car is getting too hot not because the air conditioning is on.

The Dickman lower temp switch usually ends up masking the real problem and making your car run way too cold.  This will give you bad gas mileage and will eventually start overheating later once the real problem gets bad enough.

If your fan ends up coming on at the right time then you might just need to "burp" the coolant system.

The Dawg

Dawg wrote: The Dickman lower temp switch usually ends up masking the real problem and making your car run way too cold.  This will give you bad gas mileage and will eventually start overheating later once the real problem gets bad enough.

Yes, I agree, it's not necessarily the way to solve a problem with your cooling system. As for the downsides, in my duke at least, the car runs at the same temperature as always and my gas mileage is the same as far as I can tell (I check every tank). Do the V6's need to run warmer or is it possible my car has always run a bit too cold?

Capt Fiero wrote: On the V6 I recommend running the stock fan switch and a 180 thermostat.

Funny, on my '86 GT (automatic), after many different combinations tried, I decided on the exact opposite. I settled for Dickman's 210° on and 200° off fan switch and the factory 195° thermostat. Overheating was never a problem with this thermostat/fan switch pairing. I now have the same combination with my '84 duke and it works great.

 

I have the same problem with my 87/stock 2.8.could be a Vaccume leek or water pump isnt moveing coolant quickly vary fast,if i rev it up a bit,over 2000 it cools off real quick.the Eng temp moves to fast,up an down,poor flow,over volume.so i found this an thinking of giving it a try.

Does a 1984 Fiero have a thermostat? I can't find it, and
it seems to me that online part store sells thermostats for
Fiero from 1985 and above.

Patrick, could my Fiero be spitting out coolant because I
don't have this part?

No, I haven't. I was about do it right now, until I
realized I didn't have a thermostat. Can I go on with the
procedure of burping the coolant system and just ignore the
directions in regards to the thermostat etc.