I'd like to point out that there should be no steam coming out unless you have more then, uh, what is it, 14 pounds of pressure... (Might be something like 7) either way, that's bad.

Definitely man up on a new cap. they are only 5 bucks from napa. Direct like stock replacement.

I'm assuming you see steam coming out from around the radiator cap, right? because if it's somewhere else, we have a whole new issue.

With the T-stat out it will take much longer to bring the car up to temp to see if the problem is still there. FYI.

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Bad decisions make good stories.
Look at it! LOOK AT MY @SS AND TELL ME IT'S PRETTY!

no cap is not leaking or steaming. steam coming out of overflow reservoir. just cuz its very hot/boiling.

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From Brixton Prison, Jebb Avenue London S.W. 2 Inglan

is it steam or air bubbles because a head gasket is leaking?

If you have a cheap meat thermometer you can throw away, put it in the resevoir and see what the temp is...

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Confucius say "Man who run behind car get exhausted, man who run in front of car get tired." Unless we are talking about a 3S. Then it's obviously "man who run is going to get another beer!"

when I had only water, it would leak out. but now I have mix so it was just steaming from that hose that goes down from reservoir. I still didn't have chance to test it without thermostat.

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From Brixton Prison, Jebb Avenue London S.W. 2 Inglan

I'd just replace it instead of running without one. A new thermostat is about $5. Swap your tstat and your cap, refill and bleed the system, and go from there.

what is the min normal operating temp? I got only to 77 C so far. and should my oil cooler be hot like radiator?

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From Brixton Prison, Jebb Avenue London S.W. 2 Inglan

T stat should open somewhere around 80 C. (depending on which one you have ie:stock) When my car starts up it quickly heats up to 80, then hesitates for a while.

my fans kick in at 80.

by 105-110 C my oil pressure is dropping from the heat.

I've never felt my oil cooler, but I would think after running the car, it should be ever bit as warm as the coolant, as it is also retaining the heat of the combustion process.

_________________
Bad decisions make good stories.
Look at it! LOOK AT MY @SS AND TELL ME IT'S PRETTY!

Yeah, seeing as how oil temps are usually 10*C hotter than the coolant temp, oil cooler should be quite "warm".

ok, my coolant was almost 90 today. and I felt my oil cooler and it was "cold", I mean it felt almost like nothing was in it. and when my temps were getting up to 130-150 that thing was so hot I could not touch it for more than a sec. and my pressure was where it should be.

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From Brixton Prison, Jebb Avenue London S.W. 2 Inglan

What did you do so far?

Huh. If my car wasn't being tuned right now, I'd go and check it out for you to see if my oil cooler gets warm. Logic tells me that it would be...

That is really strange.

First off, these could be two very mutually exclusive problems both leading to the same outcome.

Your thermostat could have been not functioning correctly, which led to cooling problems that you see.

There is also a part right where your oil filter hooks onto that has a small bypass valve that opens up to let oil flow from the engine to the oil cooler. If that is not working, it could also be part of your cooling problem, but something that works off an entirely different failed part.

I would start with working out the coolant issue. Once you have that nailed down, then see if the oil cooler gets warm, because the by pass valve for the oil cooler won't open until it hits a certain temperature.

Just my 2 cents.

_________________
Bad decisions make good stories.
Look at it! LOOK AT MY @SS AND TELL ME IT'S PRETTY!

oh, so you're saying that oil is actually not going thru the oil cooler? cuz of low coolant temps (I don't think 80-90 is that low). my oil cooler was very hot till I took out that T-stat and that tells me that it was not working right. I just was not aware of oil not going thru oil cooler all the time. that explains why it not hot anymore.

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From Brixton Prison, Jebb Avenue London S.W. 2 Inglan

Oil does not go through the oil cooler at all times, no. The oil needs to hit a certain temperature before the valve opens. That way if you run your car in winter your oil doesn't take so long to reach optimal temperature.

_________________
Bad decisions make good stories.
Look at it! LOOK AT MY @SS AND TELL ME IT'S PRETTY!

ok, good. cuz I was worrying about my oil not being hot enough. but my oil pressure went up a bit.

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From Brixton Prison, Jebb Avenue London S.W. 2 Inglan