I have an 85 gt with the 2.8, been working on it for awhile off and on. My daily driver broke down so I pulled out the fiero to go to the store. The temp gauge has not been fixed properly yet and when I turned the key on it promptly pegged and got stuck. After leaving the store I noticed it wasn't stuck anymore but was showing normal. I was about 4 miles from home. I looked back down and it had pegged while i was driving and I felt a thump under my left foot. I am thinking pressure going through the water tube from the radiator. I pulled over quickly and looked under car. nothing wrong. I jumped in car and headed home quickly and car started sputtering some but got home. I let it cool all day then checked the water level. Almost none. I filled it, burped it, drove it around the block, ran poorly like it is out of time. Next morning started it with water fill cap off engine and instantly water foamed out( i mean alot). Checked compression on every cylinder and all were 95 to 120. Broke a plug wire so got new ones and drove it and it just seems a little out of time so gonna check that. What bothers me is where did the water go with all the cylinders holding psi. That foam bothers me to. Is there another test I should do? My plan is to check the timing and flush the water system good and someone told me to seafoam. don't know about that. Thanks for any advice you can give.

quote Originally posted by sgosser: I have an 85 gt with the 2.8, been working on it for awhile off and on. My daily driver broke down so I pulled out the fiero to go to the store. The temp gauge has not been fixed properly yet and when I turned the key on it promptly pegged and got stuck. After leaving the store I noticed it wasn't stuck anymore but was showing normal. I was about 4 miles from home. I looked back down and it had pegged while i was driving and I felt a thump under my left foot. I am thinking pressure going through the water tube from the radiator. I pulled over quickly and looked under car. nothing wrong. I jumped in car and headed home quickly and car started sputtering some but got home. I let it cool all day then checked the water level. Almost none. I filled it, burped it, drove it around the block, ran poorly like it is out of time. Next morning started it with water fill cap off engine and instantly water foamed out( i mean alot). Checked compression on every cylinder and all were 95 to 120. Broke a plug wire so got new ones and drove it and it just seems a little out of time so gonna check that. What bothers me is where did the water go with all the cylinders holding psi. That foam bothers me to. Is there another test I should do? My plan is to check the timing and flush the water system good and someone told me to seafoam. don't know about that. Thanks for any advice you can give.

I am 99% sure that you blew a head gasket. Sorry. This happened to me several years ago. The gasket let out at the filler neck area. I could be wrong though? Hope so...

If I had a dollar for every time I lost coolant without any evidence of where it went.....well....I would be able to buy another gallon of coolant.

The thump you heard was an air pocket. I hope Tony is wrong too. Remember that a head gasket's job is to keep 4 things separate from each other. You have oil, coolant, compression chamber, and outside air. A blown head gasket can be between any combination of these. A compression check only checks the compression chamber. However....if the compression chamber is good, then it shouldn't affect the way the car runs (it would only cause leaks or mixture of fluids).

The foam in the coolant may or may not indicate a problem....remember that the impeller in the water pump will turn an air pocket into really tiny bubbles (essentially foam), so you may have just been seeing the side effects of an air pocket.

Seafoam? Can't help with that...I have never used it. That kind of treatment scares me. I have seen a lot of people that swear by it...and a lot that swear at it. Regardless...it is a cleaner, it will not help your current issue. Solve this before you consider it.

thanks for the replies. I forgot to say also that the oil is clean. no water.