My Alfa had a big day today

"Akio Ohtori - RIP Oppo" (akioohtori) 02/22/2017 at 21:52 • Filed to: Alfa Romeo, Coolant Leak, overheat

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And I’d just washed it!

Yesterday on a drive I hit a HUGE dip in the road (what what his name har har) and then started to overheat. I figured I’d ruptured a line or something, as this car has been surprisingly reliable, but not so. Pop the hood and the overflow is spraying fluid like a scene from a movie. I didn’t think that happened IRL, but here we are. I limp home, eyes on the temp gauge as it creeps up to but never into the danger zone.

Turns out either I had a bunch of air in the system from an unknown source and the bump was a red herring or the bump knocked an air bubble loose. Something like that anyway.

Either way, in the process of bleeding the system I ruptured a hose. While I was replacing that, I figured I would add a bleeder port, as the one that normally would be on the throttle body has been bypassed. The bleeder worked great and the system finally seems to have expelled all the bubbles.

Quick fix and he is back on the road! I’d still like to figure out where the hell all that air came from. but that is a quest for another day.

aberson Bresident of the FullyAssed Committe > Akio Ohtori - RIP Oppo 02/22/2017 at 21:59

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hello there

Tazio, Count Fouroff > Akio Ohtori - RIP Oppo 02/22/2017 at 22:00

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Happy ending. Yay! :)

Akio Ohtori - RIP Oppo > aberson Bresident of the FullyAssed Committe 02/22/2017 at 22:03

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Series..... 2?

aberson Bresident of the FullyAssed Committe > Akio Ohtori - RIP Oppo 02/22/2017 at 22:08

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yep ‘76 with some minor mods.

Akio Ohtori - RIP Oppo > aberson Bresident of the FullyAssed Committe 02/22/2017 at 22:17

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Nice! (I think my Alfa Owner Points just went up haha) Mine is a ‘87 Series 3, bone stock except for (possibly?) the paint job.

Tazio, Count Fouroff > Akio Ohtori - RIP Oppo 02/22/2017 at 22:20

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Actually, kinda weird — saw escaping steam and rising temp. gauge on E36 this afternoon, opened hood, obvious coolant leak but not total coolant loss. Phoned an indie shop that happened to be down the block to ask if they could spot me some distilled water or coolant, hoping to make it home...

...when we looked the upper radiator hose had worked its way a bit loose. Kinda shoved it back on temporarily, topped up radiator and made it home.

True story. Full hose reinstall pending!

People say things happen in 3's but ime they happen in 2's lol

aberson Bresident of the FullyAssed Committe > Akio Ohtori - RIP Oppo 02/22/2017 at 22:32

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mine is carb’d and has koni sport shocks with the centerline yellow springs and some small odds and ends. I rebuilt the engine about 1500 miles ago. Next thing i’ll do is either seats or wider wheels.

JawzX2, Boost Addict. 1.6t, 2.7tt, 4.2t > aberson Bresident of the FullyAssed Committe 02/23/2017 at 09:24

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stop it you guys! Yer gonna make me buy another Alfa... I’ve been (semi-unhappily) Alfa-free for years, but the itch keeps growing.

CaptDale - is secretly British > JawzX2, Boost Addict. 1.6t, 2.7tt, 4.2t 02/23/2017 at 17:02

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RIGHT!? I don’t need that reliability issues right now.