Mazda 2 - Weird Issue with coolant

Hey Guys,

So my wife's car is Mazda 2, fun little thing, it's like go-kart. So about 2 months ago i take it out for drive. Once i get to my destination, I can smell the faint smell of burning coolant... so i pop the hood only to notice the reservoir was bone dry... so i pick up some coolant and top it up. fast forward to now. I have driven it a couple of times and did some much need maintenance on it. Iv been keeping a close eye on the coolant and does not appear to be leaking any where fast at least... but still after the car gets hot i still smell a bit of burning coolant and every time i look under the hood there nothing.. only symptom is the coolant reservoir lid is off... I'm starting to think something is causing a lot of pressure in the coolant system cause the lid to pop off. maybe the the thermostat is stuck... The car never shows its overheated warning light even after 40min drive through traffic... Anyone seen this before or have any idea what causing the lid to pop and that faint smell of coolant

 

Thinking the thermostat might be stuck was the first thing in mind. I have also seen this with a clogged heater core like 20 years ago on an Audi 5000. No visible leak but would be missing and then the smell. Pressure-tested it and the heater core exploded. Fun fact, whole dash removal to replace it, as well as all the wiring that was coated. Fun times. I thankfully did not need to do the core work, the owner of the shop did it.

 

Lol you just reminded me of back when i was 16 and got my first car 5 speed sunbird.... second time out I shifted so bad and shook and bunny hopped it so hard that it broke the fitting on heater core spraying all over my feet. replacement was not much better had to remove most of the dash...

 

My dad was an engineer for Peterbilt for a long time. After his heater core broke on his own car, and the dash was yanked, he had the Pete's core set up to be replaced a lot easier with a few minor changes to the design.

 

I think if my heater core went I would just remove it from the coolant loop and suck it up. Fuck that in a modern car.

Had the same problem with wife's mini I just took to topping it off every month never consumed enough to be worth my time tracking down a pinhole leak. Though it took coolant that was $30 a gallon.

 

Yeah here in FL, we use heat 3 months a year maybe. Would be like my old VW bus and bug heat is lol.

 

wait you had a bus? please tell me something catastophic happened to it and you didnt stupidly sell it
[doublepost=1463623829][/doublepost]wait you had a bus? please tell me something catastophic happened to it and you didnt stupidly sell it