Redog

So I drive to my mom's house on Friday to change the oil and a few other things which didn't get done because it started to rain, err I mean POUR!!

I go in the hosue when I get there because this little kid that lives around there is a real PIA and he likes to climb around under the car, walk behind the car when your backing up (45* sloped down driveway, a 6 year old, and your back deck going up the hill you get the idea)

So I go in the house to wait him out, and when I come out a few minutes later, there is a nice little puddle of anti-freeze under the car around the area of the lower hose. So I'm looking at the hose and it's dry, but I notice a port up higher, which is capped but a rubber thing, is leaking becasue the cap is cracked.

The 1985 Delta I have looks like it's got an 86-90 Delta 88 Rad in it. The rad is smaller and has all the correct hose and tranny line points, including the "low coolant" sensor probe. The problem is this cap.

I don't want to replace the rad right now. I know it's going to crack sooner or later and will HAVE to be replaced. But it will do for now.

So what do I do about this cap thing? Put some RTV or silcone over the cracked part? Replace the car, but with what? I looked up the tube size and it's .63 inches which is about 5/8 inch. A vacuum cap probably wouldn't work because of the thinness of it. Home Depot? The rubber foot of a stool?

I know it's a weird one, but what do I do to hold up to the 15 psi of the cooling system? The Alero is parked for a few days becasue it keeps blowing out exhaust gaskets due to a stripped header bolt. Gotta call the mech about doing a heli-coil, but I personally will not be able to get the car there for about a week. I'm stuck on day shift this week

2blu442

Well... it would be ugly. But you could cut a short piece of hose and attach it to the port. Then thread a bolt in the other end and clamp it down with a worm drive clamp. That might hold. I've had a couple of these radiators but don't think I've got any of the caps laying around. Good Luck! John

svnt442

Try these. They are coolant bypass caps and should work just fine.

http://oreillyauto.com/site/c/detail...&keyword=02252

Redog

Thanks for the tip guys! I never seen anything like this before