Radiator Cap

UPDATE: July 2, 2007. The radiator fluid has stayed steady since we replaced the radiator cap. I am so grateful when small things like that take care of potential problems. It is not uncommon to see one or two cars every day on the side of the road with steam spewing from under the hood due to radiator problems.

Just a quickie. Dh is faithful at regularly checking the fluid levels in our primary vehicle. I am so thankful that he takes on this responsibility because without much concentration on my part I tend to forget all about it. He noticed a few days ago that we were needing just a little bit of water every day. Not much - just about one cup - but enough to indicate we were losing water somewhere. Not really any dripping or visible leaks that we could see, except alongside the top of the radiator near the cap. But dh had just put in another cup of antifreeze, so he thought maybe he spilled some. He also noticed the radiator cap didn't seem "right". The little flip up thing was pretty loose, instead of having a firm feeling to it.

Yesterday after I dropped him off at work I stopped by an auto parts store and picked up a new cap. I waited until after lunch to be sure everything was cool and went out and replaced the old cap with the new one.

So far no more water loss.

About two years ago our vehicle was running hot. The temperature indicator kept creeping up. I went by an auto repair shop and had them check it out. They changed out some part... some type of fan. And then they tried to persuade me that it was NORMAL for the temperature to run hot. I had been driving this vehicle for two or three years by this time and the temperature gauge always stayed steadily at just a hair under the half mark. Now it was creeping up closer and closer to the HOT indicator. Finally, if I remember correctly, we were hauling a refrigerator home, using our trailer. And the poor radiator blew. About 15 miles from home. We called the automotive service and had to leave the trailer parked with the fridge, have our vehicle hauled home and come back with the big truck to pull the trailer home.

We took the radiator in to a shop in the town nearby where we live. As it turns out, the radiator was almost totally clogged and THAT is the reason why the temperature indicator was showing the engine was so hot.

I have never gone back to that auto repair shop since. I think that is faulty service on their part. It makes you wonder if they were trying to persuade me to just ignore it and hope something worse would happen since the engine was being run at such an extreme temperature. Of course this was during the hottest part of the summer.

Until next time.