Can I Pour Stop Leak into the Coolant Bottle?

!!!!WARNING WILL ROBINSON!!!! I worked on a vehicle where someone dumped some stop leak in the expansion bottle. That stop leak was able to close up a 1/2" hole but unfortunately that hole was the expansion bottle outlet pipe and hose. lol That vehicle overheated until things were unclogged and the leak elsewhere was repaired properly. ;-)

It might be best, in your case, to take off the radiator hose and dump that stuff directly into the radiator! Of course replacing the radiator is an option too!

JMHO

I was just about to say the same thing! yes, remove the hose and use that method, don't dump in the expansion tank...

Slight hi-jack, but does anyone know where to get a cap for one of those closed system bottles? Heat and age have taken a toll on mine but the bottle is still in good shape so all I need is a new cap.

All problems can be solved by the proper application of C-4.

:)

Dunno about your application but I found one of those old metal creamer bottle lids fit mine. Then again my system uses the older overflow bottle and a regular radiator cap.

Probably the dealership or the "help" section at autozone or similar parts store. Migth call NAPA, they carry a few various lids.

The best thing to do is put a new radiator in there. The stop-leak stuff isn't terribly good for the coolant system or for the heater core.

That's my plan and has been for 7-8 years but the damned copper OEM radiator just won't die!.

Those plastic bottles use a plastic cap that serves as the radiator cap as well with pressure regulation and backflow relief just like a normal radiator cap. After a while, the plastic shell starts to degrade and cracks. One fell completely apart on me. My fallback is fab a metal cap that will accept a standard radiator cap. After 22 years, you sometimes have to get creative with parts....

You can do what I did and ram a tree branch through it. :) Little bugger snuck up from under the bumper too.

Yea. I had a similar leak and tried epoxy and tapping the ears back down a bit. It held for about a month then sprung another leak.

Hwy Will, I googled "87 jeep overflow" and came up with a number of sites that have the whole tank. One I looked at was about $26.

K.

Thanks, Kate, but this is not an "overflow" bottle - it's a heavy poly tank (about a quarter inch thick in the body) that runs at full system pressure and temp. Besides, I'm downright cheap - really gripes me to just R&R parts that I don't really need ;-)

This has to be one of the worst design decisions ever made. Filling the system is a bear, burping it can be a challenge and a bubble in the wrong place causes an lockup that guarantees an overheat. In fact the "approved" method for filling the cooling system is to pull the temp sensor at the rear of the block to vent the air! PITA all the way around. I'll check your pointers but I've got two perfectly good spare bottles already - I just want a cap!

Haven't looked at many new cars lately, 'eh Bill? GM's been doing that for years on their cars.