Bad radiator cap symptoms....Anyone else experienced this?

**Lburou** · 12-28-2006, 01:12 PM

2005 Magnum SXT, 36,400 miles. Has been trouble free. Suddenly started steaming the driver's side of windshield and boiling in the overflow.

This won't be interesting to well qualified technicians.

It looked like a seriously bad head gasket leak at first....But the boiling continued for several minutes after engine shutdown (not a headgasket). Infra red thermometer readings showed the top radiator hose 198F and the bottom hose was 98F. Temperature gauge was two needle widths left of half way and stable.

We stopped by our trusted master mechanic and he suggested a new radiator cap! He theorized that the thermostat was not opening because it was probably not submersed in coolant.

We let it cool down and added five quarts of coolant, bled the system of air and all seems well.

All fluid levels were normal prior to leaving on an 800 mile trip....Happened very rapidly after arrival. A simple defect causing serious potential problems. Keep an eye out for a problem with your radiator caps.

**Peybella** · 12-28-2006, 05:25 PM

Just had a cap go bad on me. It didn't get as serious as mentioned but a leak none the less. For those of you who have this problem, it should be covered under warranty. If not then the cap is about 30 bucks from the dealer. Just don't let them put it on as they will (or did try to) charge me 50 bucks to put on a simple radiator cap. I pitched a fit of course and all turned out OK but the fact that I had to go through that was a big downer and another example of dealer customer service.

**1fastsedan** · 12-28-2006, 05:56 PM

Originally Posted by Peybella

Just had a cap go bad on me. It didn't get as serious as mentioned but a leak none the less. For those of you who have this problem, it should be covered under warranty. If not then the cap is about 30 bucks from the dealer. Just don't let them put it on as they will (or did try to) charge me 50 bucks to put on a simple radiator cap. I pitched a fit of course and all turned out OK but the fact that I had to go through that was a big downer and another example of dealer customer service.

Thanks for the heads up on leaking radiator caps.

As for the service costs, I wonder if my dad ever knew what "Righty tighty, lefty loosey" was really worth...

**Peybella** · 12-28-2006, 10:37 PM

No kidding. Hind sight is 20/20 and I sure would have went another direction if I had only seen the light. The sad thing is that a lot of folks will just pay the money and not think about what it takes to put on a radiator cap, change the oil, etc. I truly don't think I could sleep at night and will just stay doing what I'm doing.

I guess I shouldn't have generalized the dealers but the experience was not pleasant. They actually showed me the bill that was a $50.00 min. service charge and the time was .17 hours. (OMG) It took more time and money to fill out the service form than to put the cap on. What I finally had to do is tell them to send the cap back and threaten to go to another dealer, order the cap under warranty and put it on myself. They finally got the message and gave me the lousy cap at no charge.

Live and learn. It's kind of funny now that it's over but I did tell the dealer that I would share my story with my fellow LX owners. lol They actually wanted me to fill out a satisfaction survey.