Today when I opened the hood up to drain my coolant (changing to Water Wetter) I noticed that both the upper and lower radiator hoses were almost collapsed completely. The car was cold, but I thought the radiator cap was supposed to prevent this. Am I off here?

 

That's a known issue. A TSB was also released regarding that. Visit your nearest dealer and tell them. They will change your radiator cap on the spot, or order it if they don't have any in stock. I got mine changed a few weeks ago for the same reason.

 

when my car is cold, my upper radiactor hose looks liek it is collapsed too but when the motor warms up it "inflates" and is fine. jsut looks like its messed up.

 

From what my dealer told me, that's exacly the purpose of the radiator cap. To let air in when the engine gets colder. The problem you guys have is that the valve inside the cap is stuck to the rubber. Wait till your engine is cold, take out the cap and see if you can pull the metal apart from the rubber. If you can't, there's your problem.

 

ok ill try that, thanks

 

Thats a trip I have had the same problem I didn't think anything of it though.. I noticed the problem quite some time ago since I put it on the back burner is there any permanate damage I should worry about???

 

I asked my dealer the same thing, but they told me not to worry. But just get it fixed as soon as you can to make sure.

 

Christ I went to the dealer months ago and they said Im the first person they have ever seen or heard of with this problem and there was no service bulliten (this was in feburary) so I ordered a new cap and its cool now.

I think there is potential for permanent damage in that the radiator hoses get WAY more exercise than they should if they are getting sucked flat everyday and most people know what happens with weak hoses, they blow 200 miles into a 500 mile trip and you are S.O.L.

 

I just bought a new cap today and maybe this problem wasn't odd in the first place!?!

 

Just upgrade! I know Ralliart and Greddy both make radiator caps that raise the pressure to 1.3 BAR to keep the engine cooler.

 

how does it do that?

and where could i get a ralliart one? is this jsut a knockoff or what? http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eB...category=33602

 

i'm pretty sure the caps from ebay are knockoffs. i know that optionsautosalon sells genuine ralliart, and greddy if your looking for that. i was actually thinking of picking up a greddy cap.

 

ok thanks .L..

does it reall matter if its a knockoff, will it still fulfil its function?

 

If this many of us are having problems with a factory cap I'd hate to see the quality control standards on a knock-off one. I wouldn't bother anyway, why do you want to run hotter anyway?

 

^ Problaby better then the Mitsu one.

This repair should be done before the winter. You wouldnt want your hoses to freeze that way.