Hole in coolant reservoir bottle

pudzey101

Hi while filling my partners car with coolant today I noticed it leaked out immediately. I removed the reservoir bottle and noticed a big hole near the end of it . Like in pic below.

How or what way could I go about fixing this until I can source a new one ??

Tia.

zilog_jones

Some sort of epoxy maybe? Would have to be able to withstand high temperatures (100°C or so) though.

Edit: Probably won't actually work, I forgot about the pressure and other factors.

kirving

You could get a pipe repair patch, or piece of rubber, and then duct tape or cable tie the absolute crap out of it.

I'd be more concerned as to how it was caused? It it touching against something hot?

biko

Fixed your broken tags


You can't really fix it. The heat and pressure will be too high for anything you try.
That said, some lint free microfiber towel pressed up against it and then lots of duct tape might hold it for a while.

pudzey101

Thanks everyone , will try woodies for some high temp epoxy. Waiting on a few places on prices for second hand ones. Id like to know how it happened too as its the partners car I have no idea . Was only checking and topping up fluids today and noticed

tphase

Try gorilla tape. If you clean up the ragged edges, you might be able to get a layer inside, then put another outside and reinforce it by wrapping tape all the way around a few times. It will be under a bit of pressure so that might not hold
A plastic weld might hold but that would be awkward to do

It's almost certainly made high density polyethylene, epoxies and glues will not adhere to it very well, if at all

zg3409

Most motor dealers are open and most motor factors. I recommend trying to get the part number for the replacement part. You could have the new part by Monday and just swap it out. Even a scrap yard might give you something that might be close enough for half nothing.
There may be a part number written on the bottle

Unless you really need the car in the next 3 days...

If you posted here the year, make model, engine size and fuel and a good photo of actual bottle then someone could guide you.

pudzey101

tphase wrote: »

Try gorilla tape. If you clean up the ragged edges, you might be able to get a layer inside, then put another outside and reinforce it by wrapping tape all the way around a few times. It will be under a bit of pressure so that might not hold
A plastic weld might hold but that would be awkward to do

It's almost certainly made high density polyethylene, epoxies and glues will not adhere to it very well, if at all

Ya I might that a go first i have that in the house , failing that I'll try epoxy. The hole is at the bottom and not the top like in picture . My brother said cut a milk carton and gorilla glue the **** out of it :pac:

pudzey101

zg3409 wrote: »

Most motor dealers are open and most motor factors. I recommend trying to get the part number for the replacement part. You could have the new part by Monday and just swap it out. Even a scrap yard might give you something that might be close enough for half nothing.
There may be a part number written on the bottle

Unless you really need the car in the next 3 days...

If you posted here the year, make model, engine size and fuel and a good photo of actual bottle then someone could guide you.

What worries me is she has being driving the car alot since I checked oil and fluids last month . So will park it up till sorted

tphase

pudzey101 wrote: »

Ya I might that a go first i have that in the house , failing that I'll try epoxy. The hole is at the bottom and not the top like in picture . My brother said cut a milk carton and gorilla glue the **** out of it :pac:

or milk carton and melt it together if you can - I've done it with a soldering iron but not a job as awkward as that

kirving

The issue I'd see with an epoxy type repair is the adhesion to plastic, and then it's quite inflexible.

It would help to rough up the surface with sandpaper, and a specific plastic glue (that melts the plastic to some extent) may be better.

Any time I've ordered part from a dealer, I've been pleasantly surprised by how quickly they're delivered - the logistics going on in the background really is impressive so try a motor factor or any brand dealer who could order it from the same source (if no local motorfactor is open).

Mad_Mike

Very hard to tell from photo, but that almost looks like a belt or something was rubbing off it, although I'm sure it's just the way the bottle burst or melted
What type of car is it?

pudzey101

Mad_Mike wrote: »

Very hard to tell from photo, but that almost looks like a belt or something was rubbing off it, although I'm sure it's just the way the bottle burst or melted
What type of car is it?

The photo is only from google I didnt get a chance to take a picture of it . It's a 08 Lancer. Looks like a previous mechanic forced it onto the holder/slider is connects to

biko

pudzey101 wrote: »

The photo is only from google

Please update the OP with that info - I also thought the pic was from you.
Or even remove the pic altogether.

colm_mcm

Just buy one.

Kenny Logins

pudzey101 wrote: »

The photo is only from google I didnt get a chance to take a picture of it . It's a 08 Lancer. Looks like a previous mechanic forced it onto the holder/slider is connects to

:D:D

macplaxton

It's probably HDPE, look for a triangle on it to ID the plastic it's made from. If it's HDPE it'll have a number 2 in it.

HDPE can be welded, the trick being to get the plastic flowing without burning it. Also you may need some filler HDPE material to fill any split/void and some way of pressure testing it afterwards to see if the repair is any good.

All which leads to the simpler answer of "just get another one"

Renno123

ring around some motor factors. they should have them in stock or source one for you. does it look like it has cracked or melted?

kirving

pudzey101 wrote: »

The photo is only from google I didnt get a chance to take a picture of it . It's a 08 Lancer. Looks like a previous mechanic forced it onto the holder/slider is connects to

Re-reading your OP, it does say "like in pic below", but the picture being from an entirely different car is incredibly misleading.

The advice to fix a crack would be totally different to advice to fix a melted hole.

Mad_Mike

Kevin Irving wrote: »

Re-reading your OP, it does say "like in pic below", but the picture being from an entirely different car is incredibly misleading....

If you look under the OP, you will see that the moderator altered the message. I'm assuming it was him who entered the "like" into the description, but yes, we are all giving advice based on a photo of a totally different hole in a different coolant bottle

biko

Nope, I just fixed the image tags that were broken

pudzey101

Sorry guys I was just looking for a quick fix until I can sort a new/second hand one. Second hand one will be shipped tomorrow. The cause looks to be it was forced back into its sitting place and broke

mgbgt1978

Renno123 wrote: »

ring around some motor factors. they should have them in stock or source one for you. does it look like it has cracked or melted?

Good luck with any Motor Factors stocking an Expansion Bottle for any Car.



As for a 2008 Mitsubishi Lancer, even the Main Dealers wouldn't carry one.