Can the coolant reservoir cap be removed at normal operating temperature? Can pressure be released before the cap blows out?

Thanks!

 

No it can not be removed when hot. Hot coolant everywhere. Even attempting to slowly back the cap off is likely to end in disaster.

 

Nuts. I'm on the road. "Low Coolant" lite going on and off. How long does the engine take to cool? 15 minutes?

 

If the indicator is ON & OFF, I would say that it NOT that low. The reservoir is fairly TINY anyway.

If it STAYS ON......... That's bad.

bob gauff

 

Thanks Bob. Copy all. Yeh - I understand about the res size. It's been on and off for 120 miles! Mostly on now. In 5 minutes she'll have been cooling for half an hour, and I'll try the cap. Pretty sure she could use a drink. If there "is" a slight leak, that should have helped depressurize the system.
Wish me luck!

 

Hmmm..... No pressure at all. Took almost a quart of water with the engine running. And I keep looking at that plug on the super charger, which is higher than the res. Oh well, ... Off we go!

 

Time for a pressure check, That much fluid loss in that period indicates a fair amount of leakage, hard to say since it was off when you started ? then began to toggle, then on. Also it will show low coolant (this varies on age of tank/senor) with about 1-2 cups (8-16 oz) a QT is 32.

 

Ahhh, .... it seems that the water pump has decided to cry for attention. I found the area just below and behind the pulley to be a little wet. And of course the rest of car is humiliated by the little piddle that has begun to appear under the front end, and the belt squeal that just started THIS morning (sigh).

Time for some research a/o another thread.

Thanks guys - you're great!

 

+1. I had a radiator neck fail on a car once and when I popped the hood to see where the issue was, it was worse than the stream indicated and I got burns on my right arm. They took a month to heal and I have some scarring from it, about 6 square inches of scarring.

Do not fiddle with the cap when the system is pressurised. I wouldn't touch the cap unless the car has been off for a few hours and the temp indicator is at the dead bottom. But then again I have a decent sized reminder to be careful on my forearm.