cracked coolant bottle. will this work?

at the moment i have a cracked coolant bottle on my 89 xj and when the jeep is running you have that wonderful sound of air escaping from it.if i were to do this http://www.madxj.com/MADXJ/technical/technicalfiles/JTopenSystemSwitch/OpenSystemSwitch.htm
would i still need that plastic coolant bottle? or can i eliminate it completly?
i did do some reading thats how i found this link but i wasnt exactly clear on what to do with the coolant bottle afterwards when you do a closed to open cooling system. also i didnt replace the radiator or water pump or any of that.any help would be greatly appreciated

You replace the sorry OEM pressure bottle with that $15 catch tank... run a piece of hose from the overflow on the neck to the bottom of the tank (with the valve open) and another piece of hose off the top and down & out.

When the coolant expands, itll flow up into the jug, then as it cools, it returns to the system.

I got my tank from Summit, the one in the link is from Jegs... same idea though.

nice so for the cost of replacing the tank new i can have an open collant system and get rid of that stupi OEM bottle nice lol

jeepster89 said:

nice so for the cost of replacing the tank new i can have an open collant system and get rid of that stupi OEM bottle nice lol

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Not sure this is actually the case. As I read woody's post above, he means that the Jegs replacement coolant bottle can be used instead of the OEM one. This doesn't convert you to an open system; it just swaps out the coolant bottle for something less likely to break over time.

well the link i included in my first post lets you make it into a open system with a cap over flow container and a HCV.

jeepster89 said:

well the link i included in my first post lets you make it into a open system with a cap over flow container and a HCV.

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That's correct. And in Woody's post, he more or less explained how to simply replace the coolant bottle using the more-durable Jeg's part. Sure, this doesn't convert you to an open system, but if the closed system is cooling properly apart from the bottle, this is the a) cheapest and b) easiest route to take. From your reply to him, it wasn't clear which method you were referring to.

Also, to answer one of your questions: even with an open system, you'll need an overflow bottle. Just use the OEM open-system type and you should be fine; they tend not to fail as regularly as the closed-system bottles.

No I WAS talking about the open conversion... I used a new radiator along with the 91+ heater control valve and the summit overflow tank...

His link shows the splice-in cap/neck... same end results...different method (I needed a radiator so I got an open one)

ok thanks for the replies and sorry for the cunfussion. it helped alot

FYI having done this conversion I use a Comanche fender mount tank. It's less than 12 inches from the radiator cap and fits behind the air cleaner on my '90.

woody said:

No I WAS talking about the open conversion... I used a new radiator along with the 91+ heater control valve and the summit overflow tank...

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Gah, looks like I was confused throughout. Time for a beer.