New Renix Coolant Bottle and Cap problems

[89CherokeePioneer]

Sorry should have been more specific. By factory I meant the original bottle. It's an 89 XJ with 216kish on the odo. It leaked the gas, no liquid ever leaked out (that I saw, it did look like dried coolant on the sides of the bottle however)

My current one from the dealer doesn't leak at all as long as you have it tightened to its sweet spot.

Has anyone tried quadratecs? I _think_ I saw it for $30.

 

[Gerr]

Sorry should have been more specific. By factory I meant the original bottle. It's an 89 XJ with 216kish on the odo. It leaked the gas, no liquid ever leaked out (that I saw, it did look like dried coolant on the sides of the bottle however)

My current one from the dealer doesn't leak at all as long as you have it tightened to its sweet spot.

Has anyone tried quadratecs? I _think_ I saw it for $30.

Yup they get their bottle from the same place I do, pm me for pricing if you want a sweet deal

 

[Ecomike]

It has been my experience that as it was stated earlier in the thread the bottles some times deform and cause the leak at the cap. I have tried autozone, napa, kragen and ebay bottles and they all were identical and eventually all failed in the same way. I now have one on I got from my parts supplier and it not only is thicker than the others but has lasted over a year when the others failed any where from a month to 6 months from purchase and it was less expensive to boot.

Are you now selling that better, bader, bottle, or can you tell us where to get them?

I finally remembered where I got my first bottle, the one that lasted 2-1/2 to 3 years, it was some one on Ebay of all places. My new bottle from 4wd.com is having more, continuing cap problems, I found the cap loose, poped off today and coolant sprayed around. Lucky for me it was barely at 190 F, even with the AC on (Ijust fixed that last night, YEY!) so it did not boil over.

Bunch of people selling on them on Ebay for as little as 16.95 now.

I am going to try the radiator hose clamp on the bottle cap tomorrow!

 

[Mudweiserjeep]

I may go this route from another thread......Seems pricey.....but if were buying a new tank every 6 months in the long run it may be the way to go....:dunno: .....

Want a permanent fix? There are several different OEM replacement tanks out there but they all come from one source and I think that has been farmed out to China like everything else.
This is the permanent fix http://www.macsradiator.com/index.asp?PageAction=VIEWPROD&ProdID=28&HS=1
You can thank me later. This is what I put on my Heep and it uses a regular radiator cap, that can be found everywhere. Mine is an 18 pound cap but other pressures are also available. It does not come with a cap so you can choose whatever you want at the parts store.

 

[Gerr]

Are you now selling that better, bader, bottle, or can you tell us where to get them?

I finally remembered where I got my first bottle, the one that lasted 2-1/2 to 3 years, it was some one on Ebay of all places. My new bottle from 4wd.com is having more, continuing cap problems, I found the cap loose, poped off today and coolant sprayed around. Lucky for me it was barely at 190 F, even with the AC on (Ijust fixed that last night, YEY!) so it did not boil over.

Bunch of people selling on them on Ebay for as little as 16.95 now.

I am going to try the radiator hose clamp on the bottle cap tomorrow!

yes you can order the newer better bottle and cap from me PM me for details. Personally Ive sold about 45 and have had zero complaints or returns. It comes with a 12 month warranty

http://www.naxja.org/forum/showthread.php?t=952681 link to the add showing the bottle and price.

 

[Mudweiserjeep]

I couln't get the link to work........

 

[Gerr]

should be fixed now sorry fat finger itus added a .

 

[8Mud]

Some of miy bottles last for months some for years. It may be a quality control issue, it may be luck.
The old closed system versus open system debate. They both pop leaks on occasion, the closed system is often the easier fix, it's most often the bottle or the hose at inlet for the pump for the Renix.
My 96 and my 88 are roughly equal in the number of leaks over the years. My 96 is one water pump ahead and one or two leaks behind.
I used the hose clamp around the cap trick on my 88 Silverado.

 

[8Mud]

yes you can order the newer better bottle and cap from me PM me for details. Personally Ive sold about 45 and have had zero complaints or returns. It comes with a 12 month warranty

http://www.naxja.org/forum/showthread.php?t=952681 link to the add showing the bottle and price.

The last one of those I put in seems to be holding up fine. I think they improved them awhile back, I returned one and got what you offer as a replacement (new batch/design?). The cap was different also, it had a metric pressure rating and some other subtle differences.

 

[outlander]

I may go this route from another thread......Seems pricey.....but if were buying a new tank every 6 months in the long run it may be the way to go....:dunno: .....

Yea but after you put that steel tank on that takes a standard radiator cap don't you essentially have an open system?
http://www.macsradiator.com/index.asp?PageAction=VIEWPROD&ProdID=28&HS=1

 

[Muad'Dib]

yes you can order the newer better bottle and cap from me PM me for details. Personally Ive sold about 45 and have had zero complaints or returns. It comes with a 12 month warranty

http://www.naxja.org/forum/showthread.php?t=952681 link to the add showing the bottle and price.

I just got one from GerrOffroad yesterday, and so far so good. I think my cooling system is actually working like its suppost to. At first i thought i was having the same issues as before because this new one i got spit alot of fluid out, but it seemed to only do that after i replaced the old one/filled it up. It must have felt like it was too full (i only filled it to the top of the little seat in there). It is defineltly nice to be able to get a cap tight on it. AND its more of a clear white instead of the other replacements i have gotten that are white and you can barely see in them.

So far so good, and you cant beat the price. If this one still doesnt satisfy me, im going to the metal ones.

Yea but after you put that steel tank on that takes a standard radiator cap don't you essentially have an open system?
http://www.macsradiator.com/index.asp?PageAction=VIEWPROD&ProdID=28&HS=1

No, essentially we now have an open system... the cap still bleeds off excess pressure on the closed system, it just doesnt bleed off coolant into a catch, it bleeds off air at the top of the bottle.

 

[Ecomike]

I installed a 2" worm gear SS clamp around the bottle cap today. Seems to be working, judging from the increased stiffness of the upper radiator hose it is holding more pressure and the gauge temperature has a dropped about 5 degrees with AC off, and dropped 15 degrees with the AC on. Note, my E-fan does not run unless the AC is on (yet), so I am running between 170 and 190 F, with ambient at 80 to 90 F currently. When it hits 100 F ambient, in a 2 hr stop and go freeway parking race at 5 pm, it will get the real test.

Oh and I tried to remove the cap with the worm gear installed, :shocked:, guess what, it ain't happen, won't even budge.!party1: Also, I have seen no more signs (visual or audible) of any leaks.

I did start having idle, stalling problems due to yesterdays antifreeze spill, right after the spill, but washed everything down (electrical, like the TPS) with brake cleaner and no more problems.

Discussed the bottle with Gerr, and it sounds like there are two major brands out there, the good, or better one, currently being Crown's, according to Gerr. I am ordering one from him to try it out. The first bottle I had may have been a Crown. It may be, as Mud8 said a quality control issue.

I don't think it is cap issue (this time), but it has been said (last year) that there was a bad batch of caps running around last year. Wondering now if the cap builder is different from the bottle builder, and if there is more than one cap maker running amoke. I have heard of, and seen several caps that have a different stamp on the cover.

 

[Ecomike]

It should not have spit any fluid out, based on your description, keep an eye on it.

I may start selling bottle cap CLAMP! LOL.

Nice description below on the open / closed system difference. To answer his question he will still have the "Closed" system as it will have air in the bottle, and the bottle will be under pressure. The key difference between the open and closed system is whether the overflow bottle is under pressure (closed) or open to the atmosphere, and thus an OPEN system.

I just got one from GerrOffroad yesterday, and so far so good. I think my cooling system is actually working like its suppost to. At first i thought i was having the same issues as before because this new one i got spit alot of fluid out, but it seemed to only do that after i replaced the old one/filled it up. It must have felt like it was too full (i only filled it to the top of the little seat in there). It is defineltly nice to be able to get a cap tight on it. AND its more of a clear white instead of the other replacements i have gotten that are white and you can barely see in them.

So far so good, and you cant beat the price. If this one still doesnt satisfy me, im going to the metal ones.



No, essentially we now have an open system... the cap still bleeds off excess pressure on the closed system, it just doesnt bleed off coolant into a catch, it bleeds off air at the top of the bottle.

 

[Muad'Dib]

I think its more of a cap / bottle issue. Manufactures trying to cut corners once again thinking "this should do since were basically just copying the design anyway". I know the replacements i have gotten failed both at the bottle and the cap. In my case i think it was a combination of the hood putting pressure on it, and the poor design. I would notice that with previous replacements, the cap and bottle seemed fine, and the cap would go on tight, but once removed for whatever reason, then it would fail and never really get tight again. Sometimes a new cap would fix it one time, sometimes not.

 

[Muad'Dib]

It should not have spit any fluid out, based on your description, keep an eye on it.

Definetly will, always do.
I put it on yesterday, and like i said i filled it up to the top of the chair in the bottle. I drove around, and it "bled" some off for a lack of a better description. It sat overnight, and i checked it and it was below the chair (probably at the bottom of it), so i filled it up again this morning. I noticed it bled off again on the ride to work, and looking at it (without taking off the cap) its back down to the bottom of the chair. Drove home and back for lunch, and it hasnt bled off again, so im assuming it just likes to be at that level... lol

 

[90Blue_XJ]

Chair, Mine had no discernable chair. What is this chair you speak of? I looked at all the old tanks that heve been on the Jeep since I have owned it and none have a chair. (yes I have kept the old tanks, don't know why) Can you post up a pic of this chair thing that I may have missed. I'm pretty sure I and you have the same tanks but different terminology.

 

[outlander]

its a fluid level marker in the bottom of the tank...take the cap off and look into the bottom of the tank.It looks like a chair.Mine had one and I'm pretty sure it was oem....maybe after market tanks don't have the "chair"

 

[Muad'Dib]

its a fluid level marker in the bottom of the tank...take the cap off and look into the bottom of the tank.It looks like a chair.Mine had one and I'm pretty sure it was oem....maybe after market tanks don't have the "chair"

They do, but im sure not everyone refers to them as a chair. It looks similar to a chair to me, and i have heard it called that many times, so it stuck with me...But yeah, if you take the cap off, its the plastic coolant level indicatior deely bopper do ditty thingamagig. Im going to shrink myself one day and sit in it so it will really be a chair!

 

[90Blue_XJ]

I always mark the outside of the bottle with a magic marker so I know where to fill it to. I am a short sawed off guy anyway and with the Jeep lifted I could never see the "chair" but after examining the old bottles I see what you are calling a "chair" Thanks. Those days are over for me since I converted to the aluminum tank fron Mac's.

 

[Ecomike]

I always thought of it as a Watchamacallit!

They do, but im sure not everyone refers to them as a chair. It looks similar to a chair to me, and i have heard it called that many times, so it stuck with me...But yeah, if you take the cap off, its the plastic coolant level indicatior deely bopper do ditty thingamagig. Im going to shrink myself one day and sit in it so it will really be a chair!