AMG3.2

Hi all,

Cliffs notes: Shipping car to Austin, TX on Tuesday morning, broke the vent tube attachment to my thermostat, and coolant leaked everywhere making the car non-drive-able for more than 30 to 45 seconds at a time on a cold engine.




It connects here:


The car is shipping in an enclosed trailer and I plan to tell the driver to keep the car on for 30 to 45 seconds at a time max should they need to move it, but I'm still somewhat worried.

Should I use some sort of crappy mighty putty or something to create an end cap on the thermostat vent piece that I broke (I'll replace it when I get to TX), and also attempt to cap the line that attached to the broken end piece? Doing this would essentially block off the vent/breather part of the thermostat.

Image from thermostat (white stuff is some putty that I was already debating the idea with)



Any down sides of doing this as a safety precaution just for the move so the car can at least hold coolant?

Thanks for any help in advance.

Tomsti

In an emergency situation, I'd find a screw that fits in the broken piece. Wrap screw with teflon tape and screw it in. You would be dealing with around 16psi or so, car would be movable.

AMG3.2

Thank you!

And how would you cap this piece?

Edit: I'm going to slip some hose over it (hose clamp it) and cap that end with a teflon coated screw.
Attachment 441139

Southways

Remove the pressure cap from the header tank so that the "repair" is not under pressure. As long as the repair doesn't leak, you can run the engine for hours under light load - just keep an eye on the coolant level.

Diabolis

I would also completely remove the thermostat from the housing (i.e. allow the coolant to freely circulate from the moment you start the car) and make sure that there is enough coolant in there... you don't want to end up with warped heads or a cracked block.

Alternatively, completely disconnect the battery and have them push or winch the car on and off the trailer.

BLKROKT

AMG3.2

Pressure cap from the header tank? Assuming you mean reservoir tank.

You guys are right -- the best option might be to winch it at this point. Just not worth the potential damage. These shipping companies are so dramatic though, that I'm sure they're going to make a huge deal about this. Oh well.

AMG3.2

$150 for them to push the car onto the liftgate since the lovely business does not have a winch...

I'm going to keep the battery attached so we can remove the key when shifting between P and N, but remove the starter fuse. Thanks for the ideas everyone.

Jasonoff

Why can't you just swap out the thermostat?

AMG3.2

I just don't have the bandwidth to swap it out tonight unfortunately. Plus, I'm thinking that all of these small plastics in the area must be so brittle that if I tap anything incorrectly, I'll break something else, and won't have that margin for error. (Go back to dealership in the morning to get said hose fitting or something)

Jasonoff

That is a crappy predicament lol