Hey guys, have a little gasket question for ya...

I just had my coolant hose from my radiator to my coolant filler neck take a dump on me. Thank God I just happened to be watching my Commander when it hapened, and saw the temps start to skyrocket. Anyways, my hose won't be in until sometime tomorrow. While I'm waiting and the coolant is empty, I was planning on taking off my coolant filler neck and giving it some much needed touching-up, as it doesn't shine like it used to. The gasket behind it is about 2-3k miles old, but with the extreme heat in that area, would I be taking a risk if I took the filler neck off without replacing the gasket? Could the gasket tear or anything? Thanks! ~A-Rod

 

2-3km isn't bad. But, I have found the best way to solve all doubt, is too replace it. I would think it would be fine, seeing as how you caught it as it happened, but if you have the money to replace it, that is never a bad thing. Just keep the one in question, in case you should ever need it, and can't get your hands on another one as quick as you might would need it.

 

There is no gasket located between the coolant filler neck and the water pump housing. The thermostat is located between them and has it's own o-ring, however. You should be fine---worst case, you can typically get a t-stat o-ring from pep boys/autozone etc.

 

Alright, thanks. I knew the W/P housing had one, but wasn't sure if the coolant filler neck did, figured I'd make sure before I took it apart and figured out I was screwed...