dropped my engine coolant cap
 

lost my engine coolant cap in the engine bay thinking it was the washer fluid. and i put washer fluid in the engine coolant filter.

Edited: Please check the bottom of page.. Help

It's probably stuck on top of your underbody tray, Im guessing.

I wouldnt want to get gunk up in my washer fluid for fear of clogging the lines, but that's me...

It's not critical, but you should keep looking for it as it is there somewhere.

pull out your engine and see where it landed.

Lol

My engine compartment stays pretty clean - very little road dirt/dust. I wouldn't be afraid to run without the cap for a few days while looking for the lost one or obtaining a replacement. See any of the oil change DIYs to see how to remove the cover on the bottom of the engine compartment.

thanks guys. ill just keep looking for it, if not ill have to buy a new cap. i dont know where though....

Remove the engine undershroud (like you would to do an oil change). It's probably down there. You could probably lift the car (use the scissors jack in the hatch if you don't have one) and tap on the bottom of the undershroud to determine if it fell down that far before actually removing it. Though I suspect you will have to remove it regardless to get the cap out.

Any dealership should be able to get one for you. Or there may be some aftermarket options.

Just about any auto parts store should carry replacement caps. Might be labeled for coolant overflow bottle or other under-the-hood bottle.

My guess is that Nissan doesn't sell just the cap, but all it costs is a phone call to find out.

... order one from the dealer.

:bowrofl:

so i found out its not the washer fluid cap... i am so dumb wow... my washer fluid is good now because i found where it was..... :shakes head::shakes head:

http://img339.imageshack.us/img339/2531/picture918n.jpg

what is that white filter thing? i put some washer fluid in there.... !#@$! please help ASAP.... is it going to cause some damage to my car?
what even goes in there?

That's the engine coolant (antifreeze) overflow bottle. If you haven't run the engine since adding the washer fluid, you should be OK just draining and rinsing the bottle.
I'm not sure how the factory coolant will react with whatever in in the washer fluid (alcohol?), but I wouldn't take a chance. If you have run the engine since adding the washer fluid, I'd drain/flush the whole system. Hopefully someone will tell you that they are compatible.

That's a first...

yes im sure it is... hahahah

thanks for the response. ive been driving since for about 4 days. . . damn i should've known... my engine coolant (antifreeze) was pretty much empty, do i need to refill this soon as well? anyways more responses would be appreciated!:tiphat: I lost the cap for the engine coolant then... is the cap required? or can i still run it without.

Yikes! I would have the coolant system flushed asap. That is the engine coolant overflow reservoir cap. Ask wherever you take if they can replace it for you or find the one you dropped down in the engine bay.

thanks. i dont know how to flush it but should i just go to a local gas station mechanic? or autoshop? damn... this sucks.

Get Nissan's fluid and go to another mechanic, or have Nissan do it... Don't drive much, or hard with that crap in your engine

Ask to have them run your car with water as well before they do the final fill

The bottle is vented to atmosphere so lack of a cap won't affect operation, but you're likely to slosh antifreeze into the engine compartment - messy stuff.

I'd ask an expert (or two or three) about how the washer fluid will affect the coolant before driving very much.

If you're concerned about sloshing, use some foil and wire to cap off the reservoir :tup: Similar to plastic wrap and a rubber band, but I would use materials that can handle the heat being in the engine bay.

alright. well i put less about half of the washer fluid bottle/gallon idk in the engine coolant.... i filled the white reservoir tank about halfway i guess and i checked recently its about gone. i guess ill go check the nissan dealership. im afraid they'll charge me a shitload..

That's concerning that the fluid level has already dropped such a significant amount in a just a few days. Just guessing, it will probably cost several hundred dollars at a dealership, but I would recommend you do it immediately for precautionary sake. I can't imagine it would be too terrible for the car, but I'm sure it's compromised the coolant in some manner.

Honestly the Op could do these himslef but I have no idea what skill level he has to attempt to advise him to fix it himself, He's already shown what little knowledge he has.

I'm NOT dumping on him but facts are fact.

If the Op is capable? He could

1. remove the overflow bottle and rinse it out with water along with reinstalling it.

2 Buy a flush radiator kit and flush out and refill the engine coolant

3. removed the front portion of the splash guard to make sure the coolant cap isn't lying there.

Alternative TAKE IT TO THE DEALER :(

That is all carry on.

This isn't the end of the world...you could effectively drive a car with pure water in it, and windshield washer fluid isn't exactly soapy. In fact, antifreeze is likely added TO the fluid, to lower its freezing point to make it a de-icing fluid. Now, I'm not saying he should keep it in there, but don't lose your s-it here - the motor is going to be fine. Just get it flushed out and you'll be good to go.

This is true, but it has methanol and other crap
Aluminum doesn't like methanol

yeah i am not good with cars.... i called the nissan dealership. they said it costs $130 to flush out... and they;ll check the rest of the possible issues. =(

... Lie... Or take it to another dealer, don't admit your fault, they'll document it and if you ever need warranty work, they'll deny it

I'm just saying he could drive it to a shop and not lose his sh-t is all :-)

Sent from my Galaxy S3

Yeah I'd go elsewhere, probably

Sent from my Galaxy S3

OP, do you have any friends in the area who have a set of tools?
It's not hard to drain the system... I'd drain it and run distilled water then drive somewhere else to fix it (ONLY if this is your only car)

Or go to Nissan and get some coolant and do the flush! :tup:

The biggest concern with this is thhat windshield washer fluid is made up of roughly 50-80% water. The rest is basically methanol, which means at high temperatures it is still combustible... If you only put half the bottle, i wouldn't worry about combustion. The only other thing in windshield washer fluid is ethylene glycol. Which is also found in anti-freeze... You are probably fine