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help, a big coolant nipple broke! yes i searched.
Posted: Thu May 19, 2005 6:09 pm
by greg donovan
that is NOT supposed to be that way. trying to get at some hoses on the valve cover and my big monkey arm leaned on that hose i guess and SNAP. all i heard was this little burbling sound and i knew instantly what i had done.
argh.
what can be done to get this back on the road quickly.
saw in a thread that vikash took the tank out temporarily but that doesnt seem like the best solution.
hollow metal tubing w/threads and a nut on each end? but how do i get the nut on the inside and how do i get it to seal.
will a metal USDM wrx tank fit? it seems like it would.
help.
Posted: Thu May 19, 2005 6:39 pm
by greg donovan
i can get a new legacy plastic one for 105.
or i can get a new usdm wrx one for 80 and a new cap for 14.
or i can ghetto in a 1/2" brass fitting.
or allthread and washers
Posted: Thu May 19, 2005 6:50 pm
by greg donovan
i am searching as i sit here.
it appears the WRX one will fit (w/some braket fabbing) i would use PN 21132AA075.
i could use this metod too as described by legacy92ej22t
legacy92ej22t wrote:This is from an old thread where I explained how I fixed my tank the last time it broke. I'm going to do this same thing to the new broken nipple on my old one that's not in the car anymore so I'll have a spare if the new one breaks:
Ok, I'll let you guys in on the $2.99 fix.
I had one of my nipples break off (that sounds bad) and what my friend and I did to fix it was this. We broke off the remaining brittle plastic where the nipple used to be and sanded it flush with the outside of the tank.
We then took a coat hanger and went in through the cap and fished it out the hole where the nipple used to be. Then we took a hollow piece of all thread that was about the same diameter as the hole and put a rubber washer, flat washer and back-up nut on the side that would stay in the tank. Then we fished it through to the hole using the hanger to guide it. Once we got it near the hole I used some needle nose to work it through the hole ( I used them on the inside of the all thread by opening them up to hold the all thread and guide it through). Then we put another rubber washer, flat washer and nut on the outside and tightened it down.
Now because the outside diameter of the nipple was larger then the inside diameter of the nipple, the all thread had a smaller outside diameter then the old nipple. This caused it to be a little too small for the stock coolant line. What we did was take a smaller hose, cut it to the length of the all thread that was on the outside of the tank and slid it on. Then we slid the coolant line over the all thread with the smaller hose as a gasket and tightened it down.
The whole job took 2 of us about 1.5 hrs. A lot of that was trial and error though. I could probably do it again in about 45 min..
I've driven all winter and about 6k miles like this without a single drip of coolant lost. It's also the line that my Saab intercooler puts pressure on, so it's nice and strong.
Posted: Thu May 19, 2005 6:54 pm
by Binford
I broke mine about a month ago, and I drilled the tank and installed a nipple with teflon tape. Seems to be holding well. Here's a pic I took a minute ago..
http://www.thawa.net/gallery/album58/IM000123
Posted: Thu May 19, 2005 7:02 pm
by greg donovan
source and size of nipple?
Posted: Thu May 19, 2005 7:29 pm
by QuickDrive
Same situation for me, been holding for a year now.
Both nipples broke, running 90* elbows that were predrilled and epoxy'd in.
Source, any hardware store, I chose a hydraulics shop for mine however. just dug around their fittings bin.
Posted: Thu May 19, 2005 11:20 pm
by Binford
Ya, I just went to the local Auto Value and dug around till I found something that would work. It should be about 5/8", I believe.
Posted: Fri May 20, 2005 1:19 am
by greg donovan
well i went the route of threaded tubing w/nuts and rubber washers on each end. no major leaks once it got up to temp. but the tubing i used over the rubber tubing to make the stock hose fit is too stiff and doesnt compress into the threads so it is weeping a tiny bit, nothing major though.
but it will hold till i get either a new plastic tank or a WRX metal tank. w/a cap the wrx tank is nearly the same price as the plastic one.
