Originally Posted by
present tense
fatnslow - maybe a long shot but I once had a mystery coolant leak on an older vehicle manifest as a slightly cracked coolant reservoir. Pretty sure it was result of front end damage or some other trail mishap that caused a hairline type crack or separation of the plastic overflow reservoir along a plastic mold joint. Can’t remember much more specifics. I do recall it being a PIA to pull out but was a cheap fix with some 2 part plastic epoxy. Was a really slow drip type leak that didn’t spray and leave all the other tell tale signs under pressurized coolant loss in the system.
On a completely different note, wife picked up a small machine screw in her tire recently and noticed it pretty quick with the TPMS sensor dropping to alarm level. Get the full size jack, tire off, lowered the donut spare from rear cargo area and immediately noticed the spare appeared to be a good inch or two taller and inch or two wider than the full size tire and wheel.
Have never seen that and questioned putting it on and how it would ride or affect AWD. Quick google search says to only put the “oversized” spare on the rear wheels, so. now I swap a rear tire up front and put the donut in the rear. Go figure. Also, realize it’s not recommended but the hole was tiny so I plugged with an old school fold in half plug and called it good. Sidewalls and overall tire condition was all good so we’ll ride on the plug until it’s time for a new set. Anyone else out there trusting enough of tire plugs for daily drivers? Can’t see how a blowout would be any higher risk than other tires since there’s no side all damage or other issues with “clean” and very small puncture opening? Even if the plug fails at highway speed I can’t see it being a violent loss of pressure through such a small plug hole.
