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Where bolts and screws run?


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So I was bleeding the coolant system with the plastic bleeder screw on my 99 Outback and the screw ran away on me again, I searched all around for it and then loosened the brackets holding the radiator in place, and wouldn't you know, the new one was hiding under it with the old one that had scampered off there.  How common is it that bolts and screws run away where you can't find them?

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One of my tricks if I drop a screw and can't find it is to drop another one in the same place and watch it fall. Usually it ends up somewhere near the first one.

 

I find stuff all the time while working on peoples cars. Oil and radiator caps, screwdrivers, wrenches, nuts, bolts, plastic fastener clips. Found a needle probe for a voltmeter still stuck to an alternator wire (looked like it had been there for years). The oddest was a spent shotgun round sitting under the intake manifold of a truck I worked on. I guess the guy saw a deer while he was working on his truck or something?!?

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The most usual things I find on someone else's cars, are Wrenches. 
 
But once I found a MacDonald's Hamburger, still in its Box, inside a paper bag, half crunched between the Battery and the Trunk ... :o ... and even weirder is that right after I told to the car's owner: "What's that?" he unwrapped and ate it in front of me ... :eek: ... saying "It's Hot" ... He was searching for his hamburguer since the night before.
 
What happened is that his car started to misfire while they were on an Auto Mac, so he pulled to the roadside and was looking in the night what happened, without luck, so he drove to his home (nearby) and called me on early morning; it was a failing ignition coil pack. He had forgot the bag over the battery, then.
 
Kind Regards.

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The most usual things I find on someone else's cars, are Wrenches.

 

But once I found a MacDonald's Hamburger, still in its Box, inside a paper bag, half crunched between the Battery and the Trunk ... :o ... and even weirder is that right after I told to the car's owner: "What's that?" he unwrapped and ate it in front of me ... :eek: ... saying "It's Hot" ... He was searching for his hamburguer since the night before.

 

What happened is that his car started to misfire while they were on an Auto Mac, so he pulled to the roadside and was looking in the night what happened, without luck, so he drove to his home (nearby) and called me on early morning; it was a failing ignition coil pack. He had forgot the bag over the battery, then.

 

Kind Regards.

Gross!!

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I'm probably one of the few health nuts on this site; I would rather drink water out of a toilet like a dog than eat the junk food put out by the usual places, especially 711 style processed junk; which goes double for day or two old junk.  But I've heard the stuff is mummified and will not go bad.

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Yeah, those plastic top bleeder screws are $10 from the dealer, when it ran I found it keeping company with the one that went there to hide late fall.  I was figuring if you had to assemble a complete Subaru from dealer parts you would probably be set back $100K!

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The previous owner of my 95 lost the plastic bleeder screw and replaced it with a regular hex head bolt. Works good! Just had to cut a notch in the top of it for a screwdriver to fit.

 

After it happened to me I was up crap creek without a paddle at Auto Zone and they had nothing that could help me, and I went to other auto parts stores same story.  Home Depot had some loose bolts, and I found a match, right thread/fine, but it still leaked a little.  Those plastic bleeder screws are specific and seem not to easily let air/steam out.  And I was thinking if I could just get the system to belch the steam and not overheat with my blown head gasket it might be more driveable.  If you bugger the thread good luck! 

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After it happened to me I was up crap creek without a paddle at Auto Zone and they had nothing that could help me, and I went to other auto parts stores same story.  Home Depot had some loose bolts, and I found a match, right thread/fine, but it still leaked a little.  Those plastic bleeder screws are specific and seem not to easily let air/steam out.  And I was thinking if I could just get the system to belch the steam and not overheat with my blown head gasket it might be more driveable.  If you bugger the thread good luck! 

These plastic screws are hollow so need to be tightened with care. I think I paid over $10 at the dealer a few years ago because I broke the old one. It has an o-ring so it's not the threads that seal. Since that purchase, I got a few from junk yard as spare.

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I would of put a bolt in it's place with some jb weld since the reservoirs are made out of plastic and it holds up great. My sisters jeep has a plastic radiator too and the overflow port broke off. I drilled it out a little put plastic 90 degree in and jb welded it in place. Shes driven it like that for 9 months even on a 5 hour trip each way. My ea81 radiator drain plug hole is rethreaded for a bolt i cut down to work. I used some sealant and a flat washer; hasn't leaked in the 2 months i've been driving it.

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