I should have called myself the "urban myth buster" but hey that is for another time. Anyway i spent the last 30 years of my life driving around with pressure in my radiator, but about a year ago, i noticed that there was no pressure in the radiator even when hot. I thought I had blown a head gasket but a close inspection of the radiator cap revealed a defective one way check valve that had stuck open. The funny thing is the car ran perfectly fine. Now I know Im about to be scolded for not having a good rad cap and would have even scolded myself in a prior lifetime. Anyway i tried an experiment 0 no harm with that is there?? I took that rad cap and bent that silly one way check valve into something that resemble a pretzel. Now that cap would't hold pressure of any sort - yet the car ran perfectly fine and did not overheat.

In fact, the cooling efficientcy of the system has zero to do with the system pressure as long as you dont exceed the boiling point of the coolant - and that folks is the secret. If your cooling system is good enough for the amount of power produced by the car engine then you dont need pressure in your radiator period.

Warning - dont attempt this until you are familiar with your engine and horse power requirments such as racing or towing a load. Other than that if you drive like you just smoke one (slow) then you car wont go past the boiling point of the coolant.

Ive just gone and got some popcorn looks like this will be fun - is this the right room for an argument??

BOO!!! oh sorry hehe

 

Try running an Intrepid without a good rad cap and let me know how that works for you.

 

I don't know how an intrepid would react to the modification I mentioned but I do know that a SOHC 95 dodge neon actually thrives on the modification.

My take on the intrepid is that it is too much car for the size of the engine and I have seen alot of the 2.7L intrepids in wrecking yards so no I would not waste my time with an intrepid.

 

One of my vehicles is an 00 Intrepid with a 3.2. Bought it new. Still runs like a champ. Intrepids are excelant cars if you maintain them. I wouldn't be afraid of a 2.7 if the previous owner changed oil when they were supposed to. Every one I have rebuilt or replaced were seriously neglected.