Hello,

I have a radiator cap question. Today after work I went to buy a new rad cap as i have no history on the current one and for $5-$10 it is cheap enough to replace.

Apparently for my car (2001 Honda Accord EX with 2.3l 4cyl VTEC ULEV engine, with manual trans) they put in one of two possible radiators (a Denso or Valeo)

Both radiators were listed for this car in the stant catalog and were listed for the manual trans 2.3 engine
I did not have the car with me at the time, so I could not verify which radiator it was.

Is there a way to tell which radiator is which so I can buy the correct cap. Should I make a trip to the local Honda dealer to get the cap?


Also as I am new to the world of Honda, I have to ask, is the oil dipstick a simple affair consisting of 2 dots and a space between them (to show amount of oil) and no part number at all on it?

or is it supposed to have a cross hatch area between the dots?

Thanks much

L

 

Any cap that fits the size would be just fine. I researched on the estore Honda site and it listed Valeo and Denso. compare the 2 parts. My bet is they are the exact same. I mean if my 96 Accord rad cap could fit a 02 Acura RSX, it should fit just fine. But my suggestion is just to get one from the dealer. Call ahead. 1) you'll know it will definitely fit and 2) it's genuine and should work perfectly.

The only trouble i had with stant is they make parts universal for all cars and sometimes things don't always match up perfectly or it looks different. I bought a thermostat from them before and compared it to the OEM one, the stant was longer, different heat ratings. I didn't want to mess with that, so i just went to the dealer and got it. Turns out it was cheaper! So who knows.

And yes, the dipstick only has 2 holes indicating max and min levels. Just simple as that.

 

I actually had a similar problem when I replaced my radiator cap on a 2000 EX ULEV.

The dealership gave me the correct part number but it did not fit. I ended up using a cap from an 03 Accord 4cyl. Not sure exactly what was going on, but I found the one that fit with trail and error. Sorry this isn't a definitive answer.

 

the dipstick is just 2 dots with a space between them. if the oil is below the bottom dot, then you don't have enough. if it's above the top dot, then you have too much.

 

yea idk whats wrong with these radiator caps, but after my 3rd try i ended up taking plyers to it and making it fit. it's been on for a couple weeks now, probably over 1k miles, with no problems