Radiator fitting broke!

[J.HIDALGO]

Today I was driving down the road on a hot Florida day, all of the sudden, I see the coolant light on and the AC is not cooling. I stopped at the first gas station. I opened the hood. Coolant everywhere.
The coolant was coming from the radiator fitting on top of the radiator that connects to the coolant reservoir. They actually came apart, since they are two pieces joint together. I did a search, it is a cheap part but I can not get it until monday (today is saturday). Can I just glue the two pieces together while I get the part?
How is the new piece joint together? Pressure? Glue?

[Kestas]

How bad is the leak? Perhaps you can temporarily drive around with the pressure cap off.

[J.HIDALGO]

The hose was actually out, with one part (inner?) of the fitting at the end of it, and the other part (outer?) still on top of the radiator. What I did was fill the reservoir with water (after the engine cool off for a while), put the two pieces together again, with hand pressure, and limped home (mostly highway) with the air on vent only. It did not come apart again but, on stop and go traffic, it may be a different story. That is why I wonder how are these two pieces held together...

This is a picture of the fitting ( I hope it works)

http://www.peachparts.com/shopforum/attachment.php?postid=152328

[ILUVMILS]

The overflow fitting simply snaps into the radiator. The three tabs hold it in place and the O-ring seals it. I wouldn't use any kind of adhesive in that area. The sealing surface for the O-ring needs to be clean and smooth. Before you install the new fitting, make sure there aren't any pieces of the old one still in the radiator. The whole job takes about five minutes.

[J.HIDALGO]

I replaced the fitting. However, the three tabs on the bottom of the old fitting were NOT there (no "mushroom") The new one just snapped on with no problems.
I drained the coolant but, don't know were the old pieces are. Hopefully, they are pulverized in the system...only time will tell.

[john420]

Consider yourself lucky. I just had the same thing happen, only to find out that I need to buy a new radiator just for that $10 piece of plastic. Mine was NOT replaceable! What a way to start off with a "new" used Benz....

[ILUVMILS]

Hi J.H., don't sweat the missing pieces. They won't cause any problems.

Hi John420,

What model do you have?

The reason I ask is that for some models, and my 300e in particluar, there was an updated design for the radiator neck.

A metal piece was inserted into the neck in order to provide more rigidity.

Check this out on your car.

Regards,

[G-Benz]

This wasn't the dreaded radiator neck problem...this is the smaller tube that goes to the coolant tank...the radiator hose attached to the neck goes to the coolant pump.

J.HIDALGO is VERY lucky that the fitting wasn't damaged...otherwise it would be "new radiator time"...like the rest of us.

By the way, J.HIDALGO, if you still have the OEM radiator, start saving up for a new one...you WILL be replacing it eventually. As chicago124 mentioned, the radiator neck is a common failure with W124s.

Bringing back memories of last summer.

Mine did the same thing, the weekest coolent hose would pop off and spray it EVERYWHERE. For awhile a had a green engine, it's just now finally totally burned off. I suggest getting your pressure tested, and i wouldn't be suprised if the pressure was being created by the failed water pump. Thats what mine was. $700 out of my pocket
good luck

[Jim Anderson]

I've run cars without the radiator cap cause of leaking under pressure, it works just fine, just have to worry about coolant splashing out. I had an old cap and tore the rubber washer out. I'm guessing you loose maybe 10% of your peak cooling capacity with no pressure.

[J.HIDALGO]

replaced along with the water pump about 3-4 years ago. I thought this was NOT a thing to worry about. You know, warm weather, going on I-95 doing an "italian tune-up". .
The temperature now is between 80-85 degrees, as a matter of fact, it never went up more than 90 degrees. Even when I had to stop for the warning low coolant light on. I have not noticed any difference in the driveability of the car. Should I?
Could a bad auxiliary water pump cause this problem, if any?
I will definetely keep an eye on the temperature for a while, may be I am just lucky...I hope.