View Full Version : Car folks, anyone know what this might be?
cfortune
07-09-2012, 19:34
Today I was backing out of my driveway. When I put the car in reverse, I heard a crunching sound, like I ran over a plastic bottle or something. It made the noise as soon as it went into reverse though (so I didn't actually run over something, I know that much). When I started backing out, this cap/lid fell out from under the car. I didn't notice anything leaking out but I had my sprinklers running and they were covering my driveway so I couldn't be certain.
Here is the cap:
http://img217.imageshack.us/img217/5812/imag0048k.jpg
http://img703.imageshack.us/img703/9708/imag0049bl.jpg
I stopped at a gas station a few blocks from my house and checked for leaks, didn't see anything dripping and my car seemed to drive normally. I popped my hood and didn't see anything missing a lid. So I continued to the grocery store. When I got home, I tried to look under my car but couldn't see anything out of place. I didn't get out a jack and look real well though.
Anybody have any idea what this could be from? Looks as if a tube or something was going through the middle at some point. My google searches for the last half an hour have proved useless so I turn to you as I know there are some car people on here. Little worried to drive to work tomorrow.
Edit: I drive a 99 Acura CL 3.0
hghclsswhitetrsh
07-09-2012, 19:38
Blinker fluid reservoir. Op sorry to troll your post!
SideShow Bob
07-09-2012, 19:41
What is the manufacturer, model and year of your car ? It might help the car gurus here figure out what it is.......
cfortune
07-09-2012, 19:42
Damn, just called Auto Zone and they're fresh out of blinker fluid caps. Guess I'll just use hand signals tomorrow lol. [Stooge]
cfortune
07-09-2012, 19:43
What is the manufacturer, model and year of your car ? It might help the car gurus here figure out what it is.......
editted the post with that info.
How big is it? Best I can tell is possibly the schrader valve cap for your AC or maybe a fuel line. I'm guessing it's more than likely something that was either under your hood or car because I haven't seen one that color; that's not to say they ain't out there though.
cfortune
07-09-2012, 20:09
It's about 1.25" in diameter when I get it straightened out.
SideShow Bob
07-09-2012, 20:12
If I remember correctly from the old days, that looks like a baby bottle cap, the nipple went through the hole...
cfortune
07-09-2012, 20:24
Plastic and it's threaded on the inside.
I don't believe that came from your car.
Tinelement
07-09-2012, 20:28
If I remember correctly from the old days, that looks like a baby bottle cap, the nipple went through the hole...
[ROFL1]
I was gonna say it looks like the thingy my wife puts on after breast feeding our baby!!
Seriously though, it doesn't look like much to me. Could just be something you picked up while driving and it just happened to fall out today. So if nothing is leaking, it runs and drives, I say drive it like ya stole it!!!
[Flower]
cfortune
07-09-2012, 20:31
lol cool, thanks guys. It doesn't really smell like titty residue but it's possible. I did buy this car from my parents lol.
HBARleatherneck
07-09-2012, 20:37
i think that is the rice burner.
cfortune
07-09-2012, 20:43
It probably fell out of my coffee can exhaust or massive spoiler.
Lol definitely a cap to something but nothing that goes to any vehicle I've seen. I bet it bounced up in your undercarriage with my best Daisy from Dukes of Hazzard voice. Got caught in the shifter cable and crunched up.
SideShow Bob
07-09-2012, 20:57
I bet it bounced up in your undercarriage with my best Daisy from Dukes of Hazzard voice. Got caught in the shifter cable and crunched up.
Better be careful what you say, the mods may change your title to " Daisy Duke "................
Longnecktipper
07-09-2012, 21:03
Any chance that it just bounced up and got stuck and just fell out this morning ? Maybe it's not even from your car .
Colorado Luckydog
07-09-2012, 21:12
Little worried to drive to work tomorrow
I think you should call your doctor and have your testosterone checked as soon as possible. Or..........ask for a new vaginal creme. Whichever applies to you. Really????[ROFL1][ROFL2]
cfortune
07-09-2012, 22:03
I think you should call your doctor and have your testosterone checked as soon as possible. Or..........ask for a new vaginal creme. Whichever applies to you. Really????[ROFL1][ROFL2]
Wow really guy? Knowing next to nothing about cars, I think it was a valid concern. Getting stuck somewhere would suck but would be the manly thing to do I guess. [Bang]
Go beat your chest elsewhere.
Colorado Luckydog
07-09-2012, 22:18
Wow really guy? Knowing next to nothing about cars, I think it was a valid concern. Getting stuck somewhere would suck but would be the manly thing to do I guess. [Bang]
Go beat your chest elsewhere.
Yep, probably vaginal creme![ROFL1][ROFL2]
Just kidding, lighten up.[Beer]
cfortune
07-09-2012, 22:35
Maybe you can suggest something? Seems like you're the subject matter expert here. I mean you wouldn't make recommendations on something you know nothing about, right?
colorider
07-09-2012, 22:36
Looks a LOT like the endcap they put on the axle of a kids bike, trike, wagon, or any other wheeled riding toy. Most the time they are red or black. It would make a good crunching sound when ran over.
Looks a LOT like the endcap they put on the axle of a kids bike, trike, wagon, or any other wheeled riding toy. Most the time they are red or black. It would make a good crunching sound when ran over.
Those don't have a center hole and no threads.
Cylinder Head
07-09-2012, 22:45
Is that the cap for your NOS bottle?
Kidding, that's not a part of your car.
If you were parked on a hill, that could account for the rough transfer from park to reverse.
I would also say not an item from your vehicle. Do you have any kids as neighbors? Likely something they just threw in your driveway.
Good luck with it and hope all is well.
mcantar18c
07-10-2012, 00:41
The ONLY thing I can come up with (car related anyway) is some kind of dust cover or similar thing for the shifter linkage where it meets the transmission... but probably not, especially being hard plastic. I don't know what your car looks like down there so I'm basically just making shit up. Whatever the case, stuff like that (small, threads are molded into the plastic, etc. Means its not designed to hold up to stress) generally aren't critical components. I wouldn't worry about it, car part or not.
Canuckistani
07-10-2012, 01:11
The ONLY thing I can come up with (car related anyway) is some kind of dust cover or similar thing for the shifter linkage where it meets the transmission... but probably not, especially being hard plastic. I don't know what your car looks like down there so I'm basically just making shit up. Whatever the case, stuff like that (small, threads are molded into the plastic, etc. Means its not designed to hold up to stress) generally aren't critical components. I wouldn't worry about it, car part or not.
That's kind of what I was thinking too - maybe a cover/retainer for a speed sensor or something (with the wires passing through the center hole).
Either way, it doesn't look too important. If you really need it, you'll find out in a few days. [ROFL1]
Cfortune, anything that lives underneath a vehicle would not be that color after about 6 weeks on the road, let alone 13 years. As everyone else has stated, it is not likely from your car.
lead_magnet
07-10-2012, 02:41
I can't believe you guys all missed it, its the dust cover that goes around the intake line that leads from the flux capasitor to the fuel pump. Amatures.
nisils14
07-10-2012, 02:50
looks like a water bottle cap.
UncleDave
07-10-2012, 06:31
It is an odd color, but it looks like the dust cover for your tie-rod end. That is the part of the steering rack that attaches to the front wheels. They are usually soft rubber or neoprene.
A gay LifeSaver?
http://i572.photobucket.com/albums/ss170/waxthis/lifesaver.jpg
rockhound
07-10-2012, 07:28
It is an odd color, but it looks like the dust cover for your tie-rod end. That is the part of the steering rack that attaches to the front wheels. They are usually soft rubber or neoprene.
Oh yeah and always covered in heavy grease, no chance
You guys need your man cards pulled
Today I was backing out of my driveway. When I put the car in reverse, I heard a crunching sound, like I ran over a plastic bottle or something. It made the noise as soon as it went into reverse though (so I didn't actually run over something, I know that much). When I started backing out, this cap/lid fell out from under the car. I didn't notice anything leaking out but I had my sprinklers running and they were covering my driveway so I couldn't be certain.
Here is the cap:
http://img217.imageshack.us/img217/5812/imag0048k.jpg
http://img703.imageshack.us/img703/9708/imag0049bl.jpg
I stopped at a gas station a few blocks from my house and checked for leaks, didn't see anything dripping and my car seemed to drive normally. I popped my hood and didn't see anything missing a lid. So I continued to the grocery store. When I got home, I tried to look under my car but couldn't see anything out of place. I didn't get out a jack and look real well though.
Anybody have any idea what this could be from? Looks as if a tube or something was going through the middle at some point. My google searches for the last half an hour have proved useless so I turn to you as I know there are some car people on here. Little worried to drive to work tomorrow.
Edit: I drive a 99 Acura CL 3.0
Sorry cfortune, there appears to be a lack of useful, assisting knowledge to you in this thread. More clowns than wrenches I'd guess. As someone who works on a variety of different vehicles for a living I can tell you that your image appears to be a coolant recovery tank cap. The center would hold a fitting that would connect to a small hose leading to the radiator.
I've worked on both Acuras and Hondas before though and I don't recall them being green, but I could be wrong. I want to say they're lower in profile and tend to be black or translucent white, but beside the point really, just sayings its possible you picked it up on the highway/road, etc., in travels and it found its way to your driveway.
Check all tanks and resevoirs, if this cap is from your ride its not a huge deal but you'll definitely want to get a replacement, (with fitting and possibly hose if that is gone too), here soon as the temps in the weather start to climb again.
Hope this helps,
Badger
UncleDave
07-10-2012, 08:08
Oh yeah and always covered in heavy grease, no chance
You guys need your man cards pulled
Always covered in heavy grease? No not necessarily. After 10 years as a lead tech I can tell you for certain that they are only covered in grease if they were not serviced correctly. Second I did not say definitively that it it that dust cover but it sure does look like it.
rockhound
07-10-2012, 08:18
i have been wrenching cars for nearly 30 years, (not professionally), but have never seen one that after 13 years of use wasn't covered in grease, there is no way a 13 year old car has a dust cover that clean,
if not covered in heavy grease then road grime, mag chloride, just dirt in general.
that thing did not come off a car, especially a suspension or steering component
even the coolant recovery theory does not hold much water with me, most if not all do not have the hose run through the cap, the hose would be in most cases attached with a separate nipple that is a molded part of the bottle. and the cap does not thread on, it snaps on
even the coolant recovery theory does not hold much water with me, most if not all do not have the hose run through the cap, the hose would be in most cases attached with a separate nipple that is a molded part of the bottle. and the cap does not thread on, it snaps on
And before I get started here, let me just quote this part here too:
i have been wrenching cars for nearly 30 years, (not professionally)
Since I HAVE wrenched on them professionally, I will say that there are MANY expansion tank caps that ARE THREADED, and DO have hoses running into the caps. Many foreign vehicles do actually and believe it or not, some liquid cooled motorcycles these days ALSO seem to have them as I've recently discovered. And the most ironic thing about this is that you can find such things on vehicles exceeding at least 20 years old.
And as far as the tie-rod end theory.... I would have to say if it were, it didn't come from the OPs vehicle or he would have experienced some driveability issues. Notice the threaded ring is not separated (even after driving over it) to have come off without removal, (or catastrophic failure) of a tie rod end.
Badger
cfortune
07-10-2012, 10:54
Sorry cfortune, there appears to be a lack of useful, assisting knowledge to you in this thread. More clowns than wrenches I'd guess. As someone who works on a variety of different vehicles for a living I can tell you that your image appears to be a coolant recovery tank cap. The center would hold a fitting that would connect to a small hose leading to the radiator.
I've worked on both Acuras and Hondas before though and I don't recall them being green, but I could be wrong. I want to say they're lower in profile and tend to be black or translucent white, but beside the point really, just sayings its possible you picked it up on the highway/road, etc., in travels and it found its way to your driveway.
Check all tanks and resevoirs, if this cap is from your ride its not a huge deal but you'll definitely want to get a replacement, (with fitting and possibly hose if that is gone too), here soon as the temps in the weather start to climb again.
Hope this helps,
Badger
Thanks Badger. Continuing to do some research last night, I ended up finding a post on another forum that had someone asking about Honda brand coolant. They mentioned it's generally a light blue or emerald green which made me think it might be related to that.
The actual coolant is that color. I worked on a 2008 Honda a while back and it didn't have caps that looked anything like that. The caps were all black or metal. You would be able to smell it on that cap. Real sweet smell
I am not a professional mechanic by any stretch but I have never seen anything that color come off of a Honda/Acura (or any car for that matter) and I have owned a few of each. You should be fine.
jhood001
07-10-2012, 11:46
I have no idea what that thing is. I'm just glad it doesn't smell like 'titty residue'.
My money says it's something some kid stuck under your tire so you'd crunch it.
My money says it's something some kid stuck under your tire so you'd crunch it.
HMMMM. That might be a winner....[Awesom]
cfortune
07-10-2012, 12:18
You guys are missing the fact that it got smashed before I even took my foot off the brake.
Sharpienads
07-10-2012, 12:31
My money says it's something some kid stuck under your tire so you'd crunch it.
Yeah. Thank God he did that instead of putting pennies on a train track to try to derail the train.
I've never seen anything like that before on a car, but I generally have no idea WTF i'm talking about.
You guys are missing the fact that it got smashed before I even took my foot off the brake.
Hmmm....and I thought my color argument was bullet proof.
In all seriousness, how did all the gravel get smashed into it then? Are you saying that you put the car in reverse, it made a crunching noise then you got out and that was laying under it?
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