Replacing Coolant Surge Tank...

[canadian_guy280]

Anyways, I took my new 2.2L '97 Cavalier to get its scheduled oil change at the local Walmart, being only 16 years old with minimal skills in mechanics I thought it would be better and cheaper for me to take it into professionals. When I recieved my car back 10 minutes later, they checked all my fluid levels and complained to me that they could not see the full mark on my collant surge tank. I then drove it home to my dads place (who is a fully qualified heavy duty mechanic and has been for 30+ years; I would be asking him but he is hard to reach when working out of town), we removed the tank and cleaned all the grime out, left it in the kitchen sink with hot water and dish soap, and returned hours later. The tank was clean, we mounted it and everything was fine. I went to work for a month, came back, started up my car with the AC on and after a short while noticed anti-freeze leaking from the seams in the tank. I assume the leaks were from the heating of the tank in the kitchen sink. I ordered a new surge tank from GM for about $40 CAN. and recieved it overnight (today). I tried to put the tank in myself, everything is connected fine but the one bolt holding the tank to the car will not thread into the car. Infact I cannot find any theads...

My main question is... Is there a nut (I may have lost but have a replacment) underneath the car that connects to the only bolt that secures the surge tank to the car? Or am I using the wrong method of getting the bolt to secure tightly?

If I need to jack the car up to screw a nut onto the bolt, what is the best way to do this? I want to get my car on the road, but I'm not going to drive it if the bolt is just sitting in its spot not doing anything. The problem for me is that I need to car to pick my dad up at the local airport (100 km away) any day now. And I do not want to risk overheating as I spent every cent I've earned for the past 4 years and this summer (6 months after purchansing).

Any help would be great, thanks in advance.

EDIT1: How would I got about flushing my system completly of coolant?

[public]

The nut/thread issue-Ido not know for sure, but they usually just thread indo the sheet matal. As for flushing the coolant, go to any autoparts store and they will have a nice kit you can install. It will have a fitting you put in the heater hose so you can attach the hose from your house. There is also a spout you put in the top of you radiator so the coolant does not get all over youy car. These kits are pretty durable and cheap. About $5 US. Good Luck.

[canadian_guy280]

Would it be bad to drive with the nut/bolt not attached? Thanks for the quick help I'll look into getting that kit. Any more help would be great, thanks for the quick response.

[jayson716]

well mine just has one of those pins that push in to lock.. ya know what i mean almost like what holds the plastic radiator cover on.

[canadian_guy280]

Damn, still stuck. What year have you got?

[jayson716]

I have 2000.

[canadian_guy280]

One last bump until I just leave it until I can get some help later...

EDIT1: Thanks for the help, I worked around it.