Radiator caps - OEM vs Aftermarket? (1 Viewer)

[kd5kuu]

Hey Mudders - Feel free to tell me I'm overthinking this, it's actually what I'm hoping for! Before a camping trip last weekend I popped the hood on my 2014 and noticed the coolant reservoir was empty. Then I did what any reasonable Land Cruiser owner would do and searched this forum and promptly scared the crap out of myself reading about radiator cracks, water pumps, valley plates, etc. As much as I love it and value the wealth of knowledge possessed here, reading this forum can be a lot like visiting WebMD .

Anyway, after visually checking everything I found my radiator cap was physically broken and there were traces of coolant running down from the overflow tube. No dealer within 50 miles of me has the cap in stock so I went with one from Napa and some Super Long Life Coolant from the dealer. BUT.....the cap has a different design than the OEM cap. Does this matter and should I order an OEM cap to replace it with???

Toyota 16401-50371

Napa (Gates 31412)

 

[RET2]

Caps are relatively inexpensive, IMHO go OEM.

 

[Sandroad]

Ditto. But the NAPA is fine interim.

 

[FerrisBueller]

I recently replaced my cap that would not seal tight and was causing the reservoir to slowly deplete. OEM is only a few bucks - so just replace it when you get back home.

 

[kd5kuu]

Thanks all for the replies! I'll get an OEM cap on order.