Can I run a 12lbs radiator cap instead of 16lbs. without any issues? 1983 D150 70K Six, for years b/f I changed the leaky radiator with cap, water pump and thermostat (195) it never built up pressure and never had an issue. Now after 2yrs the water pump is weeping a bit not all the time. It seems after lifting the lever on the cap and reliving some pressure the weeping stops for weeks.
Any thoughts,
Thanks

Pressure increases the boiling point.
Addition of coolant also increases the boiling point.
So you can run less pressure or less coolant... as long as you do not have a "boil-over" problem.
DD

Read this. Advance to the previous/next chapter at the bottom of each page; there are five chapters in all.

If you cut yourself badly enough to start bleeding, you stop the bleeding by applying pressure, a bandage, or getting stitches, depending on how bad the bleeding is—you don't take medicine to reduce your blood pressure in hopes that you'll, y'know, bleed less.

The same applies here. The solution to a coolant leak is to fix the leak, not reduce the pressure in hopes that it'll, y'know, leak less.

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一期一会
Too many people who were born on third base actually believe they've hit a triple.

Hey Dan, I love that analogy.

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-MattMan
LEANED & MEAN

Yeah, I know the right way, but I hate do overs. What's up with parts these day when they don't last more than three years?

Nobody likes do-overs. Sometimes they're necessary because life works that way ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

The quality of parts available through normal auto parts supply lines for old/low-demand applications like ours has been dropping for years. Getting good quality parts for an old car means buying from the likes of Old Car Parts Northwest and other similar businesses. It's less convenient than walking into the local auto parts store, but…who likes do-overs? Nobody!

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一期一会
Too many people who were born on third base actually believe they've hit a triple.