Lost the Inverter bleeder valve -rubber cap...Is it really needed? What else can I use to cover the bleeder valve?
Nothing you don't need anything on it these cars aren't dirty enough to be clogging things like that up I haven't even cracked one of those open in a couple of years I almost never use it but you may be doing something different.
But to be clear the rubber caps can be had in any auto parts store the fitting your covering is called a zerk fitting
I would think just about any rubber cap from an auto parts store which fits would suffice. It is just there to keep dirt out. Measure the diameter of the part the cap has to cover and take that and a ruler to the store. They will probably have one or more types of brake bleeder caps, for instance.
If you can't find the specific cap, the HELP section of every auto-parts store will have a variety pack of rubber caps for about $4. typically has about a dozen different sizes and lengths. They're easy to cut to the length you need to make it a clean install.
Huh ... I always thought a zerk fitting was specifically the thing a grease gun clicks onto, to pump grease in. They have little steel ball checks inside to keep the grease from squirting back out. Invented by Oscar Zerk, which sounds like a made-up name, if ever I heard one. They are about the same shape as bleeders, I guess, so a rubber cap that fits them would probably work. For the bleeders down at the brakes, the importance of the rubber cap is not so much keeping dirt out as keeping salt water out. Because there's a passage from the top of the bleeder way down to the inside end, salt water getting in there means an uncapped bleeder eventually gets rusted to the caliper from the inside as well as the outside, and can be a real headache to break loose (sometimes it's easier to replace the caliper). Keep the rubber caps on and they're usually perfectly easy to open when you need to. The principle would be the same for the inverter bleeder, but it's in a little more protected position up under the hood, so maybe the importance could be a little less.
