So here's a photo of my bypass valve actuator:



For those of you who have never looked at your actuator before, there's supposed to be a plastic "cap" over the bit that I outlined in red - the little light gray plastic bit is what remains of it.

I removed the actuator to make removing my power steering pump easier (which really didn't seem to be necessary, but I digress), and the plastic cap in question was so brittle from age and heat that it shattered while I was handling it.

Is that cap crucial to the operation of this part? Replacing it would be simple enough, but locally the actuator assembly runs about $150 (or about $115 online), and that's a lot more than I'd like to spend unless it's absolutely necessary.

Thanks!