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I was looking into coolant reservoirs for S-Type R's (and S-types in general) and have read the multitude of threads regarding issues with them cracking/leaking. There are symptoms of that on mine, but not near severe enough to bother with yet. I did come across this though, has anyone on the forum tried one? Seems like the way to go given the issues of the factory unit.
Not sure if a Mod wants to edit the thread title so searches can be accurate, I tried to fix it.
I've looked at a couple of these aluminum tank ads and I think what might be a problem is no provision for the level sensor. I took a closer look at mine today after work as its been getting pretty hot outside this weekend/week. The car temp is good but the coolant smell is present. I can go a couple hundred miles without a low coolant notification. After looking closer I might actually replace sooner rather than a potential catastrophic later.... I do not think I'm going to take a chance on one of these aluminum ones yet.
I have always stuck with OE since the X300 days. The earlier were metal tank beasts.
BUT
I have always looked around and found, easily, a lower pressure cap. About 3lb usually, but not specific.
The V12 cars all ran 13lb in lieu of 15lb.
The Series cars, the same.
The X300, oops, age related, I forget, but about 3lb down.
The S Types, V6, went to a 100KPA cap.
The X Type, same, but she blew the tank 2 days before I got to the cap, bugga.
The 300c is 15lb, in lieu of 18lb.
This all started back in MK 7 days, when a heater radiator let go inside the cabin, OUCH. OK water (coolant not invented back then), took its toll, rotted things out quick time, But I decided that lowering the pressure as items age, and particularly the later cars with so much plastic. A plastic tank heater matrix letting go inside the cabin is just plain scary.
We have HOT summers here, and I have NO issues with any of the cars, and no one yet has convinced me that I have done the wrong thing.
No comment on the Ally header tank you seek, never been involved with one.
Awesome insight. If I'm understanding correctly you're saying you've gone with slightly lower cap pressures over the years to lessen the strain on the system? And done so successfully?
Also, ordered up a genuine replacement tank in lieu of the aluminum one specifically because of the level sensor provision.
the tanks have problems with the bleed nipples cracking, i think they got updated around 2012 or so after the tech bulletin came out. you can also drill a brass barb into it and it lasts the lifetime of the car.
other hack tip is just drive with the cap loose all the time and run 0 pressure all the time, stops the little 2 inch section of valley hose from popping.
Awesome insight. If I'm understanding correctly you're saying you've gone with slightly lower cap pressures over the years to lessen the strain on the system? And done so successfully?
Also, ordered up a genuine replacement tank in lieu of the aluminum one specifically because of the level sensor provision.
YES.
It just made sense, its an Aussie thing, haha.
Waaaaay back, Roadtrain days, that stinker ran hotter than I liked, especially with 4 trailers, and 85ton on board. A radiator guy suggested lowering the cap pressure, as there was zero wrong with the radiator etc. Penny dropped, and we backed it down from 16 to 13.
He then explained that the pressure did 2 things:
1) Raised the boiling point, and I forget the science now.
2) Forces the water around the system faster, and that can cause cooling issues, as the radiator requires XX amount of time to cool the water in the tubes.
Never had an issue after that, and thus cemented in my brain, "back off the pressure", and its just habot now with the fleet.
Son did that with his V6S/charged Holden, 22lb, always adding coolant, heater taps lasted little time, etc, went back to 15lb (just happened to be the one on my shelf), and 6 years later, NO issues ever again.
Summer made no visible change to any of mine, and the V12's were the ones I worried about a little, but actually the gauges all seemed to be very stable.
Interesting thing to note: I just received my replacement expansion tank yesterday. The cap on my car currently references 120 kPa. The replacement tank came with a cap that references 140 kPa. Seems like they went up for some reason.
Aluminum Expansion Tank/Coolant Reservoir
