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Did my coolant tank this morning. Everything went pretty smooth thanks to the info in this thread and Rothwell's working thread linked above. Took about an hour going slowly and being careful. Had I not been visually inspecting other things during the process as well, it would have taken even less time. I did find that using the the turkey baster worked well and you could get it down in to the neck of the bottom hose and clear out a bit more coolant. That way there was no leaking from the thermostat housing to upper tank hose at all and very little from the bottom hose. Also the wine cork idea works well to curb coolant loss from the bottom hose.
Upon reassembly, I did have a small leak past the clamp on the thermostat housing to tank hose where it was reattached to the tank. Just a few drops as it heated up and I was able to re-position the clamp closer to the barb which stopped that. I did plan to replace the clamps with worm gear ones but decided to stick with the spring clamps and they seem to be working well. Brought it up to operating temp running the heat wide open and didn't find any other leaks anywhere in the system. I seem to have gotten it full enough by massaging the radiator hoses but well certainly keep checking for a few heat and cool cycles.
Thanks to all the folks here that contribute their time an knowledge. It has certainly been a big help to me! Now if that darn park sensor will ever come in......
I also replaced my tank last night. Thumbs up to S&G Barratt! Basically, I bought their aftermarket tank and I'll be damned . . . it had a faulty sensor/float thingy. Found out only by removing the tank and connecting the ohm meter to it (thanks to SRPOPE80). So, I called up William at S&G Barratt and ordered a real tank. He took my current tank for a refund, and discounted the new tank as a member of the forums! Awesome! Attached the tank and voila! no dash light! Took her to the Smog Test Station and she passed!
I also replaced my tank last night. Thumbs up to S&G Barratt! Basically, I bought their aftermarket tank and I'll be damned . . . it had a faulty sensor/float thingy. Found out only by removing the tank and connecting the ohm meter to it (thanks to SRPOPE80). So, I called up William at S&G Barratt and ordered a real tank. He took my current tank for a refund, and discounted the new tank as a member of the forums! Awesome! Attached the tank and voila! no dash light! Took her to the Smog Test Station and she passed!
Wow. Must be a rash of defective aftermarket tanks popping up. Hopefully they get it cleared up with the supplier.
Glad the video helped as I literally did the same thing; you question yourself on a new part like that but as a few have mentioned, you should always test your new parts if you can.
Glad she passed! This forum is such a great collection of knowledge and people. I love it!
Well turns out after replacing the coolant tank Saturday that even re-positioning the factory snap-spring clamp on the hose to from the tank to the thermostat housing still wouldn't stop the slow seep. Just wasn't quite tight enough. It didn't leak at idle all the way to operating temp but a road test revealed it. It now also has a worm gear clamp snugged down between the factory clamp and the tank. That seems to have stopped it finally. Fingers crossed!
I also have a new aftermarket coolant reservoir from SNG that has a coolant level fault. I'm waiting to hear back about a replacement, and will probably go for a genuine one.
Last edited by bladerunner919; 02-13-2019 at 06:25 AM.
Disappointing to read about the numerous defective coolant expansion reservoirs lately. As much as this item stays in demand, sure hope this clears up soon....
Disappointing to read about the numerous defective coolant expansion reservoirs lately. As much as this item stays in demand, sure hope this clears up soon....
Agreed Jon89,
Another great reason for the forum is reports of quality control... Good to know we all aren't crazy, and as I showed in the video I made, very easy to test.
Hi guys,just a update to say thanks for the info you gave me on removing and replacing my tank,as you say not a difficult job to do around 30mins for me to dismantle and replace , my old tank had a very minor leak that only seam to appear when hot and under pressure, look much worse than it was as the drip was directly over my manifold/cat area so lots of steam 😕 very embarrassing at the traffic lights ,all sorted now so cheers guys👌👍
Great thread gents,
This weekend, I need to remove the tank in order to access changing the LH bank camshaft cover gasket. Now I know what to look for
1. Turkey baster,
2. Wine cork
3. Plus a bit of garden hose
Cool! My wife has turned vegetarian recently, so the turkey baster .... wil be MINE!
A truly helpful thread. Really appreciated all the little tips and just adding a couple of observations as I finally got around to doing this job. I was in denial that it was even a crack at all and stalled doing the job for awhile. Hopefully a pic of my crack is attached🤔
The wine cork idea is perfect. Mine was from a nice white Bordeaux that I am about to drink! One of the things I did was disconnect everything including the bracket bolt which made a lot more wiggle room to get at the hose underneath and then the same in reverse, I fitted that hose first before mounting the tank.
The little silver sensor connector clip just presses in with the finger to release, no need to remove it as it stays on the connector that is attached to the vehicle. (Looks just like an injector connector to me). One thing tho it’s as tho the connector is upside down so to release that clip you would have to be pushing upwards on it from underneath.
As previous poster mentioned the whole sensor will probably come out but no worries they just push fit back in. The sensor on the new tank basically fell out and the plastic sleeve protecting the sensor wires promptly snapped off and so I took a chance and reused the old sensor which was working well and still is apparently.
Has anyone tried to repair a crack like this with RTV, epoxy or anything similar? It seems to me that it's worth a shot. If it doesn't work, no harm.
i think that FlexSeal spray might work but the issue is first locating the crack which you can’t really do without removing the tank. I initially tried holding the can underneath and spraying upwards onto the bottom of the tank but as you can see didn’t even come close to the crack. The aftermarket tanks are so inexpensive once u have it out might as well replace it. Also the Barr’s leak stuff didn’t! (Bar the leak).
I would not bother with attempting to repair these lousy plastic reservoir tanks. Once they get brittle and begin to leak at various places, you are far better off replacing them with new ones....
i think that FlexSeal spray might work but the issue is first locating the crack which you can’t really do without removing the tank. I initially tried holding the can underneath and spraying upwards onto the bottom of the tank but as you can see didn’t even come close to the crack. The aftermarket tanks are so inexpensive once u have it out might as well replace it. Also the Barr’s leak stuff didn’t! (Bar the leak).
After I replaced my tank, I tried FlexSeal on my old tank as well and was unsuccessful. It would not hold pressure.
Today is your day of reckoning. She will be looking for her turkey baster and you might as well hide in the dog's house because that's where you're going anyway. LOL
02-09-2019, 04:06 PM
