s-spiff

Hi Folks,
This forum is a great place to share our collective passion as well as knowledge about our amazing cars. I'm hoping that someone out there has already faced this and knows a way around....

I've tried to replace my coolant expansion tank (leaking) and have already read all the articles and threads about what a night mare it is. I saw one other thread about someone with the same car as mine 997.1S and how he removed the tank without lowering the engine.

I had no issues removing the airbox and all hoses attached to the tank. The one thing that is not mentioned in any article or thread is that there is a large coolant pipe and flange that joins to a rubber hose directly underneath the tank.

When I slide out the tank towards the engine about an inch to let it drop out of the bracket above, the flange is underneath preventing the tank from dropping out of the bracket.

Is there a way to remove this flange that is attached to the hard pipe underneath? The pipe is held in place by one plastic clip which I opened, but I didn't want to break the pipe or any other connections without checking. For reference, it's the flange/pipe circled in red in the picture below:




If I can get the tank free of the bracket above, I may have a chance of removing it.

Thanks in advance.

Luxter

From my experience, it's impossible to remove the reservoir without dropping the engine.
Leave The hose in question intact, disconnect all O2 sensor wires near engine mounts And then you'll be able to slide the reservoir towards the engine and eventually remove it. It is still a pain even with engine lowered.
Hope that helps

=L=

Rotmilky

I did manage to get mine done without lowering the engine and without removing the hose you are pointing out. Yea, I did it but can't tell you how. Lots of twisting and grunting. In the process I smashed the fluid reservoir and somehow managed to yank off a coil from the plug.

When/if I ever do it again, I'm going to lower the motor. Support the motor with a jack and remove the two nuts that hold the rear of the motor up. Last time I did that, it took like 30 minutes. Repairing the level sensor and finding the yanked coil wire cost me quite a few hours.

Good luck!

bspurloc

I just finished this on mine and did the water pump at the same time. I used an old motorcycle lift to support the engine but you could use your floor jack if you add a 2x12 or something similar to support the entire oil pan. I removed all the bolts from the engine brace and the motor mount to get access to the water pump. While it was off I discovered a defective motor mount. Lowering the engine seems to be the only thing to do. Your question on the connector is easier. See the small wire in the picture. You slide it out of the "Henn" connector and then the rubber end pulls out of the aluminum pipe. There is a o-ring providing a seal so be gentle.


Here is the DIY I used to gt the tank out along with the shop Manual.

http://www.pelicanparts.com/techarti...eplacement.htm

Here is a good diy on flushing the system afterward. http://www.pedrosgarage.com/Site_3/F...nt_System.html

s-spiff

Thanks for the responses. So the only question I'm left with is the following:
The upper black bracket that the tank is held by has a series of "teeth" allowing you to not have to completely slide the tank out towards the engine. In the Renntech instructions, it mentions you only have to slide it out an inch which I did and the tank partially dropped. The coolant pipe and flange connector interferes with it dropping enough to clear the bracket.

Even if I dis-connect the rubber hose, the metal part of the flange still is attached to the hard coolant pipe which runs along the sheet metal. So even if I drop the engine, this hard coolant pipe is still in the way because it's attached to the body, not the engine.

Does this mean I have to drop the engine far enough to slide the tank completely to the right out of the bracket? Seems like more than 6 inches to drop which is further than the Pelican instructions....

user 72902

As you have experienced this task is a PITA. I lowered my engine more than the Pelican instructions and still had a heck of a time removing the tank. The rear clip on the tank is what was difficult and I ended up cutting it out. There is a thread that talks about removing the nuts that hold both clips which I did and that helped. Luckily the new tank went in a bit easier.

lurchphil

Quarantine and a real pain with the coolant tank. My life is complete. As shown above, I may have to remove the large hose if I'm going to be able to remove the tank. I have a GTS convertible which leaves very little room to operate. The tank and hoses are all free but getting the tank out has proved to be next to impossible. The motor mounts have been removed and the engine lowered. I may cut off the rear clip as JKW911 suggested. Any other suggestions?

ALEV8

Look up my thread on this.....I’ll see if I can find it. Dropping the engine is the easiest way to go and replace your engine mounts while you’re at it. That tank slides on a bracket which the tank fits to and the teeth need to align for removal. Front to back movement only to unlock the expansion/reservoir tank. Remove all hoses to freely move the reservoir tank and suck all the coolant out that you can with a vinyl tubing siphon and bucket, btw. Disturbingly easy once you unlock it from the track mounted to car unibody interior wall
on left.

Ray Young

S-Spiff, did you ever figure this out? I have the exact same issue where this large black hose connected to the flange is blocking removal. Any insight would be helpful and this is making me go insane.
BTW, I see you are in Toronto...I grew up in Scarborough but live in Boston now.

s-spiff

I ended up loosening the motor mounts to drop the engine a few inches enough to slide the tank out.