Coolant tank replaced, not fun.
05-29-2011, 03:40 PM
#1
Coolant tank replaced, not fun.
Well I spent a good 8 hours yesterday replacing a leaking coolant tank. What a pain. My hands are all cut up and bruised. I guess I'm officially initiated into the Boxster wrenchers club.
In case anyone's interested, here are my observations. Its definitely doable but you need some patience. Don't even think about doing the job without a cable actuated hose clamp plier. Even with the pliers, I couldn't get a couple of big clamps off.
Most of the work has to be done from underneath, which means taking down the diagonal braces and the steel underpan. You also need access from the engine bay, some of the clamps are easier from the the top.
The big problem is getting the hoses off from the engine side of the coolant tank manifold. Most of the hoses have two connections, one directly at the manifold and another further up the line. If at all possible, try to disconnect the hose further up the line, much easier.
There are some hoses you will have to disconnect right at the manifold. Unbolt the manifold from inside the trunk. Get the pliers on the clamp, then pull the manifold out from the trunk to get some room and wrestle, pry the hose off the engine side of the manifold. An assitant would be nice here, to pull on the manifold from the trunk while you wrestle with the hoses underneath the car. I did it alone by pulling the manifold off the 2 mounting studs and turning it so the studs held it away from the bulkhead. First hose is the hardest, as you remove hoses, the rest get easier.
When you are ready to install the engine side hoses on the new tank, do not use the spring clamps! Throw those clamps as far away as you can. Get conventional screw on hose clamps. Lubricate the hose and the fitting with coolant and they slide right on. It took me a good 5 hours to get the engine side hoses off and about 45 minutes to put them back on.
Patience, take some breaks, and you will get through it.
By the way, if you are Catholic, you will definitely have to go to confession after this job to confess your sins of taking the Lord's name in vain.
In case anyone's interested, here are my observations. Its definitely doable but you need some patience. Don't even think about doing the job without a cable actuated hose clamp plier. Even with the pliers, I couldn't get a couple of big clamps off.
Most of the work has to be done from underneath, which means taking down the diagonal braces and the steel underpan. You also need access from the engine bay, some of the clamps are easier from the the top.
The big problem is getting the hoses off from the engine side of the coolant tank manifold. Most of the hoses have two connections, one directly at the manifold and another further up the line. If at all possible, try to disconnect the hose further up the line, much easier.
There are some hoses you will have to disconnect right at the manifold. Unbolt the manifold from inside the trunk. Get the pliers on the clamp, then pull the manifold out from the trunk to get some room and wrestle, pry the hose off the engine side of the manifold. An assitant would be nice here, to pull on the manifold from the trunk while you wrestle with the hoses underneath the car. I did it alone by pulling the manifold off the 2 mounting studs and turning it so the studs held it away from the bulkhead. First hose is the hardest, as you remove hoses, the rest get easier.
When you are ready to install the engine side hoses on the new tank, do not use the spring clamps! Throw those clamps as far away as you can. Get conventional screw on hose clamps. Lubricate the hose and the fitting with coolant and they slide right on. It took me a good 5 hours to get the engine side hoses off and about 45 minutes to put them back on.
Patience, take some breaks, and you will get through it.
By the way, if you are Catholic, you will definitely have to go to confession after this job to confess your sins of taking the Lord's name in vain.
05-29-2011, 10:40 PM
#2
I just did the oil filler tube and AOS, so I can definitely sympathize. I am shocked Porsche released this crappy design. I guess we have Toyota consultants to thank for this crap. The car is designed for ease of factory assembly without a thought to maintenance.
Great suggestion regarding replacing the Japanese style spring clamps with real hose clamps. I did this with the AOS also. Somehow I managed with just pliers and used the studs in the trunk to hold the tank out as you did. Fortunately, next time (and there will be a next time given all the cheap plastic used on this car) the job should be easier with real hose clamps.
Cheers,
Joe
Great suggestion regarding replacing the Japanese style spring clamps with real hose clamps. I did this with the AOS also. Somehow I managed with just pliers and used the studs in the trunk to hold the tank out as you did. Fortunately, next time (and there will be a next time given all the cheap plastic used on this car) the job should be easier with real hose clamps.
Cheers,
Joe
05-30-2011, 07:24 AM
#3
I agree the manifold design is just the worst. And it would have been so easy to design a manifold that made the coolant tank replacement so easy. All they had to do was design a manifold that had nipples on both sides, the engine side and the trunk side , for alll of the hoses. Then, to replace the tank, all you would have to do is disconnect 5 hoses at the manifold from the trunk side and you would never even have to go to the engine side.
By the way, hats off to you for being able to reomve the engine side hoses with just pliers.
By the way, hats off to you for being able to reomve the engine side hoses with just pliers.
05-30-2011, 04:51 PM
#4
Race Director
When I had my Boxster in for its coolant tank job the tech told me it was clear the design was for ease of assembly, that no thought had been given for any replacement.
But that is often the case with cars.
I told the tech that if it made the job faster to cut the hoses and replace them. He said it wouldn't make that much difference in time (which is what I was hoping to save) and the hoses were not cheap. Besides he said the hoses appear to be really long lived so I would throwing away good hoses.
Sincerely,
Macster.
But that is often the case with cars.
I told the tech that if it made the job faster to cut the hoses and replace them. He said it wouldn't make that much difference in time (which is what I was hoping to save) and the hoses were not cheap. Besides he said the hoses appear to be really long lived so I would throwing away good hoses.
Sincerely,
Macster.
