HELP, Coolant tank removal

[dr_karlb]

I will be changing my cracked tank in the next few days.

I have read all the DIY's and threads.

I have a quick question.

There is a cylinder shaped thing on the right side of the tank quite deep inside the engine bay. (i will try to post a picture) What is this and does it need to be removed ? If so how do i remove it ? Can the tank come out with it in place ? None of the DIY's mention this or show it on the photo's, but it looks to be in the way.

(i have a 2001 C4 Cab if that helps)

Any special tools needed for this job (metric sockets, wrenches and allen keys ??). Do i need a special tool for compressing the hose clamps ?

ANy other advice ?

From the DIY i guess i do the following:

Remove the Air Filter (single bolt ??)

Remove the Air Pump (2 bolts and one nut)

Remove 2 fuel lines (do i need to do anything special here ? Blead something afterwards ?)

Drain the coolant from the one drain plug at the engine bottom

Remove 3 hoses and 1 sensor from the coolant tank

Carefully pull the tank out

Thanks

[dr_karlb]

[Loren]

The fuel filter (your pic) is clamped to the coolant tank on a C4. Just take the screw clamp off of it.

I would get new screw type hose clamps. They are easier to work with and some of the spring clamp type may not hold well after re-use.

Be prepared to be patient getting the tank out. It only comes out one way and a few folks have even lowered the engine an inch or so to make it easier (but that is more work).

And, yes open the bleed valve after re-filling and check it often over the next few days.

[Jeff_C]

I also have a '01 C4 Cab and just did this. I would echo Loren's suggestion to be very patient and definitely lower the engine! It's not that big of a deal and makes a huge difference (at least it did in my case). A dremel comes in handy too ;)

Please feel free to PM me for encouragement and/or support and I will keep an eye on this thread too.

Jeff

[dr_karlb]

Thanks Jeff,

Planning on taking the dremel home from Work.

I plan to start this friday night or sat morning and hope i dont need any spares from the dealer.

Thanks for the offer... lots of people seem to get really frustrated with this DIY.

I work on expensive machinery every day, and some of those are quite tight to get to.

Fingers crossed on this one that i get lucky and get a tank that comes out easily

[dr_karlb]

Ok,

Well i got this one completed on saturday afternoon.

No so bad really... took about 1hr 45min or so. After the tank came out i couldnt see the cracks anywhere so spent a stressful afternoon wondering if i had fixed anything and actually had cracked heads/cylinders etc.

The next day i took a close look and had a V shaped crack on the backside of the tank in one of the folds, with crusted coolant just below it. There were a bunch or other cracks starting deep inside the plastic at different locations

Mine is a 2001 so has a different tank design to the one in the DIY (longer at least).

Here are my comments to help others with the newer tank.

Take off the gas cap and the coolant cap before you start. The coolant drains really slowly with the cap in place (and really fast with it removed)

I only removed the Air Box Snorkel, not the whole assembly. Its not really in the way at all.

Remove the secondary air pump entirely. This seems much easier that tying it back. Only one hose and one connector to remove.

Absolutley, follow Lorens advice and get screw type hose clamps. Those spring type are a B$%^& to get off and im sure i could never put them back correctly. This was the hardest part of the job in my case.

The level sensor in this years tank comes out very easily. I would remove completely before removing the tank, and certainly not install it back in the new tank until its fully installed. Both were extremely easy jobs, and im sure i would have broken it if it was mounted on the tank

Remove the fuel filter. I made a real meal of this (fully removed the screw clamp, tried to unscrew the fuel lines etc). Its actually very easy. Loosen the screw type hose clamp and the whole assembly unclips from the coolant tank (clip at the front nearest you, tab in a slot at the back). The upper fuel hose is on some kind of quick disconnect running along the top of the engine bay, and the lower fuel line gets removed in the DIY anyway. The whole thing then just slips out (and dumps a filter-load of gas on my feet!)

Dremel off the tab on the tank's locating feature furthest away from you. Only one little part needs to come off, and for good measure i did the same on the new tank. There are 6 tabs and its a tight fit, so one wont be missed.

In really cant see how dropping the engine can help the removal in any way. Mine hung up on the hose clamp on the big (1.25"?) coolant tube running front to back. I loosened the hose clamp and rotated out of the way, the tank just slid right out. Sorry i cant be more specific, but i was a bit surprised it came out so quick and cant describe this any better. Reinstallation was also surprisingly fast. Tilt the top of the tank towards the engine so the lower hose parts miss the fuel rails and it seem to go right back in

I pulled the bleed valve up to fill the tank and got most of the coolant back in. After a short drive it needed a few pints to go from min to max.

So far no leaks,

Q: if the fuel lines leak you could smell this, right ? I think im being paranoid, and dont see any leaks. The quick disconnect on the fuel filter inlet came off so easy im worried it doesnt seal well.... but it doesnt leak when i watch the engine idle hot or cold.

Perhaps this can be added to the DIY if there is interest.?

[johnbruni]

2002 C2 Cab, 3.6l engine..

has anyone done the coolant tank replacement on this engine? The tank seems to be larger and more difficult to remove as the fuel rail gets in the way of the bottom hose connection to the coolant tank.

Someone mentioned lowering the engine an inch. Does anyone have the infomation to accomplish that? It seems that that would get the fuel rail out of the way and the tank would slide back in.

Thanks for any help