Coolant Overflow Reservior Crack

[Tool Pants]

I did not drain any coolant prior to pulling the tank.

Once I slid back the clamp on the rubber hose where the hose connects to the plastic nipple on the tank, I pulled the rubber hose off the nipple and then tilted the tank up (blue cap was on) so that the plastic nipple faced the sky. That way I lost very little coolant from the tank. I dumped the coolant out of the tank into a plastic bucket and that old coolant went back into the new tank.

Coolant from the other end of the rubber hose is not going to pour out the engine/radiators because the tank is the highest level of the cooling system. This is also why you really do not to bleed the system of air after a tank replacement.

[Charlestonboxster]

I did not drain any coolant prior to pulling the tank.

Once I slid back the clamp on the rubber hose where the hose connects to the plastic nipple on the tank, I pulled the rubber hose off the nipple and then tilted the tank up (blue cap was on) so that the plastic nipple faced the sky. That way I lost very little coolant from the tank. I dumped the coolant out of the tank into a plastic bucket and that old coolant went back into the new tank.

Coolant from the other end of the rubber hose is not going to pour out the engine/radiators because the tank is the highest level of the cooling system. This is also why you really do not to bleed the system of air after a tank replacement.

Got it, thanks for the fast reply, you are so helpful, mucho appreciated.

I removed all clamps/hoses in trunk end first, coolant was coming out, so I drained the tank with a shop vac via the open ended hoses, worked. Oh well.

Your tip on giving up on the clamp closest to firewall is critical, I'm assuming if I can get the other one off (at hose/tube joint) I'll be able to wedge the previous quasi-invisible clamp through the trunk wall hole, while still attached to the 3" of hose?

I'm now tackling the further clamp, and losing patience! Hacksaw and SawZall are standing by! Argh.

Working from above, only have long nose and regular pliers...did you get it off with pliers?

I am also considering clipping it off if I can get my metal clippers squeezed in there.

Thanks for your advice as allways, back to the garage for me, I'll check in a bit later!

Tony

[Charlestonboxster]

I won!

Barely...

In case this helps anyone tackling this:

Got the **** tank out, the rough way.

Amateur i am, I chopped up the tank with snippers and hacksaw and drill to be able to pull on the end part better.

Would gladly post many pictures I took, might show how not to do it!:)

The hardest part though:

I was able to remove the hose to tube clamp with normal pliers by wedging my hand in deep then slipping pliers to hand, squeezing clamp and sliding it over to the metal tube area. Wedged the hose off the metal tube with screwdriver and hands, twisting it first helped.

The infamous inaccessible clamp did, barely, squeeze through the trunk wall.

It was very nice to see it come through after all this.

I have a nice picture of this infamous clamp...:(

Many thanks to TP on this old thread, in reality, it's only the inner clamp that is tough, and sure enough, can easily be done from the top, 10 minutes once your at it, if you get your hand in from the right side, I'm a total newbie at mechanics, finally got it.

Off to buy screw clamps, and put the whole thing back together again.

Am concerned about coolant re-fill, will post how new tank install goes.

How do I upload pics?

Tony

[Tool Pants]

As I said before, it is not a good design. You have a plastic tank in the rear trunk, that needs to connect to a metal tube in the engine compartment, via a 3" rubber "heater" hose that has a spring band clamp on each end of the rubber hose. So where do you put the hose clamps when it is time to replace the tank - in places where it is a pain in the rear to get to them. When I did this I was frustrated enough that I was just going to cut the rubber hose with a knife - then probably wait 4 months for a new one from Germany. I did not think of cutting off the tank plastic nipple.

But then, I guess when Porsche designed the car they did not think the generations of plastic tanks would be failing for 10 years and need to be replaced.

For others, this is where the other end of the 3" rubber hose connects to the metal tube in the engine compartment. This is the hose that the instructions say to disconnect from under the car, but I gave up trying to do it from under the car. The picture is taken from the top after the engine lid was removed.

Red X is the rubber hose. Green X is the metal tube. Yellow arrow is the new worm drive clamp that replaced the original spring band pesky clamp.

[Charlestonboxster]

Tks TP

I thought about cutting that hose too, and replacing it.

To recap:

No need to jack the car

Need to release the spring clamp on the 3" piece in engine bay, clamp next to metal tube

Can be done by sliding your hand in from the side, and then sliding a small pair of offset pliers into your hand.

Warning: Knuckes will be worn to bear bone and blood.

Other spring clamp stays, comes with the hose when you "YANK" out the tank from the trunk

I put the spring clamp back on with the new tank, as it was smaller than a worm drive, and I had a tough time

fitting the 3" hose and clamp back through the gasket and firewall hole.

Wedging the tank gasket behind the firewall gasket was difficult, but doable.

I just filled the tank up, and off I went, all is very fine, and what a releif.

If you print all this and look at it while doing the job makes sense.

Tony

[Tee]

Anybody know what to torque the 7mm headed bolts up to on the bleed valve, mine are pretty loose and I'm getting condensation in the boot. It maybe just the cap so I've ordered a new one.

This is not my actual car by the way so I'm not getting the discharge as in the picture.

[geoff]

Anybody know what to torque the 7mm headed bolts up to on the bleed valve, mine are pretty loose and I'm getting condensation in the boot. It maybe just the cap so I've ordered a new one.

This is not my actual car by the way so I'm not getting the discharge as in the picture.

Been there and done that. I replaced my cap and still had moisture. Then I ordered replacement rubber rings, but tried tightening the bolts before replacing the rubber and the condensation went away. I didn't have a torque wrench, but tightening with a 1/4" drive socket didn't require much effort to end the condensation. Don't over tighten! Try tightening just a little and see if that stops the condensation, and if not, tighten a little more. If that still doesn't work, try replacing the two O-rings

[986Jim]

Just as an update to this. On my 99 Boxster this was quite easy and totally accessible from the top. I had the tank out in about 40 minutes.

The pic provided by tool pants (on my car at least) shows taking off the wrong clamp. If it wasn't for that it would have been a bit faster. Have a look at the pic which is attached. You can easily get to both of those clamps from the engine bay with a pair or normal pliers. I had the first one originally pointed to in yellow off in about 5 minutes and figured out it was the wrong one, then did the one I marked in red at the bottom in about 2 mintues as it's easier to get to and had the whole tank out in no time.

Seriously I could re-re one of these in under an hour now, so don't be afraid to do this yourself it's a piece of cake.

Pic:

Top hose is the oil fill tube, no need to undo this it's attached to the plastic plate that runs into the trunk.

Next three are the three that run through to the tank attached to the plastic plate as well. No need to undo any of these in the engine bay.

The very bottom on, the largest hose is the one thats attached to the tank and the one you will need to remove. It's easy to get at from in the engine bay. I'm 6.0' and 175lbs and have good sized arms and could get in there no prob. Once you undo that the tank pulls right through with no problems at all. I ordered my tank from my local Porsche today for $250 so I will have it back up and running in no time.

I didn't bother buying from Sunset as its $170 for the part plus $35 shipping to Canada then duties on top of that so $250 from my local dealer was actually cheaper.

[Tool Pants]

Oops - marked the wrong hose/clamp with the yellow arrow.

It seems that for a DIYer without a lift the best way is to replace the tank from the top. I started trying to do it from the bottom because all the instructions/mechanics said to do it that way. Gave up. And then replaced it from the top.

[986Jim]

Oops - marked the wrong hose/clamp with the yellow arrow.

It seems that for a DIYer without a lift the best way is to replace the tank from the top. I started trying to do it from the bottom because all the instructions/mechanics said to do it that way. Gave up. And then replaced it from the top.

The only reason I tried from the top was your picture and saying that it could be done that way. It slowed me up taking off the wrong clamp, boy was I ticked hahahah. Not your fault. I found that using a standard pair of needle nose pliers that open about 1.5" at the tip worked really well to get those clamps. Once I found a pair that opened up wide and were short getting those clamps on and off was pretty easily.

Btw, I have a lift and still did if from the top and would do it that way again. After all is said and done really it took me about 2 hours start to finish, I couldn't do it in 1 hour cause it came out a lot easier than it went back in. Either way I would say easily could be done by a standard DIYer with some patients in 2-3 hours start to finish driving down the road.

[Tool Pants]

It has been 21 months since I replaced the tank and I have not checked the level since I replaced it and put on the .01 cap. I needed to add 2 cups of water to bring it up to the max level.

A few days ago I was talking to the mechanic who showed me how to replace the tank. He was working on a red 2000 S. He had just replaced the water pump. I saw the trunk carpet had been pulled back, so you know what was next to be replaced. It was easy to see the dried coolant under the tank.

He said he was going to replace the tank in 25 minutes. I should have stayed around and timed him.

And there is also yet another blue coolant cap. The part number on the cap itself ends in .02, but the part number on the plastic bag it comes in is still .01. Sorry for the poor quality picture as I did not want to open the bag as I was not buying the cap.

[Guest]

Victor,

Sounds like coolant's getting into your engine via a blown head gasket. Bend over. Hope you are under warranty.

9

[Guest]

I want to start by thanking they guys who posted the original thread on this topic which can be found here:

http://www.renntech.org/forums/index.php?s...c=6675&st=0

It was a big help the first time I did this job. It was a bit of work, but I did have the advantage of having the tool to uncompress the hose clamp and was easily able to loosen the hose. I went in right from the top, I didn't even contemplate jacking the car. From the passenger side I was able to reach down and get the tool on the clamp by snaking it through from the opposite (driver's) side of the car.

The first time I did the tank on our 2002 it only took about 1 hour and 40 minutes. Too bad that tank only lasted a week before it failed. This time in a completely different place than the original, but it failed, spraying coolant all over the interior of the trunk.

So we talked to the shop and they agreed that that was Bull$h!t and they ordered up another tank for us at no charge. So the second time around I was able to get the tank in in a mere 45 minutes. The second time was a breeze as I knew all the proper contortions and had the cracked one out of the car 10 minutes after draining the thing. A few minutes later I was topping up the tank, pulling the bleed valve up and running the heat up to wow.

I got the system fully bled and all was dandy. So it's been about 5 weeks and all was well until...

Tonight after coming home from dinner my wife looks down under the rear passenger wheel and sure enough, there's that familiar puddle under the wheel. **** IT! I put my hand into the trunk and didn't have to go far before I felt the dampness. The stench of ethylene glycol was enough to choke a horse.

So we'll be calling up the parts desk again on Monday to get another (yes count 'em... one.. two.. three) tank. The third in just 2 months.

I'm actually starting to get pretty pissed off here. I'm a **** careful mechanic. I use a torque wrench on everything and I have been very gentle with the installation of these tanks. They just keep failing. There's no logical reason for it. It's abviously a really bad design and they've superceded the part enough times to make it clear that they have some serious problems with them failing.

Sure we drive the car harder than most, but we don't abuse it or bounce it off curbs. That's why we have Porsche's. If I wasn't driving the sh!t out of my cars I'd buy something else, but these things are designed (and intended) to be driven like this.

So I'm just curious, has anyone else seen this sort of issue with these &%$)@#! expansion tanks?

Edited November 4, 2007 by 986

[Tool Pants]

Where are you getting the tanks from? If it is an aftermarket tank who makes it?

[zodman]

Greetings all!

I'd like to add my two bits...

I recently purchased a 2001 boxsterS, and about a week after, I noticed a antifreeze leak under both sides of the right rear wheel, then remembered my earlier research here on the board.

Pulled the carpet up and sure enough, it was wetter and stickier than I was when I first drove a Porsche :clapping:

Tip# 1. I figured that it might be a while before I get a replacement tank, but I didn't want to have the antifreeze slooshing around the trunk area, or leaking onto the ground, so I got a roll of paper towels and would place a few rolled up sheets on the floor under the styrofoam everyday to suck up the fluid until the new tank arrived.

The paper towel trick worked very well, kept it contained and stopped the drips onto the ground.

The new tank and cap arrived from Sunset (kudos to Loren for the link on this site) and I choose to do all from the top rather than lifting the car.

After removing the carpet, styrofoam pads, opening the engine compartment, it all looked doable, but the hardest is that pesky hose on the engine side of the firewall...I just didn't have the room to grasp the hose clamp on either end.

Tip#2. Then I noticed a round do-wicky (for lack of a proper description) attached to the passenger side of the engine area. It has three 10mm nuts and one 14mm ground nut, and one hose. After I removed that, I could easily reach the clamp closest to the firewall.

Tip#3. After installing the new tank, I still had to reattach the hose in the engine area, so I used my hose clamp pliers and while outside of the car, I clamped the ring fully open. Then I was able to easily slip it onto the hose, place the hose onto the tank spigot, then slide and then release the clamp into a angle that I can easliy access the next time.

------------

The fracture points on my old tank appear in almost the same spots as the other ones I've seen here on this board, so my best guess is that the polymers become stressed and brittle with heat, pressure and time in these thinnest areas. Perhaps they need to change either the overall thickness in these stress points, or the types of polymers that they are using.

When I first considered buying this model, I made sure that I felt the carpets for any fluids, and it was all dry, but I should of also lifted that corner to make sure it was dry too. It wouldn't of detered me from buying the car, but I could of used that info in negot. a slightly cheaper offer.

------------

I also want to thank all the users of this board, even though this is my first post, I've been lurking for weeks absorbing all the info like a brawny paper towel. I'm in the SF Bay Area, and I look forward to a WOCD someday.

David

[Guest]

I'm using the Porsche part. 996.106.147.07 tank and the 986.106.447.01 cap.

Again, the tanks are going in fine, no problems mounting them at all, if you have to correct tool for the clamps it's a piece of cake. This third time however I am going to replace the clamps with stainless hose clamps.

The odd thing is these tanks do not seem to be failing in the bottom of the tank, but rather on the back side where it faces the rear wheel well.

I'm beginning to think I want to call PNA and give them a bill for all the wasted time.

9

[ashleyisagirlsname]

Just changed out my reservoir. I am in Calgary Canada and instead of paying $310 for parts from my dealer, I got it from Sunset Porsche for only $176. Took about 3 hours all together. Went in from the engine bay on top. Overall this is not a hard project, it just takes patience. I used regular old offset pliers (the bent ones) and replaced everything with worm driven clamps. Remove the reservoir hose inside the engine bay, where the hose is connected to the engine, not where it connects to the reservoir tank. Once removed, use force to yank out the tank.

[juniinc]

uhm

Edited May 17, 2008 by juniinc

[jeremyma]

As I said before, it is not a good design. You have a plastic tank in the rear trunk, that needs to connect to a metal tube in the engine compartment, via a 3" rubber "heater" hose that has a spring band clamp on each end of the rubber hose. So where do you put the hose clamps when it is time to replace the tank - in places where it is a pain in the rear to get to them. When I did this I was frustrated enough that I was just going to cut the rubber hose with a knife - then probably wait 4 months for a new one from Germany. I did not think of cutting off the tank plastic nipple.

But then, I guess when Porsche designed the car they did not think the generations of plastic tanks would be failing for 10 years and need to be replaced.

For others, this is where the other end of the 3" rubber hose connects to the metal tube in the engine compartment. This is the hose that the instructions say to disconnect from under the car, but I gave up trying to do it from under the car. The picture is taken from the top after the engine lid was removed.

Red X is the rubber hose. Green X is the metal tube. Yellow arrow is the new worm drive clamp that replaced the original spring band pesky clamp.

Tools Pants, very nice job on the detail picture.. I am trying to replace this my self.

can you tell me where from the top this picture was taken. Its small space, There seem to be two place where this tube is. Did you have to take the medal (cover the soft top down) top off. I tried to reach my hand down there no luck. . if you can take a bigger picture of overall area would be greatly appreciated...

THANKS

[CA_Boxster]

Reviving an old thread after finding what I could with search...

I have a 2000 regular Boxster thad has has the slow coolant leak for a while now. It was VERY slow for a while but I eventually found myself topping it off regularly. Somewhere along the way I smelled the hot coolant in the trunk and pulled the carpeting back to see the puddle of coolant in the trunk. It's definitely getting worse over time so I'm going to replace the tank. I don't like the idea of paying a shop $700 for this so I'm thinking about doing it myself. I've read all the posts I could find, tomorrow I'll get n the engine compartment and determine how difficult it will be to reach the clamps and I'll decide if I want to do it.

My question: Any last advise or new wisdom from the guys who have tried it (or who have tried to follow the early examples here?). Has anyone written up the steps for doing this going in from the top of the engine? I.e., not just how to reach the clamp, but how oto avoid spilling coolant everywhere, replacement clamp size, etc.?

[Tool Pants]

There is a new independent shop in Santa Clara owned by Marvin Weitz. He worked for Stevens Creek and then Carlsen. He is going to replace my clutch. Might see what he charges unless you want to do it yourself.

He does it a way I have not seen before. He removes the big round electrical plug next to the tank in order to get to the clamp.

[CA_Boxster]

There is a new independent shop in Santa Clara owned by Marvin Weitz. He worked for Stevens Creek and then Claridges. He is going to replace my clutch. Might see what he charges unless you want to do it yourself.

He does it a way I have not seen before. He removes the big round electrical plug next to the tank in order to get to the clamp.

Thanks for the lead. I'll give him a call. I'm also going to need a 4 wheel brake job and rotorsbefore long. The expense of that one has me thinking about starting to go somewhere other than the dealer. I was going to try RMG in Sunnyvale. Do you think Marvin would be a good one to do that as well?

[Tool Pants]

2 1/2 years after I replaced the plastic coolant tank my car is on the lift for a clutch replacement.

With the transmission out you can see all the hoses. I had flashbacks.

Now I can take a decent picture of the 3" rubber connecting hose. And you can see the 2 worm drive clamps that I used.

[Edman]

I have this problem. Dealer quoted me $675 for parts and labor. I think I could do it myself, but what I really want to know - and what really steams me here - is why the dealer said this wasn't covered by the Porsche Certified (used) Car Warranty? I plan to call them today, over the weekend, or Monday and try to find out and persuade them, but I wanted to know if anyone has had success in getting this reservoir replacement covered under the Porsche Certified Warranty?

If you have... TELL ME HOW??? Thanks! If I need to do it myself, I will be unbelievably grateful for this thread!!!

[Edman]

I called Porsche to complain about why this wasn't covered under the certified warranty. I used the # of revisions to the part number to support the notion that the part was defective in materials or workmanship. The lady took my information, asked if the car had been in an accident or serviced by anyone other than a Porsche dealer (no on both) and said she'd get back to me. She called back and said Porsche would cover 70%. I left it in today, and $230 later, my tank is brand new and leak free!