Coolant tank

I have an 04 C2 Cab with 47k miles. Planning a coolant change, it's time, and thinking about replacing the coolant tank while I'm at it. ($145 part). Haven't seen a leak but i know they will crack eventually. Is this a good time for PM, what age do they start failing? I was also told by my parts supplier that the engine on the 04 has to be lowered slightly to let the tank clear. Does anyone know if that's the case and what has to be done to do that? Is that a big deal ($$)? Maybe this is a better "if it ain't broke don't fix it" situation? Thanks.

Mine was an 02 with less than 30K miles and leaked last year. I didn't have issues with the leaks, but some have misfires from the coolant dripping onto the ignition coils. So if coolant is going to be out, probably not a bad idea. But it is one of the more annoying fixes. I don't think I could've had done it without lowering the engine. Even then, you have to get creative with combination of tools. I broke the plastic mount and thermometer trying to yank out the tank - so a bit extra cost for me. Lowering the engine is really easy on these cars. The hard part is getting coolant tank mount on and off. If you have a droopy exhaust, this might be a good time to change the engine mounts too - seeing as how you're going to be messing around with those anyway to lower the engine.

Thanks! I know the engine was out 2 yrs ago but the motor mounts weren't replaced then. Don't see any tailpipe droops so maybe the mounts are still good. But, it sounds like i might was well change them if the engine has to be disconnected from the mounts anyway. And hopefully not break anything while doing it! I may as well order the plastic mount anyway. Any other "while you are in theres" that I should look at?

If you buy a tank, have them ready to ship, enter RENNLIST at checkout to get 10% off. https://www.warehouse33auto.com/GENU...996-106-157-04 -Jason

Mine leaked when I bought the car. Went from only occasionally to a lot at a DE. Dropping the engine is a must. Slide the tank out of its mount as far as you can to expose tho two screws that hold the black bracket to the car. Remove the screws (much easier said than done) and the tank will come out. I chose to replace the water pump, tstat and coolant while in there. No more cooling issues. Tstat was the low temp Motorad brand from Pelican.

If you don't see a sagging tailpipe, I wouldn't worry about it. Replacing the mounts is cake and sagging mount won't sideline the car. I bet most the 996's that are on the road today need new new mounts. While your airbox is out. Take a look at the serpentine belt and look for cracks and fraying. If it looks due, take off the belt and inspect the pulley's for wobbles. I would spend more for the OEM belt and pulleys. I've experienced durability and fitment issues with after market.

I found the coolant tank replacement to be a bitch of a job on my '04 cab. I dropped the engine as far as possible and still could not get the tank to clear the fuel rail to extract the tank. I also don't see how you could access the bracket bolts to remove those and then remove the tank. I ended up breaking the tank I removed, then cutting a notch in the rail of the new tank so I could slide it in on an angle. Hope you have better luck. In the end, mission accomplished and no issues since. It definitely needed to be replaced..

Why do they fail? What can be done to prolong failure?

How low do you have to drop the engine to get the tank out? I'm going to be tackling this soon. I already have my transmission out for clutch, ims, rms etc on my 02 cab and have the back of the engine supported on an adjustable bar. Can you just loosen the lower nuts on the motor mounts as far as you can without them coming off to get the necessary clearance?

When the engine was out of my car it got a new water pump and probably a tstat, but I'll look at it and see if it looks new.. So I don't need to take engine completely out. I tnink new motor mounts sound like a good idea. Good tip on notching the tank.

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They are plastic and just get brittle with age.

On my 2003 C2 I was not able to wrestle the tank out by just lowering the engine....at least I was not comfortable lowering it that far b/c I could see it putting strain on various electrical harnesses and tubing so I did not want to go any lower. I had to remove the left side intake (like you do when replacing the AOS). It wasn't too bad but getting the intake bolts back in, especially the frontmost one, is very fiddley. I had actually just replaced my AOS, then reinstalled the left intake, assuming I could lower the engine to change the coolant tank....not so....so I pulled the left intake back out again. Interestingly the car had a new(er) tank in it when I bought it and it was leaking a bit. Upon removal I found that the PO had cracked the new tank when installing...probably from trying to force it in to place w/ just the engine lowered, with a mallet or something. The corresponding scars were visible on the corner of the left intake as well as on the car body edge of the engine bay opening.

it's a bitch of a job. I only replaced mine at 33K miles because it was leaking. I had to take the engine mount nuts off completely in order to lower the engine enough for clearance to replace the tank

A new tank is clean and white. Old ones tend to yellow.

Have a new tank ordered. A little PM coming up when the coolant is changed.

I did not lower it all the way. The memory is fuzzy, but lower incrementally while keeping an eye everything and making sure that not is going to break loose. There was some stuff clipped to both the engine compartment and the block. The clips on the hoses were also a pain. The Porsche clamp tool was useless, channel locks were much better - I suggest you get a pair of those. You will have to fidget and massage the tank out when pulling it. You will likely get some good cuts on the hands and you may curse a great deal. Pelican has a tutorial and I'm sure a Google search will be helpful. I did the same thing Rockhouse did. Its not the tank you notch, it's the mount. You'll see when you get there. Try to avoid cuttng a way a piece of the mount (I think I could avoid it now if I had to - using a different assortment of tools) - but if you do, a Dremel is also handy. Good luck, post up if you get stuck.

These worked great for me with the clips: Amazon Amazon Amazon Amazon I have the remote cable type pliers too but found these most useful. The straight ones are what I used the most.

FWIW here's a photo of mine...engine lowered down on the engine mount stud nut as low as it will go, left side intake out, coolant tank out.

This is sounding like,e a two beer job, ugh.

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LOL that's so true it's quotable!

Yup...while you are in there...New AOS, New Starter/Alternator Y-cable, New oil filler tube, Check condition of vacuum lines that are on top of the engine if these things have not been done already.

F6I rebuilt the engine as a Stage II 16k miles ago so all the internals are good, but worth looking at wiring and vacuum lines. Guess a good going-over will be a good idea.

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Make that "lowered slightly" to "lowered to the max" with the O2 sensors connectors disconnected so not to strain those wires. Then you will find that the hex cap on the left fuel rail will prevent the tank from freeing. You can remove that nut (carefully counter it with a wrench/crow foot on the rail and make sure you don't drop anything inside the fuel rail) or another way is to remove the black tank bracket but reinstalling the bracket with the new tank in place will not be easy.

I stand corrected. Do whatever Ahsai tells you.

^I don't see anything wrong with your suggestion....always more than one way to skin a cat