HELP! Going mad removing expansion tank

I think I've read every thread here on replacing the coolant expansion tank, as well as watching numerous "how to" videos (Raby, FCP Euro, plus many others), but when it came time to replace my tank today, it sure felt like nothing was going as easy as in the videos (I know, imagine that). I've detached all the hoses, disconnected the fluid level sensor, etc., all the standard stuff. At first, I didn't disconnect any fuel lines, but I saw at least one was really going to be an issue (not in the videos, surprisingly). I tried to remove both ends, but neither would budge, so I wound up just cutting it in the middle for now. I'll have to get a new hose (can't find the part # yet) or maybe splice in a hose connector after I'm finished. If anybody knows the magic to remove it, please let me know. I removed the valve on the top of the tank, cut off part of the lower hose connector, cut off the hose retainer on the top of the tank, etc., but nothing is working to allow me to get the tank out. I tried to remove the black connector at the top, to give me more room, but I could only get one of the bolts out. I've lowered the engine to what (I think) is the lowest point I can go. If I go any further, the cats are going to be hitting the lower lip of the heat shield/bumper cover. Maybe that's nothing to worry about. I've attached a few pics for reference. Any additional tips are greatly appreciated. I'm completely frustrated at this point. Missing valve and completely disengaged from the black connector. I cut off the hose connector, and also cut one of the fuel (right?) lines and pushed it out of the way. No more hose "holder" to get in the way.

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Not sure this advice will help you, but this worked for me. I lowered the engine as much as i could and then my friend laid on the ground and with his feet and legs pushed the engined to the right allowing the tank to come right out and the new one put in. Was easy..

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Hmmm..... I think I recall reading that here in the forums, but honestly, didn't give it a lot of thought. Time to find a friend with some strong legs

I am in the process of replacing my 2003 3.6L tank. The only way that I was able to remove the tank, is when I broke the black tank holder on one corner, then I was able to remove it. I am installing a new tank tomorrow. My plan is to install it first, then push as far forward as it will go, then install a new black mounting bracket and hope that I can slide it in.

All I can say is I�m glad you�re not my mechanic� Just cutting a bunch of stuff to get it out of the way is totally counter productive! Do you at least have replacements for the parts you destroyed? If not, you should start looking for them and ordering now�this should at least help you when you�re ready to start putting things back together�

Not the best video, but it might help. the key is the installation and removal of the black bracket. You Tube

This looks like a 996.1? I helped a buddy do his last summer. You have to lower the engine a surprising amount, and even then, it is a tight fit, but doable. I’d try dropping the engine some more, just watch for interference as you do it to avoid breaking anything. Worst case, pull the bumper cover, which is only a 10 min job.

Keep an eye on the O2 sensor wires as you lower the engine so you don't pull one apart. But definitely lower the engine as much as possible.

My wife's 997 hits 120,000 miles in a couple months. At that point, the engine is dropped so I can replace pulleys, belts, starter, AOS, heat exchanger seals, spark plugs, coils, scope the cylinders AND changing the coolant tank. I expect that tank thing will take exactly 5 minutes with no swearing. Good luck.

I was able to replace the tank on my MK1 by lowering the motor as much as possible. I didn't remove fuel lines and I certainly didn't cut anything. Lower the motor, replace the fuel line, and put away your cutting tools. You got this.

Relax guys. I only cut the fuel line after doing my research, and many unsuccessful attempts to remove one (or both) ends. After the tank is out, I'll have more room to work on removing each end, and replacing it. I don't have a practice of just randomly cutting things that are in the way, for sure.

Sorry� probably sounded worse than it is. The fuel line has a hard plastic inner core that molds around the barbed fitting it slips over - almost impossible to pull it off the fitting without heating it up (with a heat gun - no flame 😳&#129327 . Anyway, as others have said, lower all the way to the crossmember (remember to loosen the transmission mount too), and push the engine over toward the passenger side�

If you cut the fuel line I think you are going to have BIG problems!! When I replaced by coolant tank I had he engine out, and managed to use the newer style (996.2) tank on my 996.1. I am planning on doing a write up on this when I have some time as the newer tanks are less than half the price of the older ones for OEM/Porsche tanks. But back to the fuel lines, when I was putting my engine back in I twisted and cracked the hard plastic fuel line (a 996.1 has two lines). I tried numerous repairs to fix this, cutting off the cracked section and using heat, etc. to get the remaining had plastic to seal on the metal end fitting but was never successful., it leaked every time the line was pressurized. I ended up having to order a replacement line which had to come from Germany. And to replace it you have to drop the engine as the line is one piece that goes along the had coolant pipe, above the engine along the frame rail and back under the car and winds around other lines, etc. Even with the engine out of the car it took a couple of hours to snake it through including removing clamps and other lines. Good luck!

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Yea... I tried to keep my mouth shut, but cutting the fuel line in frustration was a big mistake. The 996 in the video that was posted on the other expansion tank thread (re posted below) for Rennlist was my car. Of course, while the video does make the process look easy, the fact is... for a Flat 6 Innovations experienced employee, it was easy because they've done many, many times. The guy in the video was able to get the tank in and out with little or no trouble. I was impressed to say the least. I guess direct experience and a little muscle memory was helpful in knowing how to noodle the tanks in and out of the mount. You Tube

The video is nice, but there is no way a 3.6L tank will come out and install that easy like the car in the video. It must be a 3.4L.

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The car was a 2002 Porsche 996 with a 3.6L engine. Literally, it was that smooth for the guy from Flat 6 Innovations, but again, he's very experienced and has dealt with these things many times. Irregardless, I don't doubt it's a PITA job. I just did a job on my daughter's car that required removal of the throttle body and intake just to replace a thermostat and so I totally get the frustration. If I had tried to cut corners, it would have meant lots of frustration and in the end the part would have not be able to be removed because of the tight clearances. My best advice beyond watching videos demonstrating the procedure would be to label all lines that are removed and take lots of pictures along the way. If you get to the point where you've hit a major roadblock, call it a night and rest on it. Don't add insult to injury by going medieval and hacking everything in your way. Personally, as Dharn mentioned, it's going to be a PITA job replacing the cut fuel line. But please report back the progress.

Thanks for all the feedback. This is the first time I've purposely damaged an unrelated part during a repair. Definitely a lot of Monday-morning-quarterbacks here. As the person staring at the engine in my car, I can tell you that hose was either coming out or being cut, as it wasn't going to tuck nicely under the tank like in all the videos. Just wasn't going to happen, not without something going "pop". Obviously, your mileage may vary, as they say. Anyway, I finally got the tank out by removing the bumper cover, lowering the engine a little more, and removing the left side engine mount. I did manage to break the coolant line clip under the tank, so I'll need to order one of those as well. Already found the part number. Oh, and I forgot to mention, as part of this project, my oil filler tube broke in half at the top of the flex section, so gotta order one of those and look forward to that repair as well. Ah, the joy of Porsche ownership....

Maybe a little late to the game. I was able to remove mine without lowering the engine. I did have to remove the metal fitting going to a fuel (I think) line about 4" to the right of the bottom of the tank. I also removed the black plastic tank mount on top. I hear it's tougher on a cab and a 3.6. For me, getting the new one in was a lot harder.

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Trust me, it can be done, but takes "finesse", and a small offering to the Porsche Gods (usually a drop of blood will do )

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Hats off to those who can get it out without much fuss or lowering the engine. You have my full respect Feels like trying to put 2 lbs of $hit in a 1 lb bag.

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I have a 3,6L cab, does that make a difference?

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That’s not a bad job. No need to fully remove the alternator, removing the bolt and moving the alternator about 3/4“ to the left is enough.

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I wish that I had as much room between the tank and engine as indicated in the video. Then this job would be very easy to do. In reality, there is another 2-3 inches needed between the tank and engine to make this job as easy as the one in the video. There is not a single person that I know of who can remove and install the tank in a 996.2 3.6L 6-speed without first removing the black mounting bracket. (removing and installing the bracket is the biggest challenge) You can easily do a 996.1 3.4L as indicated in the video. I have a 2003 996.2 3.6L Cabriolet 6-speed, if that makes any difference. Btw, I am not the one who hacked-up the fuel lines.

I didn�t do anything different that was shown in the jake raby video and was able to get out from a 3.6. My son actually pulled out. He turned and got a little rough with it, but it came out. I don�t recall any issues going back in.

Ok, can we all get past the fact that I committed the ultimate sin and cut the fuel tubing, and focus on fixing things and sharing helpful information... I got the fuel tube off, and in the pic I circled where the ends connect. Now I just have to get a new hose of the right type, and make sure it's secure on each end. Someone mentioned they couldn't get it to seal properly when pressurized. Anybody else have experience replacing a fuel hose like this??

I have, the metal fittings are "pressed" onto the plastic lines using high pressure. The key is a holding fixture to secure the plastic line while pressing the metal fitting into it without letting the plastic line to be damaged by the "grip" of the holding device. You can buy a fuel line repair press, they are a little pricey. You can also design and fabricate one if you have those skillz, but I would not recommend you try this would high experience in the art.

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Success! I ended up installing the tank with the black bracket installed to the body. So you don�t have to remove the bracket before you install the tank. After I wrestled with it, I finally discovered the correct position which we are talking .01 inches, gave it a shove and low and behold it popped in!

thats a great video, too bad the video cuts where it actually shows how it comes out

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+1

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That video was shot several years ago. If I still have the raw footage I'll upload a uncut version of when he was removing old tank and inserting the new one. The hardest part that I can remember seemed to be him unsnagging the lines along the way. The tanks tend to catch anything in their path. Like trying to walk through a brier patch in complete darkness.

As promised. I was able to locate the files that were recorded 4 years ago. I've just extracted the points where all the connections and level sensor were removed from expansion to after the expansion tank was removed. I don't think this helps much because we recorded this with a large camera and since there is little or no room in the engine bay, it was hard to get close ups with him leaning over into the engine bay area. In hindsight, I should have acquired some GoPros for the job. In this 30 sec clip, the Flat 6 Innovations technician is in the final stage of noodling the tank out of the engine bay and having to correct snagged lines along the way. Its seems his biggest hurdle was making the turn around the rear tail light housing area. The last part of him making the turn around that section didn't make it because I cut camera to pull out wide. Anyway, hope it helps. You Tube

Thanks!

Just wanted to provide an update on my "expansion tank replacement" saga, since I started the thread. The following combination of things (in no particular order) helped me to get the tank out. I'm not suggesting this is exactly what you should do, but rather, just some of the things that helped me. 1) Removing the rear bumper cover so I could lower the engine a little more, by slightly manipulating the heat shields to give a little more room without the cats hitting them. 2) Removing the left engine mount. 3) Cutting off part of the the lower coolant hose connector on the tank, as well as the hose guide at the upper rear. 4) In my case, I cut the return fuel line that is directly in the way of the lower portion of the tank, but I DO NOT recommend you do this if you're able to push it down enough to get it under the tank as you bring it toward you. Replacement was uneventful, but just another thing to deal with. 5) Removing the coolant level sensor (twist and remove). 6) A lot of expletives, and taking some breaks to regain my sanity. Watch out for the coolant hose clip under the tank. I broke it while extracting the tank, as I didn't even realize it was under there. Getting the tank back in was just about as much fun. The way the coolant hose clip mounts to the body, you really want to put it in before you put the tank in, but then it's just in the way. I wound up making a slight modification to the upper black plastic tank mount so I could install it after the tank was in place. It only makes use of one bolt instead of two, but it's still plenty strong enough to hold the tank. If anybody is interested, I can post a pic of what I did. This project turned into a journey of replacing multiple parts: 1) As I was trying to remove the tank, I wasn't paying attention and accidentally pushed on the oil filler tube (original, I think) with my right arm, and it broke in two right at the end of the "flex" portion. Ordered parts and started removing things in order to replace it. 2) As I started working to remove the throttle plenum, I was inspecting the cluster of hoses that sits on top of the alternator, and noticed one of the small vacuum lines was broke (see pic). After removing the plenum, and could see the hose snaked back behind the engine and attached to the back of the rear crossover plenum. When I tried reaching back to grab it, it just fell into my hand. Replacing it was a bit difficult, because the rear plenum doesn't come out like the front one. I loosened the hose clamps as was able to rotate it just enough that I could pull the formed rubber hose forward, and shove in the new vacuum line. 3) I removed the alternator to get at the left mounting bolt for the oil filler tube, and since I had it out (another painful ordeal as the rear bearing was very stuck), I just ordered a new one, since it looked original and I had no record of it ever being replaced. You may have better or worse experiences when working on your 996, but this forum and the folks who hang out here are a HUGE help. Thanks to all those who take the time to provide their knowledge here, and answer questions. -Mike Yellow arrow pointing to the vacuum line I had to replace. Yuck...

So you're about 8 hours into this job while inventing 10 different four-letter words?

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Next challenge: Replace the AOS without uttering any expletives!

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Umm..from experience that is not possible. In fact you will probably add many new ones to your vocabulary

Dude, If I had known that you are doing the AOS as well as the tank, I would have said to remove the engine. That 996 engine comes out of the car in a day or less. And then the tank replacement takes 5 minutes.