Coolant Tank Replacement Tip - Read before you replace

So a month or so ago I replaced my coolant tank on my 2002 C4 Cab, and it was not a pretty job. It involved dropping the engine and wrestling with the d*$# thing for 3 hours just to get it out, breaking the top plastic mount in the process. However, when putting the tank back in, I learned a little trick that made the job a snap, and would probably help immensely in the removal as well, you might even be able to do it without dropping the engine. the trick was to remove the black mounting bracket on the top of the car before you put the reservoir back in place (there are 2 bolts that hold it in place. The reservoir went in very easily without this mount in place. I then put the reservoir in place and pushed it way back (towards the front of the car), and well into the sound proofing. This gave enough room to re-install the mounting bracket, and then re-position the tank and install. I can only assume this would work on the removal as well. once everything is disconnected, push the tank towards the front of the car, remove the mounting bracket, then remove the tank. good luck.... hopefully this makes things easier Here's a picture of the part I'm talking about.....

Apparently this only applys to the 02+. The bracket is made in such a way that the tank is nearly impossible to remove w/o removing the bracket. You can remove one bolt, loosen the other then swivel the bracket some to help but on the 02+ its really just easier to drop the engine (which is what I did), especially if your doing some other things anyway. I respect anyone that takes on the coolant tank replacement job on a 3.6L. It really is much harder than the earlier cars.

Thanks for sharing! It always helps when someone does a repair job and shares their trials and successes.

Yes, I used exactly the same trick (read it somewhere on the Internet) with lowering the engine all the way till the engine rests on the rear cross member. I have a '03 C2 coupe. I can confirm that you can remove the tank as long as you remove that black bracket first.

I had not read anything about the bracket before... (no wonder I was wrestling with it for so long!). I actually did manage to get the tank out with that bracket still in place (though I had broken 2 of the teeth on it). Yes, this was the 3.6, and I also assume that the cab may make it even tighter there

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I probably spent the same amount of time searching the internet for that piece of info The job is totally a PITA. Comparable to spark plug replacement with mufflers on, which is conincdentally also a lot easier on Mk I cars. So everything in MkII seems to be more difficult.

I can't believe Porsche put the screw in the middle of that bracket. If it was on the outside somewhere this would be an easy job. But I guess they figured no one would ever have to replace that since it's "lifetime" coolant then the tank must be "lifetime" as well.

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They put TWO and not just one screw haha

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Yeah, but your headlights are so much prettier!

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No complaints there. Actually at least one thing is easier to replace on a MkII than Mk I - the cam timing actuator

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True - it's been over a year since I did mine so I forgot. I'd rather not have to go through that again and if I do I might as well get my engine rebuilt while I'm in there.

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I hear you

Do you recall the bolt/screw type and size? It is not visible so knowing the proper socket/driver to use will help save the trial/error approach for those of us foolish enough to try this R&R.... Of which I am one :-) Parts arrived today and I will complete the job tomorrow. It is a '03 996 C4S. EDIT: It is a 10mm socket that is needed.

I ran into this when I did mine a month ago. The combination of that tank being bigger and the bracket turned a simple job into a 2 day ordeal. I don't think you can get the bracket out with out moving the tank out of the way since there are 2 screws/bolts holding it in and you can't reach them with the tank in place. I had to drop the motor as far as it will go (make sure you disconnect the o2 sensor plugs!!), then I could slide it far enough to the side to wiggle it out. I re-installed the new one the same way with out removing the bracket but it was a pain in the butt.

Hey guys. I'm on my second day with this frustrating job. I enjoy working on my car but in hindsight I'd gladly have paid to have this job done. I'm at the point now where I'm reinstalling the tank. I have the engine lowered as far as it'll go and I did the trick where you remove the bracket, place the tank in the engine bay, push it forward and reinstall the bracket. Now I need to slide the tank back into position but the 19mm hex nut on the fuel rail is in my way. Does anyone know if this can be safely removed? I gently applied some force to it to see if it'd come off but I'm afraid of applying too much force. If it can be removed should I expect pressurized fuel to escape? (had that unpleasant experience with my Pontiac GrandPrix GT)

For me, I experienced the same. I ended up with not installing the bracket first but rather slide the bracket onto the tank half way then slide the bracket and tank as a single unit till the tank is in place. I had to install the two screws blind for the bracket when the tank is already engaged in the bracket and is blocking the screws. Not easy but doable with patience.

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Very clever. I will give it a try.

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Did you manage to get both bolts back in, or just one?

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I managed to get both. One is easy and the other one (closest to you) is a challenge. Just be patient and it can be done.

Don't remember clearly now but I think you have to yet again disengage the tank from the bracket to install the last bolt for the bracket. The tank will be in the way but there's just enough room to put a 1/4" drive 10mm socket with u-joint and extension.

i got mine back into place by, weirdly enough, getting frustrated at all my failed attempts and jacking the engine back up (had dropped it initially to get in there) with the tank hanging up on that fuel line bolt. tank popped right into place. i couldnt believe it. i was sooo effing frustrated with trying to get the tank back into place. i think i only jacked it up about 2 cms or so but it worked. the tip to remove the bracket would have helped a ton when i did mine. the tank gets caught up on that and the fuel line bolt...

Grrrr ... I have to concede defeat. I've got the tank in there enough to get it to my Indy. Thank you everyone for your support and suggestions. The coolant tank job is beyond me.

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i feel your pain...i do. i was pretty much at that point too when i jacked er up.

If you got the tank to clear that big bolt on the fuel rail, you're not far. Worst is you install only one screw for the bracket. You are so close, man.

I know, I know ... so very close but so very far away. She's all back together now. I have some other work I need the garage to do to her anyway so I'll add this coolant tank (re)install to the list, just have to make sure I don't lose taht second bolt.

So are you guys replacing due to age, mileage, leak or what? I've never had to do this in a vehicle.

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Leak. From what I've heard this is a common problem with the 996 coolant tanks. They ultimately degrade over time and start leaking when hot and under pressure. I was hoping I wouldn't ever have to do this job as the previous owner had replaced the tank only days before I bought it from him. But alas, she started dripping coolant and I followed it up to the source and found it was the tank

mine developed leaks in a couple places that started all at once last fall. replaced the tank over the winter hibernation. the blue cap, i found earlier this year, was also leaking so replaced that too. pstracha...just noticed youre from canmore! i used to live there! cheers! and like ahsai said, youre so close. take a break...go do a round at three sisters...then tackle er again.

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The tank lives right over the left muffler like a chicken on the rotisserie. It looks like anything over 10 years is getting long in the tooth. Mine at 10 years:

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Haha nice! I've been living here for a year now. At least during my mad frustration I can pause, take a breath and take-in the magnificent view of the Rockies. A round at Three Sisters sounds like a good plan too!

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Thanks guys, and thanks for the photos. I'm dropping the engine anyway so I may as well.

It's cheap enough to do as a "while you're in there" if you plan on dropping the motor.

I was just told there is an updated version also that is heavier duty.

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and an updated blue cap too

Thank you to all who posted in this thread! We were able to get the coolant tank in our 2002 C4S by first getting the tank into the spot as far forward towards front of car (pushed into soundproofing a lot), and then the installation of the black mounting bracket. The tank can then be positioned into place and installed into the mounting bracket. Such a goofy design of all things coolant tank related. I really think the engineers could have done better. Such a pain of a project. Getting the white flange from the tank over the fuel rail nut is very difficult, unless you first install the tank, then the black mounting bracket.

I think the reason some people are having more success then others may also depend on the transmission. I tried to get my tank out last night and it seems impossible. I have the engine resting on the cross member, and even removing the 19mm nut on the fuel rail I still can't get the tank to clear the fuel rail (see bpicture below) When looking underneath you can see that it is the bellhousing from the transmission that is touching the crossmember, which is what is limiting how far down the engine assembly can go. I would imagine that there may be difference in bellhousing shape between manual and automatic transmissions. Since we are talking about millimeters here, the slight difference between the two transmissions can make it possible or impossible to do this job. I have a 2002 with an automatic trans and if I could lower the engine another quarter inch I think I'd be able to get it out, but it simply can't go any lower. Therefore the options I see are a) remove the bottom crossmember and lower the engine just a bit more (not appealing), remove the fuel rail (looks possible, but a pain), or perhaps trim the tank retaining bracket a bit (I am leaning towards that one because a new bracket is relatively cheap if necessary). For those that succeeded in removing the tank by lowering the engine to the cross members, can you comment on what transmission you have.

Mine is a manual transmission with an engine from an automatic. That 19mm "end cap" on the fuel rail was also on my engine, but with it lowered and the cap removed I was able to get my tank out. Lots more space than you are showing here. I thought about taking off the black retaining bracket at the top, but was able to wiggle it out.

I think that the engines themselves are the same between manual and automatic cars and so are the fuel rails. The difference in removing the coolant tank is that it is the transmission bellhousing that rests on the crossmember, which determines how low the engine can go. Now that we have a confirmation that the tank can be removed with lowering the engine on a manual car, I was wondering if anyone here can confirm that they were able to do it on a 996.2 with an automatic transmission. I don't have a picture at the moment, but unlike the manual transmission that bolts directly to the engine, the auto has an adapter plate between the engine and bellhousing (perhaps it was cheaper to do that then cast a transmission housing to match the motor directly) and I think that makes the engine rest higher than the manual car.

I did 90% and had my son rip the tank out. I just turned away. He wedged back in. I tend to go very light handed with everything. Car is an 02. Going on 5k miles, no issues. It�s too bad they don�t make an indestructible one. I won�t do again.

Argeo, is your car manual or automatic?

By the way, to complicate the matters further, there are actually 2 different support brackets in 996.2 cars, one is 99610640552 (for all cars except C4S) and the other is 99610640571 (for C4S). I don't know what the physical difference is between these two, but since millimeters make a difference here, the difference in the brackets may be significant. For those that have successfully done the coolant tank replacement, can you specify the transmission type and also if your car is a C4S or not.

I have a 2003 4S w/ a 6-speed manual. Removing the tank was a PITA, but doable. I had to drop the engine and remove the fuel fitting like stated above. What through me off is that you don't have to completely clear the black bracket, just move the tank inboard an inch or so as there are fingers on the tank and bracket that allow you to drop it after that 1-inch movement. I think initially I was trying to completely clear the bracket which isn't needed.

C2, 3.6, Tiptronic, cabriolet. Using high-lift trolley jack supported motor, oxygen sensor wires removed from their mounting clips so had slack, took nuts off mounts, lowered engine until it stopped which I guess means contacted cross member. Was surprised how far tank had to slide over so cut off protuding tube with a hack saw (didn't know it might have dropped when in between tabs). Then contacted fuel rail so removed 13mm nut, no fuel came out. Still not coming out so removed left motor mount, then took off black bracket. After it was out had idea since engine is not mounted it might be shifted away from tank location, so using prybar moved it a little. New tank will arrive next week and will have protruding tube that I cut off old one, not sure if I'll have enough room to get tank in.

This is a great thread! Without the advice and tips from this thread, I would have been stymied. The Bently manual was not helpful. I had trouble sliding in the round spacer at the top of the black bracket, so I cut a slot in it and slid it in after starting the right side bolt.

The last two tanks I replaced ... were done with the engine out of the car for other reasons. It was a 5 minute job.

Could not get tank in position with bracket installed. So with bracket off slipped tank in, and in this exact position was able to get the two bolts started on the bracket (small piece of duct tape holding bolt to a socket which made a handle). After bracket tightened down not easy to get tank on bracket but eventually it slid in place.

Thanks for the great tip! I struggled to the point of total frustration so I had to walk away for a day. Then I saw your tip on removing the bracket and it worked! A bit fiddly reinstalling it, but done and the new tank is in! Woo Hoo! Thanks!

I just did this a few days ago. It's a bi_ch of a job. Reminded me of my Air Force days and working on fighters; nothing is easy to get to.

Just out of curiosity, why has nobody put reflective heatshield tape on the bottom to prolong the tank from degrading from heat? It's pretty thin, can be shaped pretty wwell, and does a good job against radiant heat.... What am I missing?

Way to think outside the box but it wouldn't of helped me. Small loss of coolant over short period of time.

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But why wouldn�t people do it when replacing with a new tank?

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maybe because the temp if the engine conpartment is less then tne coolant temp. All that stuff will do is insulate the the interior and increase the cooking of the plastic.

Rotating ratchet tool I just completed this task myself and man it is a MAJOR PIA, if I had my time over again, I would probably pay Porsche to do it. It took me around 3 hours to get the old tank out (had to lower the engine as suggested in here and other YouTube videos) but it took me about 13 hours to get the new tank in, it really was frustrating but such exhilaration when it finally snaps into place. Here are some things that worked for me and might help others silly enough to take on this task. I am not going to repeat everything that has already been advised here and elsewhere, just some other things to try. You can’t get the tank in with the bracket in place, at least I couldn’t on my 2001 996 Cab. Remove the bracket and the tank goes in quite easily, (you do need to remove both fuel line brass nuts, it makes the job much easier (don’t worry fuel does not rush out). With the tank in place, there is very little room to get the bracket in, but it can be done, push the tank back and down as far as you can get it. Before putting the bracket in, put the bolts into their holes, poking up through the top of the bracket and then stretch some electrician tape over the tops of the bolts (make sure the points of the bolts push through the tape and secure the tape to the sides of the bracket, this helps hold the bolts in place when it comes to tightening them (if you don’t do this be prepared for the bolts to fall out and get lodged in the engine bay somewhere and you will spend half an hour or more looking for them (and swearing frequently) and then have to have a long magnetic retrieval tool to fish them out). Once you have got the bracket in place use a 10mm socket on a short extension bar and start tightening the bolts by hand, it is tight and difficult but can be done, once you have the bracket loosely in place, you need a small ratchet rotator ( a ratchet that turns by turning the handle) as there is not enough room to move a normal ratchet back and forth. See photo attached. Once you have the tank in the engine bay and the bracket attached, you are nearly home, just keep playing with moving the tank around, I rotated it down towards the engine) until you finally get it in place. You will certainly feel a sense of achievement once you do, but for me in future I think this is a job I would pay someone else to do. Hope this helps

Haven't done the job. But would it be worth just cutting the bracket for removal ? I was also reminded of working on a 1967 chrysler 300 where you could stand in the engine compartment...

Yes that is what I would do if I had my time over again, the bracket is only about $45, so it should save you about 2 hours of work trying to get it out past the bracket, just use a Dremel on it and cut off all the lower bits and the tank should come out easy. Make sure you have ordered the new one first.

I did this on a 997 once for a friend's car and after that, I promised myself when the next time comes, the engine would be out. My wife's 997 reached 120,000 miles last week and the engine came out for about $4,000 worth of parts to be replaced. One such part was the coolant tank even though the old one has not broken ... yet. The engine came out in about 5 hours. The engine went back in about 5 hours. The coolant tank replacement took exactly 5 minutes. Between the engine out and engine in, there were water pump, thermostat, spark plugs, ignition coils, AOS, starter, alternator, belt and all pulleys, all were replaced. And the cylinders were all scoped out from the top. So taking the engine out just to replace the coolant tank may be over the top but if you combine it with a bunch of other things to be done, it actually pays for itself.

Yelcab I should have considered this, as I recently had to replace the alternator and decided to replace the starter at the same time and needed to replace teh coolant tank and now have decided to replace the water pump and thermostat as well, even though there is nothing wrong with them, but in reading posts on the forums, it will eventually fail and I am spending over AUD$300 on Porsche coolant, so may as well do it now. ( I have never taken an engine out of a car though)

TLDR: Take your time and be gentle removing the tank so you don't break the support bracket. It is very thin in parts and mine became brittle over the years... Don't be like me. just have to vent. stupidly engineered POS plastic dumb *** bracket design. My brittle plastic bracket snapped when I was pulling the tank out. This extremely useful and fragile POS part is on back order so i get to sit and wait around a few weeks for a ****ty engineered piece of plastic to finish this stupid job that should have took an hour. The screws could literally go on so many different ways but no they have to go straight up so you cannot remove or replace the bracket with the tank in place. The engineer who designed this is just a flat out idiot. I hope someone takes a big **** in his fruit salad. this is the first time working on my 996 that I have been steaming mad. worst design ever. thanks for reading.

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Dang pulpo, you feel better now? lol

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Yeah I'm feeling much better haha. I just hate the feeling a leaving a job half done. But I got a lot accomplished today in hind sight. And it was a good day working in the garage. Can't complain in the end.

I feel your pain! Well said, my friend. I had to laugh out loud when I read your post. I sincerely hope that things go better in the future with your 996!

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Mate, if you think you are going to do this job in an hour you are in for a rude shock, this is the biggest pain in the **** job I have ever had to do on my 911, they should redesign that black so that you can attach the tank first and then slot it on to a bracket or something and secure it from the front. Good luck

In case anyone is considering giving the aftermarket "OEM" units a go. Just. Don't. Sixteen months and 3200 miles ago I paid a local indy to do mine (along with the thermostat and water pump) because I know what hell they are and even though I specifically stipulated that I wanted only the actual Porsche part...... when I picked up the car they had put in an "OEM" branded tank which I was assured was the exact same thing. I should have raised hell about it because I knew better but I decided to just go with the flow like a chump. The shop got sold to a new owner six months after I had the work done and right on queue last week, I started smelling coolant in the garage. I didn't even have to look, of course it was the tank. I guess I get to experience this joy after all. Please say a prayer for me.

I find it rediculous that there is such a big difference in quality between Genuine Porsche and OEM, but in this case there definitely is. My "OEM" tank lasted less than 3 years. For MK-I cars, lower the engine to the bottom of the engine mounts and disconnect the fuel lines That extra bit of work will save you tons of time and aggravation.

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I agree... But I know good and well that Porsche does not make the coolant tank themselves, that is just not what they do.... But the 64 thousand dollar question is , is the company who DOES make the Porsche tank ONLY sell them to Porsche (and not under their own brand)? It just doesn't make since.....but maybe there is a very small "high quality" company out there who does this kind of thing only for porsche 996...lol

Porsche, and Ferrari, and Mercedes do not make many parts. What they do is to require very high quality in specifications such that only the best parts get their names on the boxes. Timing belts (Ferrari) from the middle of the batch and only a few months old. Waterpump with very tight tolerances. Bosch O2 sensors that have very tight voltage responses (because they get pushed to the very edge of the envelope) get sold to the manufacturers. The rest, well, they get sold to the masses like us chumps. And then there are the copiers from the far east that will make something sort of like it using sort of like-material and sell it for half price on Alibaba. Replacement MAF for $25, connectors sold in bulk for $5, none of which ever works out of the box, and would you expect them to? When quality matters absolutely, you absolutely buy from the dealer and bend over while saying Please.

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That seems so unlikely. But here we are. There's loads of anecdotal evidence that some oe or OEM non Porsche tanks fail early. They should be recalled if that's the case. I can spring for a new genuine Porsche tank, it's not expensive in the long term, but short term my butt hurts sometimes with that porsche tax. Again, this is where years of missed service and service records, lapsed maintenance by previous owners who 'just drive it" then got bored and sold on, can cost. It's a 20+ year old water tank, fair enough, replace it, but not with Chinese junk out of a crap mold and bad plastic. /rant. I still love my car. Maybe I'm just a glutton for punishment, but it's not a daily tool, I've no real need for just 'a car'. And working on it, restoring little things that I can manage, it's a good break from the realities of the day to day. So... Time to go abuse my rear tires and make an ungodly noise with the valves open at 6500k. That is usually enough to remind me 'why'. D(r)Ive safe and often. Apologies to PADI and divers everywhere.👺

Just to be clear, some of the inferior tanks are made in Germany. At least mine was marked that way.

Well, my coolant tank is 24 years old, it is "battle tested", it has proven to good, in light of the well known "bathtub curve" failures that even high quality parts can have, I think I will keep mine untill it shows a sign...lol

I made the mistake of proactively changing my then 18 year old original tank. It was still good.

Has anyone had any success doing this on a 996.2? I just cannot get the dang thing out. I have it off of the bracket, all the hoses off, the engine lowered as far as it will go, little fuel nut removed and I just cannot find an angle to get it out. I've tried lifting the engine a little tried to rotate the tank this way and that. There is no angle I can move the tank into that will let me access the bolts holding the bracket on to get them out. 5 hours in and still haven't even gotten the old one out. I can't see any way the new one is going to go back in. I'm at point of trying to button it back up and taking it to someone else but I sure didn't want to pay twice to have this done.

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The transmission mount has a little "give" to it, with the engine loose you can push the engine over to the passenger side for a little more clearance if necessary ..

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I had the same issue until I cut off the bottom tank nipple, then it was free! My first tank that I changed took the better half of a day. My 2nd tank I changed took about 2 hours, but this was on a turbo which was more involved in removing the intake and other components.

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Man, Skip I tried that and I cannot get the engine budge a millimeter even with a pry bar.

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Well I thought about cutting that off but then how does that help going back in? I tried watching every youtube video I could find and they're all 996.1 which has a bit smaller tank. I think the FSI video is a 996.2 but they just show theirs sliding right out easy as pie. <sigh>

Well I swear to god, I struggle with it for 2 hours, took a break to come in here and post about it and then went back out there and I'll be damned if it didn't pull right out. <sigh> Now I gotta get the new one in. Here goes nothing. Thanks for the help guys.

I keep saying this .... I save up all the work until the engine comes out, and then I replace the coolant tank, which takes exactly 5 minutes.

https://rennlist.com/forums/996-foru...-996-2-c2.html My thread may be helpful. Happy to answer any questions. I did mine over 3 4 days and a couple of hours per day.

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Thanks for this. In the end I did not have to disco the fuel lines or remove the bracket. I did remove the fuel line cap. Getting it out was 2 hours of struggling followed by me taking a break then coming back and basically pulling it straight out with no problem in about 45 seconds. Going back in was even easier. Just slid right in. I think if I did it again I could do the whole job in less than 2 hours but hopefully I won�t have to do that. of course now I have a dead miss in cylinder one but I�m going to post a new thread for help with that. thanks for the responses everyone!

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No good deed goes unpunished.

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Story of my life. I think it�s time for new coil packs as it ran fine today after everything dried out and it didn�t throw a cel after I cleared it. I�m guessing #1 coil pack has a crack. They�re original as far as know so that�s my next project. No more coolant leak though!

The tank life is roughly the same as coil packs on COP engines... Cruel trick of nature..

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Having done this job three times: You move everything out of the way that you can. You wiggle, wriggle, twist, turn, scream, curse, speak in tongues, cast spells, and cry for two or more hours. Then it just slips out with no effort. Putting in the new one is a similar process.

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I have a 99, I think this may be the original tank, yellowed plastic and all...maybe someone can weigh in? Like the newer OEM bold markings. As for what once was the great German Bosch, China is their go to!

Well, those leaks seem to be in the almost exact area of my tank that I replaced a couple of years ago. Like silicone hoses and braided hoses, the need for a better-constructed tank that can withstand the temperatures and pressures is long overdue and has yet to be created. I may replace this tank when I plan on a rebuild sometime next year and the associated hoses regardless. However, I did manage to get most of the rubber hoses, but I am checking to see if I have the early 996-106-850-05-M100 or later hose. I have yet to find somebody willing to use them as a pattern for creating a complete engine set but have only seen silicone hoses for the turbo for the

Hi Guys, I'm exactly in the same situation that a lot of you at the begining I'm trying to change this f*** coolant expansion tank... I have a 4s Triptronic from 2003. I slow down the engine until the end of the screw. Undo the cap of the fuel. I get out of the black bracket the tank but... the tank is up the fuel nose (without the cap) and I can't do nothing... I tried to push again and again the tank every where but nothing... 1 day on it i'm tired. I can unscrew one bolt of the black bracket but the one near me I don't understand how I can put someting in it... @hoofdpijn you have the same car of me, how you did it without burn all the car...

mate, it took me @#$%$ days !@#$% around trying to get the tank out, it is a very poor design, i couldn't get the tank out because of the lower outlet pipe so jsut ended up cutting that off (the tank is being replaced anyway) and that allowed me to get the tank out, you wont' be able to get the black bracket out though so would give up trying to do that. Unfortunately you are going to have jsut as much trouble getting the new tank back in, this is a real PIA job. Just keep trying, one day I jsut got it in the right spot and it went in. can't remember what I did thouh

It's done Finally it's easy but we need to ; Unplug the most of the cable as possible, coolant, fuel and push to the right. Unscrew the fuel folden cap in the front. Low the engine to the maximum. After that you can push the tank to the right and push it to the bottom. You have access to the black support on the top. Unsrcew it and keep it away. Now the tank come easily. Put the new one. On right to bottom. Put back the black support. etc... Thank for your help guys