Coolant Tank Hell

[daveccpa]

I had to pull the tank into the trunk as far as possible and use some large needle nose plyers to twist the clamps to either get them off or move them to get the cable plyers around the clamps.

It took a ton of time to get them but each one you get off makes the next easier. i busted up a few knuckles with that job. Good luck

[sandia]

+1
I just finished this job, a few hours a day over 3 days. So much depends on the little stuff, such as which way the clamps are facing. But, in the end if you work one part at a time it will all unfold. It helps to discover that the two main hoses on the engine side have connections to both the manifold (plastic piece in the bulkhead) and to metal pipes carrying coolant forward. It may help to tackle the connection to these metal pipes to give more flex to pull the manifold connections into the trunk. I was surprise by how much give existed when I gave the coolant tank and manifold a strong yank into the trunk.

Another tip: if you are replacing the coolant level sensor check the connection to the wiring harness before you install the tank, some of them require "modification" before the plug will fit.

There should be a 986 merit badge for survivors of this repair.