Getting ready to do the dreaded coolant reservoir change

[Travis]

Originally Posted by 986_Ron

Got the tank, and hose clamp pliers. Ready to go, but it's raining today and don't have room right now to pull it in the garage. One final question for you Travis, am I going to have to get at this from underneath or can I do everything from above?

Everything is from the top

If you run into any issues and need to chat send me an email tm8545 AT gmail.com and I can give you a ring.

It is really not that hard, just a PITA to reach, but not more than a 5 Beer job

[986_Ron]

Well, it will be a year tomorrow since I did my coolant reservoir change. Thought I'd post up some pics.

Coolant tank part number 996-106-447-08 was $185.74
New cap was $13.56 plus freight
Both were ordered from ****************************************************

Here's the new tank. You can see they do away with the oil dipstick hole in the new one.



Here's the latest reservoir cap on the left and the old one on the right.



Start by disconnecting the trunk light wiring.



And trunk latch cover



Remove the interior pieces.





I started out just removing the rear and side pieces but ended up taking the complete trunk liner out in the end.

These are the remote clamp pliers I ended up buying.



Disconnecting the individual hoses one at a time and swapping them over to the new tank.

[986_Ron]

Here is where the remote clamp tool really comes in handy, the hose in the engine compartment.





Just before pulling the old tank, you can see where the coolant was going.





The old tank



And the new one



Trunk wall feed through plate.





New tank going in, attaching the hoses to feed through.

[986_Ron]

Final stretch, new tank in.



I got fairly bruised up reaching in to the engine compartment trying to get that one pesky clamp off...




All in all this took me about 3 or 4 hours with plenty of beer breaks. I used the following writeup to help me with the swap. I could knock this out in a couple hours if I had to do it a second time, and it was nice saving what I'm sure would have been hundreds of dollars in labor.

http://www.dietersmotorsports.com/tech/tech9-03-2003.htm

[Thanassis]

I am following the instructions to replace the reservoir -- thank you for the nice work -- and after removing the carpeting I noticed that most coolant is accumulated under the hoses by the wall feed through plate. Is it possible that the hoses might be the problem?

I do not have the heavy accumulation of coolant as shown in the picture but coolant is spread half way through the trunk with most under the wall feed through plate.

Should I still proceed to remove the tank? Any advise would be appreciated.

Thanassis

[shadrach74]

Thanassis,
Rent a tank pressure tester from autozone. This will help you find the true source of the leak. If you have coolant in your trunk, the tank likely has a small leak...but it's always nice to verify!