Coolant Tank Hell
 

So I got the coolant tank from Partsgeek today and decided to try and install it. Tried from the top to remove the clamps and even bought the clamp tool I read would make things so much easier. It seems my clamps are almost touching so the tool wont go around them and I cant get a pair of needle nose in there to do the job either. Before I give up and bring it to the shop, is there any trick to getting those freaking hoses off?

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

+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.

Yes. Pull into trunk! I had mine out in 30 minues....and the new one in in 3 hours! Thought I'd never get it in.

good luck
 

Another tip: the new tanks don't come with the hole predrilled open for the dipstick, since later cars with the same tank lacked the dipstick. You can do a neater/cleaner job of drilling this on your workbench rather than doing it after installation.
Oh, and plan on replacing your oil filler tube while you have it loose, because if your tank is shot the oil filler tube won't be far behind, is a PIA to replace by itself, and is cheap.
Also, pull the wiring grommet into the trunk to give you another access point.

Yeah this was a rough job, i ended up getting local garage to install it for me. I just didn't have the indoor space to do it all myself.

Thanks for the tips guys. Gonna give it another shot today. At least it's only going to be in the low 50's the next couple days so wont miss out on too much.

Ok, I had a thought and wanted to see if anyone else has tried this. I keep seeing it is a lot easier to put back on then remove. What if you use some creative dremeling and cut the tank out so it is a lot easier to get to the hoses. It sounds like the main hose coming from the tank is what keeps it from coming out far enough to get the remaining hoses off from inside the trunk. Any thoughts?

when I did mine I found that is was easier to remove the oil filler tube and one of the larger hoses from underneath the car and then you can pull the tank into the trunk to remove the rest of the hoses. That being said it requires lots of patience and the clamp removal tool.

Membership in the coolant tank club usually requires a blood sacrifice. Patience and creativity will win the day. Took me 3 hours to get the old one out and a little longer to get the new one in.

I'm glad we do detailed DIYs to help people out. :rolleyes:

I'll drink to that! When I got the 986 I hadn't worked on cars for something like 30 years. I'd have been screwed without all the info, DIY's and help I received here, especially on nasty jobs like this. Also would not have known about some of the special tools that make life so much easier, like that remote cable clamp, or the Uview, or the Motive power bleeder. Or even blue brake fluid for that matter.

Thanks everyone - group hug!

Well I tackled the job last night. I used a little creativity and was able to get the tank out in under a half hour and the job complete in just under 2 hours. I will post a thread tonight if I can with a detailed description on how I did it with pictures. To give you the short version, I kept reading how the hardest part was getting it out. Since I knew the part was bad and there is no reason to try and salvage the part, I decided to cut it out with my dremel. I basically cut it down to the one tube that goes through the firewall which made the removing the oil tube and hoses SO much easier. After that the tube I cut down was exposed and a snap to remove. Used the screw type clamps to reinstall and knocked it out pretty quick. The one downfall is I noticed my oil fill tube was cracked so picking that part up today and bleeding the system tonight.

Yes, Cracked oil filler tubes can be a nuisance too. On the rigid part there is a bolt under the alternator that never did get put back in on mine.