Coolant Tank Replacement

[ecb056]

My coolant tank failed catastrophically (ripped 3" below seam). What (Make, Model, Year) is the replacement for the tank? I was told it was a Volvo 850, although it is not (received it today) the same, not even close. Lotus tank drains from the bottom side, Volvo 850 drains from the bottom center.

[madbilly]

Here's one.

[muley]

See here

Clicky

Keep an eye on it..

Jim

[tigerdog]

Hi ecb056! Welcome to the club! Happened to me and Ekapol, too. Several in the US have had subsequent failures of replacement Lotus tanks, so keep a close watch. When replacing, be careful of the small pipe at the top; undertightening leads to the hose blowing off and spraying your engine bay. Overtightening leads to the small plastic fitting on the tank being crushed which lets the hose blow off. I'd be tempted to try one from the Ebay link above, just because of known failures of the US-sourced Lotus replacements.

[madbilly]

I'm considering replacing mine for the eBay one so I can read the water level without having to take the cap off as my current one is opaque...but all this talk of cracking, splitting, etc, is making me think it's not worth the risk

[wayne]

Do I get to join the club too? after looking at a big green puddle under the car yesterday. this is what I found

This one has lasted about 10 years. If I remember correctly it came from SJ's.
Do they all tend to crack in the same place? right at the back where you cant see it !

[madbilly]

So are the ones on ebay from Vauxhall Parts UK okay or are they the ones that split?

[Lotus54]

My ebay one failed (seam split).

I put the original back in, but it is completely opaque so I can't see level.

What it is the best replacement now?

Mark

[Brit-Car-Nut]

I have a question: When everyone is replacing their tanks, are they also replacing the pressure cap? I passed around several Vauxhall tanks with the yellow cap and was chastised that it wasn't the correct "Lotus" black cap.

My theory is that the pressure cap eventually clogs up and stops venting so the tank ends up being blown up. Nothing can withstand pressure beyond it's design.

This is a theory, but everyone that says their replacement tank has failed has said it failed by bursting.

The ORIGINAL Lotus cap is still available: A100K6008F and it is only GBP 6.40. So, if you don't want to use the yellow Vauxhall cap, get a NEW Lotus cap when you change the tank. For those in the US, DBE has the cap for $7.70.

[Lotus54]

I was using the yellow cap, but wonder if it was too much?

[Brit-Car-Nut]

I don't know. The cap was designed to work with the tank, so it should have been a good match. I just don't understand so many tanks expanding to destruction. Way too many of the same tanks work fine for others for ages. I am trying to see a common cause for bursting tanks.

The Vauxhall tanks are available again, but this is probably the last manufacturing run. The demand has dropped below acceptable levels to make a large batch and they don't sell fast enough to make a real profit.

I know the engine is prone to cascading headgasket failures, but don't know if the pressure builds in the coolant before other major effects are noticed resulting in gasket replacement.

It would probably be a good thing if people would put up pictures of their failed tanks so we can see if there is a pattern or common area of weakness. It would be nice to devise a way to test the cap to confirm it vents at the proper pressure. It would be terrible for a $10.00 cap to cause so much headache.

[Lotus54]

Where are the replacement tanks available?

I'll take a pic, but the seam split is not that easy to see.
Just a very slight separation in the forward seam.

Mark

[Brit-Car-Nut]

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/LOTUS-ELAN-M1 ... 53eeccd5dc

[superbad]

Edited to remove post.

[Brit-Car-Nut]

That is Definately NOT TRUE.

These tanks are being made on the original tooling that made the GM tanks. Because they are NOT sanctioned by Vauxhall, the numbers have to be ground off. When LMF ran out a few months ago, they decided there wasn't enough demand so discontinued offering them. I contacted the manager and he agreed to order one more batch as he had a few Nova customers that requested tanks too.

Making wild statements doesn't help anyone. You have made it known that you had a problem. I know a lot of people that have had this tank installed for a few years and have not had any prolems.

I am still convinced that the tank is a victim of other events, not the cause. I still feel it is a bad pressure cap or excessive compression entering the cooling system. I assume vibration is also a possibility, but that shouldn't account for seam splitting problems.

[superbad]

Edited my original post, unfounded speculation on my part.

If there were an overpressure event in the system, there should be many more weak links (20 year old rubber hoses for one) that would fail before the seam on a brand new tank (and I'm running the new cap that came with the tank). My tank did not suffer a typical pressure failure, it failed along the entire length of the forward seam, about 6". That's more likely indicative of a bad joint. Doesn't matter much now, I won't be putting another one in my car.

[Brit-Car-Nut]

Thank you for the description. A few others have specified the seam as their failure point and I believe Texas got his tank replaced as a mfg defect. I don't remember seeing anything following up on his posts.

I agree that a seam delamination sounds more like a defect than a pressure problem.

I don't have any connection with LMF except I buy from them BUT I bought most of the tanks I had a few years ago so maybe there is a glue issue now.

They ran a final run of tanks around 5 weeks ago and I am working on geting one to visibly inspect and decide if I am going to keep some in the US for faster service to US LEC members.

Let us know when the SJs tank arrives!

[Lotus54]

My seam was along the front also, supplies cap (wouldn't the cap release any over pressure?)

I'd like to see about getting it replaced, but I can't find the info about where/when I got it.
It would be nice having one I could see the level.

Mark

[Lotus54]

I checked and got mine from this same outfit last year.
I don't know if they will warratny it or not, with this much time. I only put maybe 1000 miles since I installed it (with supplied cap).

I don't want to buy another if it will fail also...
Dang, hope they will warranty it.

Mark

[tigerdog]

I purchased mine from DBE about 3 years ago. The previous tank failed by cracking along the bottom / rear panel bend. There is not a seam at this point, probably just a weak place in the casting:

The one that failed also came from DBE via previous owner. Ekapol had similar failures so perhaps this problem is endemic to the batch of tanks at Dave Bean and different to the split seam problem. Are the current batch of tanks similar to what's shown? These are mostly opaque - it's impossible to see the coolant level through the one I have.