'05 3.0 expansion tank failure

[mb32]

Driving home today and I noticed a strong smell of coolant coming through the cabin. About five minutes later I noticed steam coming from the engine compartment. I immediately pulled over and found that the upper rear left nipple of the expansion tank was leaking. When I went to inspect it the nipple broke off from the tank completely. I let the car cool down and patched the hose back onto the tank and topped off with water to get me home.

I've ordered a new tank and it should be here in a few days. It looks pretty straightforward to change out. Anything I need to watch out for? I thought it was odd that the low coolant light never came on even though the tank level was well below the MIN mark. Could it be that the sensor is bad too? Would it be a wise idea to change the reservoir cap out at the same time?

[egovreau]

It certainly couldn't hurt to change the cap. One thing I'm rapidly learning about these cars is that if you need to take something apart to fix something, might as well replace all the other possible prone to fail parts.

Could be there sensor is bad, but the new track should have one. At least it did on the replacement track for my 1.8.

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[texasboy21]

I would also get a new cap. As for what else you should do during install, I suggest flushing the coolant system. You'll need about 5 gallons of distilled water. Drain your current coolant, and refill with only distilled water. Get the car up to operating temp, then drain again. Repeat this until the distilled water you drain is clear/clean. When you drain the coolant system youre only getting half of coolant out, so once you have flushed the system with distilled water, simply add in G12/13 and youre good to go.

[SJorge3442]

^^^ I agree. Depending on when the last flush(or timing belt/water pump) was, I'd say now is as good as a time as ever for you to flush. I'd also replace the cap too. Some people have had bad luck with URO tanks, which seem to fail after about 2 years. I'm at 18 months with my URO with no signs of any issues yet. When/if I do have an issue, I'll be sure to replace it with an OEM unit. I'm planning on a new radiator in the spring as preventative maintenance, so maybe I'll swap the tank at that time too.

[mb32]

Coolant was flushed out about 20k miles ago when the timing belt was changed. I'll order a new cap as well.

[SJorge3442]

Coolant was flushed out about 20k miles ago when the timing belt was changed. I'll order a new cap as well.

I wouldnt worry about doing a flush then. Swap the tank, bleed the system (in case air got/gets in) and then you should be good to go.

[mb32]

A new reservoir cap is the same price as the coolant tank! Are there any aftermarket ones that would work as well?

[y0itzflip]

I replaced my tank a few months ago with an eBay one. no issues and reused to cap. again no issues.

[SJorge3442]

Heres it at ECS I have a URO tank cap and tank and have had no issues. I could probably run the URO cap on your OEM tank. I see no harm there.