Engine surge tank

[tomkat4725]

Purchased a 3 year old Tiffin Phaeton 36QSR with a 2013 XCR-Series Freightliner Custom Chassis. ISC 8.3 Cummins engine. Have owned it for a year and have 27,000 miles on it. This unit has the radiator in the rear and a coolant surge/expansion tank sitting on top of the radiator. It is nearly impossible to view much of the engine side of the radiator or expansion tank. What concerns me is that the portion of the expansion tank (which is plastic or a plastic like material) which I can see has spider web lines running all over it. It is a semi transparent material. Also, it has a seam running horizontally across it which is brittle and crumbly. This tank doesn't look healthy to me. Anybody out there run across this problem?

[jyrostng]

capThe plastic cap is a 16 lb rated cap, it's the only cap on the system. The radiator is connected to the bottom of the bottle on a 1" hose. I don't know that the system has any kind of overflow bottle and couldn't find any google diagrams of it on line. this tank has 2 hoses, one small and one large. Antifreeze flowed from both when I switched it.

[MrWizard]

pardon me
the amazon link, said reservoir not surge, and pictured a tank with a plain plastic cap

reservoirs, take overflow and are not pressurized

one question .. where does it attach on your radiator ?

to another 3rd or 4th hose connector on the radiator tank

or too the little nipple at the radiator cap ?
just trying to understand the Ford cooling system

the surge tank on my cummins has (3) hoses attached coolant goes thru the tank pushed by the pump
there is another small reservoir to use for topping off the coolant

[jyrostng]

Just like mine on the v-10, it holds pressure and has a 16 lb cap, just not on a diesel
before
after

[MrWizard]

always good to replace those also
but not what the discussion is about
the 'surge tank' on a diesel has a pressure radiator cap
it is part of the coolant flow system, not a reservoir for extra coolant
when these go boom, the engine quickly pumps out all the coolant, its the same thing as blowing a hose or a rock thru the radiator

[jyrostng]

https://www.amazon.com/Dorman-603-029-Coolant-Reservoir/dp/B00FY80P6M/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1496609...
Just did this on my 2000 32v, v10. Perfect fit

[Jim]

Trackrig wrote:

Jim@HiTek wrote:
On my '02, rear rad, Cat 3126, Freightliner chassis, my tank is showing some spider cracks and I'm getting close to replacing it (I've owned the rig since Feb. '16). In the meantime, I used Eternabond tape to cover the cracking area to get a few more months out of it. This summer is the target replacement time thoughRad & Cooling

Jim, if it really starts to leak with pressure behind it, I don't think the Eternabond will hold it.

Bill

I wondered about pressure too. But most owners who posted on various forums, said the tank began to 'weep' first so I didn't expect a catastrophic failure. I felt comfortable giving the Ebond a try.

Incidently, I have a friend with an '04 Journey. Also has the same surge tank. Except her's was in pretty bad shape compared to mine. Was both spider cracked and crumbling like the plastic was rotten, but we were in Mexico and she wanted to wait until she got home to Vermont to fix it. So I did the Ebond patch on her tank and April '17 she drove from Baja to Vermont without a problem.

[Trackrig]

Jim@HiTek wrote:
On my '02, rear rad, Cat 3126, Freightliner chassis, my tank is showing some spider cracks and I'm getting close to replacing it (I've owned the rig since Feb. '16). In the meantime, I used Eternabond tape to cover the cracking area to get a few more months out of it. This summer is the target replacement time thoughRad & Cooling

Jim, if it really starts to leak with pressure behind it, I don't think the Eternabond will hold it.

Bill

[Jim]

On my '02, rear rad, Cat 3126, Freightliner chassis, my tank is showing some spider cracks and I'm getting close to replacing it (I've owned the rig since Feb. '16). In the meantime, I used Eternabond tape to cover the cracking area to get a few more months out of it. This summer is the target replacement time though.

I wrote up a blog post about it here which has some parts links and a users method of cutting the tank out easily so one guy can do it: Rad & Cooling

[MrWizard]

yes there is a sight glass

[Trackrig]

On the metal tank, how do you tell how full the tank is? Does it have some sort of sight glass on it?

Bill

[MrWizard]

ValueRVparts

http://www.valuervparts.com/f6hz8a080b-coolant-recovery-tank-metal-coolant-reservoir/

just now looking around i did not see any other models for other engines

[tomkat4725]

Thanks so much to everyone who replied. Very helpful information from all. "Trackrig" photos look just like my old tank. I will replace my tank before my next trip. "MrWizard" do you recall where you purchased the metal tank for your 95 Cummins? That would maybe save me a lot of searching.
Thanks to all.

[MrWizard]

the surge tank on my 95 cummins, blew out and cost me an engine overhaul
because i drove to the next exit instead of immediately pulling over when the temp went up

in frame overhaul and new surge tank, $7200 (surge tank about $100)

2 yrs later plastic surge tank started leaking

i bought a powder coated steel tank on line $399 ?

it is still perfect after 3 yrs

find a replacement and change it out, before it becomes a much more costly 'trip' problem

[Trackrig]

This is of the surge tank on a 2005 Fleetwood Excursion 39S with a Cat C7 on a Freightliner chasis.








Bill