Coolant resevoir

[madcanuck]

I've removed the resevoir to repaint and recoat the inside and have diecovered a huge build-up on the inside.

The rad doesn't appear to be plugged, it was working fine before I parked the truck for the restoration. Engine is a V8 NA which runs fine (rebuilt less than 3K kms) have had no overheat problems driving it here in the desert.

I can find a used one and I'm suspecting it might be the same condition, so my question is, has anyone converted to a plastic type? The rad and the resevoir both have pressurized caps, if the resevoir was unpressurized what effect would it have on the rad? A plastic one can give a larger capacity, what would be the drawback of using a plastic resevoir other than a visual faux pas?

Any comments, suggestions?

Thanks,

Tracy

[BogMonster]

If the reservoir was unpressurized £££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££

Towed a Discovery Tdi auto in to work the other day.

The bloke had checked the radiator header tank for some reason while he was away, and dropped the cap somewhere into the engine bay. Couldn't find it so stuffed a rag in the hole and drove home. Well nearly. Rad boiled, engine wrecked, new head etc. in the process of being fitted. And that was on a Tdi which generates MUCH less heat so the effect with a V8 would be magnified....

You would need to make sure the pressure relief valve in the cap is the same as whatever you are using now, that is the main thing. Other than that don't see a problem - I'm pretty sure my old Discovery 3.9 had the same plastic reservoir. Make sure you get the later type reservoir if you can as the old black plastic ones were prone to splitting round the seam which also has the ££££££££££££££££ effect if not noticed.

[JST]

i changed the metal res to a black plastic one on my 200tdi and no probs to date although i believe some of the early plastic res had problems splitting on the sides at the join.

[mpb]

My black tank split on the seam on the back, replaced it with a Genuine Plastic one Cream/See-through one.

[madcanuck]

Thanks for the great info, I will heed it, walking isn't very crowded in the desert

2 questions, does the plastic one fit in the original mount aand, is there a lot #/manf# to avoid in the plastic series?

Cheers,

Tracy

[western]

i changed the metal res to a black plastic one on my 200tdi and no probs to date although i believe some of the early plastic res had problems splitting on the sides at the join.

I've done this swap too, got my black plastic tank with all the fittings from Craddocks salvage dept, not had any leakage from it.

[Mo Murphy]

i like the metal ones because when you break a pipe spigot off, you can solder it back on. Don't ask how I know

Mo