New surge tank

[winterset]

A few weeks ago when filling up, a slight drip of coolant was seen from the passenger side. Also a slight sweet smell. When i got home, i went to tighten the lower surge tank clamp, and the leak got worse. It seemes the hose extension on the tank had developed a hairline crack. I ordered a new GM tank from amazon for ~$74 free shipping. Took about an hour, test drive went well. I will be draining and refillng my 3 year old coolant within the next. Few weeks. I'll keep an eye out for sales on dexcool.

I had new tires, and a tankfull of premium, but i couldn' drive it! All is well again. Since replacing the trans fluid with Dexron VI a few months ago, i notice smoother quieter shifts too. This car runs like new now.

[rockfangd]

good for another 20 years lol. Great to hear

[Cadillac Jim]

The surge tank outlet at the bottom has a bronze insert so that the hose clamp can be tightened without cracking the plastic. If it cracks, it will crack right at the junction of the spout and the bottom of the surge tank, between where the bronze insert ends and the very base of the spout.

When my 1997 ETC was in its first year or two, a dealer tech twisted mine off at the base of the bronze insert. He pushed the part of the spout with the insert into the hose and clamped the hose on the stub. It leaked intermittently for years, until I got away from the dealer and started doing my own maintenance, and found it. I changed the surge tank, of course, but the old spout was firmly lodged deep in the hose back to the tee in the heater hose. The parts guy on the East Coast told me that they wouldn't be able to get that hose but the ones that the factory uses never go bad, and to suck it up and get the old spout out of it. One of the hardest things I ever did was pull that broken spout out of the hose with needle-nose so I could put it on the new surge tank.

[winterset]

Just wanted to update this. A few months after this job, i replaced my faulty radiator. Seems the surge tank and radiator both cracked around the same time, and now both were replaced. I decided to add the baars powder to the new coolant after the radiator install. I always read to put it into the lower radiator hose, but never realized how easy that is to do. Its actually the hose on the drivers side, and at the top of the engine, so its all easily accessible from the top with a basic flat screwdriver for the clamp. So i am one owner who has always used the then GM recommended additive to the coolant, and i never had any clumps or gelling in the system. Rather it turns into a thin brown waxy coating on the insides.

[Cadillac Jim]

I had a radiator tank crack about 2005 on my 1997 ETC. At the time, it was after I had let someone replace the battery and when I checked their work later, I found that they had not screwed down one of the bolts on the radiator brace to fender brace strut on that side. I always wondered if the extra flexing ever had anything to do with it, but I suppose not.