saab ic installed, coolant tank removal?

[pw422]

what would be the ill effect if I remove the coolant tank to have more room for my ic? I just recirculate everything back to the engine. the reason is during my ic installation. the coolant outlet broke off. I took a closer look and found out the coolant line lead to a dead end. Looked like the it was screw shut along time ago by the previous owner
http://home.comcast.net/~pw422c/homephil.html

[vrg3]

That line is supposed to go to the nipple on the upper passenger-side corner of the radiator. What's going on with that fitting on your car?

You can remove the tank, but you still need a pressure cap. I used a Moroso filler neck like this:

http://www.moroso.com/catalog/categoryd ... code=29014

I stuck it in the middle of the upper radiator hose. It works okay, but burping the system is a pain because the cap isn't the highest point in the cooling system.

Then you can just connect together the two large hoses that used to go to the filler tank. The small one (the one you have capped off) could either be capped off or used to help burp. I put a ball valve in mine so I can leave it closed most of the time, but I can open it and do an "IV drip" with a bottle full of coolant raised high above the motor to help get air out.

Of course, you'll lose the cool Subaru convection-current turbo-cooling effect.

[free5ty1e]

Yeah, that coolant tank serves as a turbo cooler after the car has been shut off... due to its position and height it uses convection currents to cycle the coolant through the turbo and remove heat from it.

If you are going to remove this piece of Subaru ingenuity, might I recommend that you pick up a turbo timer to idle your turbo down after rough drives? Without that, and without the convection cooling system, your turbo's overall life is going to shorten...

You can relocate it instead:

http://home.cfl.rr.com/free5ty1e/images ... ntTank.jpg


Actually, is there a chance that you currently have your turbo's water jacket bypassed? That would be all kinds of no good for the turbo's life... I can't imagine how else you can have a loose, unconnected coolant line like that and still have a drivable vehicle unless the turbo's been bypassed or something similar. You should look into that and make sure coolant is making it everywhere it is supposed to.

[vrg3]

That particular coolant line isn't critical to the system; it just helps get air out of the top of the radiator and into the filler tank.

[free5ty1e]

ah, I see which one it is now. I was a little lost in the photos...

[pw422]

So the coolant tank acts like a turbo cooler. Cool, did'nt know that. I have been driving the car for few days and the car seems fine. Although I did not really push the car hard often. So would you guys recommmand that i replace my broken tank or just get a turbo timer? or maybe both. I am planning to raise the boost so I will need all the cooling I can get. Any have a coolant tank lying around?

[free5ty1e]

I actually have my old coolant tank, with two broken-and-then-JB-Welded hose nipples (hoe's nipples?), sitting in my garage now since I coughed up the money for an OEM replacement. Not sure how reliable it is, but it held up for the months I used it.

I'd recommend getting something a little more solid, though... if you're going to do the work to install it right, might as well get one you know you won't have to replace. Never enough time to do it right, always enough time to do it twice... boy I tell you whut

Turbo timer is only beneficial. Can't go wrong with one of them, especially since we have water-cooled turbos, which cool nicely at idle. I'd get one for any turbo vehicle that I own, as soon as I purchased it. I was actually very surprised that the Legacy had the convection cooling after shut-off, that's very clever of their engineers. But a turbo timer allows you to ensure that the turbo cools down properly, every time.

[pw422]

free5ty1e:
did you buy your tank from dealer? how much did you pay? or should I get the wrx ones which I see a few people use already.