legacycentral bbs

I was taking this fine afternoon to check to remove and refresh my coolant resevoir tank and the bolt holding it in snapped. One half is still in place with the head half in my hand. So before I try my damnest to remove the still engaged half, i want to ask:

just how necessary is the resevoir tank in a stock turbo legacy?

And is there another place to anchor it with the current tube feeding into it?

Starting to think I should just give up and sell her.

Damien

You mean the translucent plastic one with yellow lid on the radiator fan shroud, or the black plastic one with the radiator cap towards the back?

I'm assuming you mean the front one.

That is called a coolant overflow bottle. That's where any excess coolant goes when the system gets all heated up. Without it, you would just be dumping coolant onto the road/all over the place.

Also, the system sucks coolant in from there while it's cooling down. If that isn't there, it would suck air into the system as it cools, which is a not-too-terribly-pleasant thing, and can cause you to overheat if too much air gets in there.

Yeah, I did mean that one. One of these days, if i last as a legacy owner, I'll get those names right.

Ok, so now we have determined that it is necessary, can it be anchored elsewhere in the engine bay with the stock tube running into it? All this to avoid trying to get rid of the remnant of that bolt.

Damien

Basically, you couls put it just about anywhere, as long as it's lower than the reservoir one.

Hell.... I've even seen someone replace it with a mountain dew bottle

Sacrilege to use a mountain dew bottle in that way.

My problem isnt the tank itself, that's in great shape. The bolt that attaches it to the radiator snapped when i was trying to take it off and now is stuck there. Was just trying to find a quick and easy way to put it back without having to try to take the broken bolt out.

Thanks for your help with this.

Damien

My suggestion would be to remove the black metal bracket that surrounds the tank and run the thickest zip-tie you can through the bracket on the fan shroud and around the tank.

Tighten it up as much as possible and it should be good. There is a nub on the bottom of the tank that does most fot he work keeping the tank from moving around.

Either that, or just use a strong drill bit and drill the old bolt out.

either get the bolt out or get creative with zipties cause all you really need is it not to fall out doesnt matter where it is or how its oriented just has to be able to do its job

another vote for zipties.

Thanks to all those who replied, read or thought to themselves "it's mofos like this that drives all the decent members out of here." Ended up with the drilling option. It popped right out, eventually, and had to switch to a 1/4" inch long bolt.

Thanks to everyone for helping to keep me sane.

Damien

I know what it's like sometimes.

Get finished fixing one thing just to have something else break.....

But in the end, it's all worth it. I love my car and will continue to fix it whenever it breaks.

Very true. It isn't so much the breaking stuff. Money would be coming out of my pocket for a car new or used. Only problem is I am currently living off a substitute teacher's salary and the school year is about to end. Once I find a full time job, I'll be able to give the car the attention it deserves.