Cooling System Maintenance

[KevinATX]

Hey all, I have a coolant leak under the front passenger side of the fascia. From what I read this is most likely the overflow tank leaking. I only take my car out on the weekends and notice a small pool of coolant about 3 inches in diameter on the garage floor in that area. Before seeing this, I noticed that my car would get a little over the 3/4 mark on the temp gauge (i dont really trust the temp guage btw). Obviously i am low on coolant and need a little help. I want to drain all coolant from the engine and replace it all with new water/coolant and fix my leak. One issue I see is that I need to get to the tank to inspect exactly where the leak is originating from. I am thinking I need to take the fascia off to do this. Is this correct? If so how big of a pain in the A$% is this? Also, I saw that others where just using a separate tank mounted higher up in the bay to avoid this hard to reach overflow tank. Any experience with this? Pro's vs. Con's?

Another thing is that it is difficult to see the markings on the overflow tank (coolant between minimum and maximum) through the wheel well at the peek sight. Whats the best way to do this?

Thanks in advance for sharing your experience.

Edit: 2000 GTS with fluidyne radiator...

 

[Steve-Indy]

Before you go too far...is your overflow bottle full and spilling over OR empty?? If it's full, could be bad "radiator" cap on the pressure tank and/or a leak around return hose connections (stock set up has no clamps on the small hose as it comes off of the pressure tank neck...just below the pressure cap..said leak allows loss of the suction created as coolant cools and is suppused to be sucked back out of the overflow bottle). If your overflow bottle is empty, it's possible that a fastener under the right front fascia punctured the lower, outside edge of this bottle. There is a small "close-out" panel on the extreme right side( passenger) on the bottom of the fascia. Remove the two fasteners in this panel and look for a puncture hole.

 

[KevinATX]

Thanks for the reply Steve, my overflow bottle is empty. I will need to look for this close out panel that you are referencing. is this in the front or in the wheel well?

 

[Steve-Indy]

It IS the bottom of the fascia, just under the fog light...about 3 inches passenger side end of the front fascia.

I did a quick search of "verflow bottle" in an attempt to find a photo...here's a general idea of the location:

http://forums.viperclub.org/threads/657592-extra-coolant-reservoir?highlight=overflow+bottle

Note the black fastener (hex head is on the down side) under the rear edge of the bottle...if your has a puncture here, you can replace the bottle (abouy $30 dollars)...OR, in a pinch, some have successfully cleaned the hole, applied a glob of silicone to a coarse thread, short screw and used this as a plug. This last "fix" can be done from below fairly easily. Most shorten the original offending fastener before replacing the closeout panel regardless of the repair technique.

Do a search as noted above for more info, maybe better pics.

 

[LifeIsGood]

First thing is that this thread is in the wrong forum...can a moderator please move it to RT/10 and GTS Discussions.

Here's what the coolant recovery bottle looks like in the front fascia...

You must be registered for see images

If you want full access to this bottle, then the front fascia needs to be removed (this gets easier, the more you do it)...

GEN II - Removing the Front Fascia

I used a combination of the coolant flush procedure in the Service Manual and tips from forum threads. Check out this thread...

How to burp cooling system??

 

[KevinATX]

Thanks for the replies. Sorry for posting in wrong forum, I noticed I did that after I submitted. I appreciate all of your help!