Cat radiator overflow tank cracking

[pine tree]

Here is a little warning. The Plastic radiator surge tank on Cat engines tend to deteriorate over time. Ours was 9 years old and got some little "spider" cracks that grew on a trip out over the west US mountains.

By the time we got to the State of Washington there was major leaking and we had to go in for a new tank.

Point is keep an eye on the tank. If your see any little tiny cracks or a bit of seepage do not delay, just replace the damn thing.

Kind-of costly to do anywhere, but more costly on the road. $800.00+-.

Pine Tree

[cbeierl]

Just fyi, that's probably a Freightliner tank rather than a CAT one.

[Mr_D]

Well known problem! Don't buy a new one from FL, there are other places that handle ones at much less cost!

Here's one

[skigramp]

About 18 months ago I first noticed my surge tank was leaking while on the road ... I called the Freightliner service centor on the west side of Salt Lake Citya (about 200 miles away) ... they had the tank in stock ... I stopped at the next Flying J and bought a gallon of coolant ... and made it the 200 miles topping off the coolant about every 50 miles ... the service center had me on the road again in about 3 hours ... I don't remember the charge but it was lot less than $800 ...

You have a low coolant alarm so you can likely make it to a service center without damaging your engine ..

[bob109]

Just replaced the Surge Tank on my Discovery. Did the install in 2 hours with the brother-in-laws assist. Cost of the new tank was $102 and change from the local Freightliner Dealer.

Here's the details from my post on the Freightliner Chassis Forum

Radiator Surge Tank Old and New

[rvarner]

Quote:

Originally Posted by pine tree Here is a little warning. The Plastic radiator surge tank on Cat engines tend to deteriorate over time. Ours was 9 years old and got some little "spider" cracks that grew on a trip out over the west US mountains. By the time we got to the State of Washington there was major leaking and we had to go in for a new tank. Point is keep an eye on the tank. If your see any little tiny cracks or a bit of seepage do not delay, just replace the damn thing. Kind-of costly to do anywhere, but more costly on the road. $800.00+-. Pine Tree

Had mine replaced a couple weeks ago. Freightliner in Tolleson quoted 3 hrs at $140 hr ($125 + 12%) and $125 plus tax for the tank. Ordered the tank myself ($96) and hired a local RV place to replace it. Also had CAT ELC installed. Total cost for everything was about $620 including tank.
Richard

[GG1]

There are step by step close up photos of the replacement on this web site

[bachler]

We have an Ultimate 2000. I have looked into Buying a tank and carrying it with.. Now the next Question There are steel tanks on ebay #FLD120. Replacement for theA051295700 or #A051579900 They are about $250.00 . The MH, is a freightliner Frame with A Cat 330. HELP;;

[bob109]

Quote:

Originally Posted by bachler We have an Ultimate 2000. I have looked into Buying a tank and carrying it with.. Now the next Question There are steel tanks on ebay #FLD120. Replacement for theA051295700 or #A051579900 They are about $250.00 . The MH, is a freightliner Frame with A Cat 330. HELP;;

Bachler:

Visit your local Freightliner Dealer and have the last six numbers/letters of you VIN. They will cross reference the exact Surge Tank Part # for your chassis. The OEM part # for the Surge Tank I just purchased is FTL 05-17750-000. You may have the exact tank, as we share the same chassis. Make sure you have the OEM part # and go from there. You surely don't want to have to re-plumb the hoses due to purchasing the wrong tank