So my sister pulled up earlier today and said her car ('97 Z28 LT1) was smoking and leaking some fluid. I didn't look at it right away, but when i took a look at it later on it seemed pretty obvious that the car just overheated. I took a look at the liquid on the ground and where it came out of. I'm certainly no expert but it looks like the bottom of the collant resevoir has a massive crack in it which caused all the water and antifreeze to drain out and the car to overheat. Anyone have any experiences with this, or know how much its gonna cost to fix. Also, I figure it would be alright to drive it just a few miles into town, maybe 4-5. Any suggestions?

<3 my spelling.

 

so just buy another tank ?

they are cheap even brand new ones,.


should be pennies to fix

no problem here

the cooling system wont lose much water just because the tank is broken

the normal water level when cold in a cooling system without a tank is about 2" below the top of the radiator

how do you think the 60s and 70s vehicles that never got a tank from factory ran without one ?

the tank is not required

when the coooling system coools off then the contracting fluid draws fluid through the cap through the tank hose into the radiator and keeps the air space at the top of the radiator from ocurring, unlike in systems with no tank

the air space at the top of the radiator is always about 2" tall in there,

when the cooling system expands when it is warmed up then the fluid expands and takes up this space



you wont lose any more than 2" of the fluid with no tank connected

having no tank will not cause an overheat problem, the tank has nothing to do with cooling the vehicle, it just keeps fluid from leaking on the ground if it were to overheat and release fluid and vapor- per EPA requirements



good luck

 

Dunno if you've ever looked at one in an LT1 fbody, but I would'nt exactly be able to just pull it out.