VII

This weekend just before going out on a long trip the coolant reservoir broke where it attaches to the small hose on the top towards the front of the car. As expected coolant poured out at an alarming rate.
So as I was in a hurry with a car full of passengers and luggage all I had time for was to call my dealer and ask for a fix.
The fix was a new reservoir for about $65 which they lucky had in stock and installed in 15 minutes. The old reservoir was handed to me in several pieces and the tech said it was just so brittle it started breaking off...
I wanted to ask if that was the correct fix or if there was an easier-cheaper one?
Anyone else has needed to replace the whole reservoir as well?

BTW car has 110K miles

JDM_love

I never had to replace the reservoir but did need to replace the radiator, couple houses and coolant at one point. cost near a grand. In my opinion the price you pay for the part would be the same since any shop you go to they would probably get from the dealer also. The only difference would be the price of the labor. For $65 did they refill the coolant too? If so thats a great price in my opinion

VII

65 was part only, paid 70 for labor and they did throw in some free coolant I guess. I was just wondering if they overkilled it with the new reservoir or that was the only option.

JDM_love

If the plastic was cracked it wouldn't be a good idea to fix it in my opinion, I think it had to be replaced. The labor on the other hand of $70 I think is a rip off and couldve been avoided

mtnman82

Same thing happenned to me but I fixed it with some JB weld or some other type of epoxy. If I had remembered I epoxied this part back together I would have replaced the tank when I changed the coolant last year... If I had the reservoir readily available and it was ~$65 I would have replaced it, so I think you did the right thing.

VII

Yeah I guess $135 is not bad and they did get me back on the road very fast. Was having second thoughts because this particular time I had no chance to check on anything and usualy dealers just go the easiest-most expensive route when left to decide freely.

Epoxy sounds like a good option for a quick and probably permanent fix for $3, how many miles/yrs has it been working for you?

Vander

I think $135 was a steal! You almost never get out of the dealership that inexpensive. I would use epoxy, it's not like the part was a fortune. Now you have peace of mind that it was done right. This reservoir will probably last another 110k miles.

Norsk_Johnson

I know this is an old thread, but I figured I'd add my experience to this existing thread in place of starting a new one. I replaced my coolant reservoir over the wknd and it was a breeze. Like VII, my reservoir became brittle over 12 years and the upper "outlet" hose broke off as well, spraying coolant everywhere in the engine bay. As you can see in the photo below, I had to jerry-rig the original hose with epoxy, rubber band and an elastic string to maintain pressure until I received the replacement; the whole job took about an hour.

For those reading this thread, you can buy a quality aftermarket reservoir on Amazon for $36 (made by 'Hamman'). I was a little apprehensive to purchase due to it's low price-point, but reviews were solid. Once received, the product itself exceeded my expectations on overall build quality.

Part No. 203-500-00-49

Aftermarket Reservoir on Amazon: https://amzn.com/B00B5KB1IY

Here's a great DIY: http://www.pelicanparts.com/techarti...eplacement.htm




Deteriorated Stock OEM Reservoir



New 'HAMMAN' Reservoir

RedGray

Neat. Thanks for info!
I put that on my C230 list on Amazon - if/when I need to replace the coolant reservoir.

Norsk_Johnson

No prob, man! Nice color car btw