COOLANT TANK ISSUES?

    I spoke to my dealer yesterday as about every 1500 or so miles I end up putting about 3/4" of coolant in the plastic tank to bring it up to par. I have looked all around with the LED infrared light but no sign of any leaks. Oil is not milky so head gasket is fine. Dealer did say that it could be going out the exhaust but no steam can be seen and the amount of loss is very small for the time period so if it is going out the exhaust it is undetectable. I am averaging about 800-1000 miles a month so this is an on going thing.


    Dealer also says there are no recalls on the tank.


    Hose connections all seem fine. Only other thing I can think of is the cap seal may be letting vapor out over time.


    Any others out there having to replace coolant at this or other intervals? 3/4" of fluid is not a big deal but I shouldn't have to do this. I really don't want to spent 150 bucks on a new tank if I don't have to. Any thoughts?? :/

    We’ll get there when we get there and not a minute before. 😎

    Coolant tank issues were oh so very common back in the early days of the 2015-2016, primarily thought to be caused by being exposed to excessive heat and rectified with the installation of muffler/exhaust manifold shields. Hopefully those days are not coming back to haunt us?


    Bill

    Quote from wjfyfe

    Coolant tank issues were oh so very common back in the early days of the 2015-2016, primarily thought to be caused by being exposed to excessive heat and rectified with the installation of muffler/exhaust manifold shields. Hopefully those days are not coming back to haunt us?


    Bill

    Mine is a 2016 BUT I have installed all around the plastic tank a heat shield as before any of this came about I thought a plastic tank so close to the exhaust was not the best of situations...

    We’ll get there when we get there and not a minute before. 😎

    The 15 and 16 tanks were splitting at the seam of the tank. Mine split at the bolt on the passenger side and I know of at least one that the hose connector broke/cracked. For one thing on the 2015 the mounting bolts were too close together putting undue pressure on the tank. I took a die grinder and ground the tab all the way back to the nut, but I still had to pull them apart to start the bolts. I will bet money that the problem i the tank. Polaris will replace under warrenty if you still have one, if not get the Alum. tank from DDM to replace the plastic one. Oh! and heat was/is not the problem with the tank. If it was everyone of them would be bad. I have a brand new spare if you need it.

    Quote from SoCal

    Mine is a 2016 BUT I have installed all around the plastic tank a heat shield as before any of this came about I thought a plastic tank so close to the exhaust was not the best of situations...

    My best gyess is that you have a leak in a hose or a connection, somewhere down low. There have been some cases of split scenes on the plastic tanks, but those have tended to be somewhat catastrophic, and quite visible. If you can't see an obvious leak on the tank, then it's not as likely as a low point drip.


    Another common issue, which I believe is more along what wjfyfe is remembering, is that the plastic nozzles on the tanks will snap if they get much lateral pressure after the tank has a little bit of a John it. That is what happened to me, and although I did a home-grown fix with a metal nozzle, I eventually went to the metal coolant tank.

    I had a similar problem recently and my solution was to tighten all the hose clamps on all the associated hoses. I had my hoses replaced a year earlier with silicone ones and i think a hose clamp had loosened enough to let a little vapor out under pressure but not make a noticeable leak.

    GM has their own antifreeze...which if you believe all the GM forums, eats gasket material.


    I have 3 2002 gmc savana vans with 350 motors....each of them needed the lower intake gasket material replaced....smelling antifreeze without being able to see it is a good sign..


    You need to do a pressure test to see if the leak shows up.

    Shit can the factory spring clamps and replace them with the worm drive clamps. Another issue was that SOME of the earlier models had issues with the hose clamp going to the bottom of the coolant tank. It was installed wrong and not attached on the part of the hose that was covering the nipple. So under pressure, it would seep coolant, yet being a little tricky to find. While you're at it, why not install the DDM coolant tank to make sure you never have a tank issue in the future?

    Nobody gets outta here ALIVE

    Quote from FunCycle

    The 15 and 16 tanks were splitting at the seam of the tank. Mine split at the bolt on the passenger side and I know of at least one that the hose connector broke/cracked. For one thing on the 2015 the mounting bolts were too close together putting undue pressure on the tank. I took a die grinder and ground the tab all the way back to the nut, but I still had to pull them apart to start the bolts. I will bet money that the problem i the tank. Polaris will replace under warrenty if you still have one, if not get the Alum. tank from DDM to replace the plastic one. Oh! and heat was/is not the problem with the tank. If it was everyone of them would be bad. I have a brand new spare if you need it.

    Wow - all great information and QUICK as usual! Very much appreciated! I will look and do the easy stuff first then have a look see after this trip. I will be doIng about 1200 miles this week and it will be a good test as I am topping off everything and "checking it twice"!


    FunCycle GREAT OFFER AND THANK YOU! I may just take you up on it after this trip and see what happens.


    Yet another reason we all stick around on this forum! Concerned great people that love to ride and HELP! :)

    We’ll get there when we get there and not a minute before. 😎

    SoCal I also have a like-new spare tank should you (or anyone else need a second, and more importantly, I have the hardware and instructions for a homemade fix if the inlet nozzle snaps off. That happened to me, and I was quite aggrieved about it.

    Quote from SoCal

    Wow - all great information and QUICK as usual! Very much appreciated! I will look and do the easy stuff first then have a look see after this trip. I will be doIng about 1200 miles this week and it will be a good test as I am topping off everything and "checking it twice"!


    FunCycle GREAT OFFER AND THANK YOU! I may just take you up on it after this trip and see what happens.


    Yet another reason we all stick around on this forum! Concerned great people that love to ride and HELP! :)

    I picked up some extra overflow reservoirs for my vans at a junk yard.....over time from ozone and other factors....the plastic becomes brittle....one of them basically shattered in my hand.....


    So a new metal tank is going on my list of future upgrades.


    My 2011 GM pickup just had a leak because of a rusted spring hose clamp. The only way it was found is with a pressure test....

    The 15 and 16 tanks were splitting at the seam of the tank. Mine split at the bolt on the passenger side and I know of at least one that the hose connector broke/cracked. For one thing on the 2015 the mounting bolts were too close together putting undue pressure on the tank. I took a die grinder and ground the tab all the way back to the nut, but I still had to pull them apart to start the bolts. I will bet money that the problem i the tank. Polaris will replace under warrenty if you still have one, if not get the Alum. tank from DDM to replace the plastic one. Oh! and heat was/is not the problem with the tank. If it was everyone of them would be bad. I have a brand new spare if you n

    Quote from SoCal

    Mine is a 2016 BUT I have installed all around the plastic tank a heat shield as before any of this came about I thought a plastic tank so close to the exhaust was not the best of situations...

    When the seam started leaking I was doing the same as you, and could not find or see. When I did find it and drove to the dealer, there was no problem seeing it and by the time I got back home 14 miles it had split even more. Had the dealer overnight one, you know! I did not want to be down over a day.

    .


    My original tank split its seam just above the cold level and when hot dripped on the edge of the firewall insulation which soaked it up and was dried by exhaust heat so you could never see a drip or any trace of dried up coolant. Every once in a while in slow traffic I would get a whiff of coolant .... drove me nuts for months and I couldn't believe the perfect set of events hiding the leak when I finally figured it out ......


    .... wacky-squared

    :REDSS: The ghost of SLingshot past ......

    Quote from Orangeman

    .


    My original tank split its seam just above the cold level and when hot dripped on the edge of the firewall insulation which soaked it up and was dried by exhaust heat so you could never see a drip or any trace of dried up coolant. Every once in a while in slow traffic I would get a whiff of coolant .... drove me nuts for months and I couldn't believe the perfect set of events hiding the leak when I finally figured it out ......


    .... wacky-squared

    hummm a lot to digest. A failure of the tank as some have mentioned would totally suck. Perhaps after this trip if I see the level go down the best thing to do is bite the bullet and get the aftermarket aluminum tank and forget about it!


    Thanks again to all for the generous offers both material and intellectual 🙂

    We’ll get there when we get there and not a minute before. 😎