Just wondering if anyone knows if a radiator expansion tank needs to be mounted higher that the Radiator itself?

Or is it ok to mount lower than the top of the Rad?

Where do other people mount their tanks?

Im sick off mine crashing around the engine bay!

Cheers.

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Now with 2 extra ports!

You can mount it anywhere as long as the system is evacuated of air along it's entire path. If you do a search this has been covered before.

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"In two years time your car will be like a lady's clothes, out of date, my car will still be in fashion when I am dead" - Sir Alec speaking to Pininfarina

The air will bleed itself out of the line as the coolant heats up in the engine and radiator. I have used one mounted underneath the passenger guard of a mini for a decade. It saw several years of service in the heat of the N.T. without a glitch.

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SooperDooperMiniCooperExpertEngineering

All garage work involves equal measures of enthusiasm, ingenuity and a fair degree of irresponsibility.

Moke ones are mounted above the radiator, and Morris 1100 ones are mounted at the front bellow the radiator.

Make sure you have the blanking cap on the radiator and the normal radiator cap on the expansion tank.

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so a couple of questions..

a) the tank needs to be of the pressurised type? ie brass etc
b) do you still need the correct pressure cap on the radiator? what sort of cap goes on the overflow tank?

edit : thanks poeee for answering b)

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tim
68 Deluxe 1293, HIF44, megajolt/EDIS4, daihatsu alternator..

'a mini is for life, not just for christmas!'

you use a blanking cap on the original radiator and a proper one on the expansion tank.

wether or not it needs to be higher than the orginal is debatable, and has been debated at length on here. I personally dont think its that important.

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a) find a factory one.



I am with you, I don't think it's important. The factory had it both above and bellow (well atleast the Morris 1100 I pulled an engine out of had one mounted low at the front, and it looked very factory to me!).

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Expansion tank in rovers sits below the height of the cap. The hose connects at the bottom of the tank, approximately 6-8 inches below the radiator cap.

Morris 1100 ones were mounted down low to start with but the owners couldn't find them so they changed them to a high mount in 1968.

The expansion tank doesn't need to be pressurized. If you use a recovery type pressure cap on the radiator you can use any expansion tank you like - I got mine from a G10 Charade. The tank can be mounted high or low, it makes no difference.

Although if you go for the underguard mounting, a brass type tank would be a good idea. Stones might put a hole in a plastic type.

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SooperDooperMiniCooperExpertEngineering

All garage work involves equal measures of enthusiasm, ingenuity and a fair degree of irresponsibility.

Good point. I didn't know it had one until I had to disconnect the hose to it to pull the engine out!

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Cos I just did this job this afternoon, you get lucky and can have a few photos of how I set mine up. It's a brass tank from a Morris 1100 or Moke (I can't remember which) which I have fitted under the passenger guard. The bolts sit hard up against the underside of the internal parcel tray so are not visible without a good forage beneath the dash.
BMC were kind enough to provide a hole at the rear of the inner wing precisely the correct size to allow a 1/4 ID fuel hose to pass through, it's like they read my mind

With everything else in the cooling system being new or refurbished(the radiator) and a 74 degrees C thermostat, I'm guessing I won't have any problems in the heat.

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SooperDooperMiniCooperExpertEngineering

All garage work involves equal measures of enthusiasm, ingenuity and a fair degree of irresponsibility.

Certainly not my choice of place for it..... How do you intend to look in it to see what level it is at??

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Not a problem although a little fiddly. I use my finger to feel the level, it's not as far up the guard as the picture might make it look..
I've simply filled it at times and let it find it's own happiness by expelling unwanted fluid.

My last Cooper spent a long time in the NT using this setup, and it's the least clutter out of the options.

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SooperDooperMiniCooperExpertEngineering

All garage work involves equal measures of enthusiasm, ingenuity and a fair degree of irresponsibility.