You’ve seen these on some classic cars, like the Galaxie, or even the old Shelby Cobras,” explained Harding.īut where an expansion tank really differs is that it is typically a sealed system, not affected by atmospheric pressure. Expansion tanks are just that: tanks that provide expansion of your cooling system, giving you up to a half gallon more coolant. Expansion tanks work in much the same manner as the overflow tank, but serve a very different purpose. “Some manufacturers and websites will confuse the overflow reservoir for the expansion tank, but the two perform very different functions. We then asked Michael what an Expansion Tank is, and how that differs from the Reservoir Tank. The reservoir is never under steam pressure, which allows the coolant to return via atmospheric pressure,” continued Harding. “A system with an overflow will have a vented radiator cap, and usually a sealed reservoir cap. With our overflow tank, the two tubes are different lengths, with the vent being much longer, allowing the level to increase before it vents off excess coolant. These tanks can be cylindrical, with both hoses attached at the bottom, like ours, or the factory style will enter at the bottom and the vent will be at the top. It allows the expelled coolant to fill the reservoir to a certain point before it’s expelled to the atmosphere (ground). The longest one on the outside is also the longest one on the inside. Expelled coolant will enter the tank from the bottom, and when the level rises it will expel through the vent tube.įrom the bottom of an overflow like ours, you’ll find two tubes. For this reason, overflow tanks/reservoirs, recovery tanks have their own vent. It’s really just a guide, however, filling the reservoir during cold cycles just means that you will likely end up with coolant on the ground. Many plastic tanks have a ‘cold’ and ‘hot’ mark those marks indicate where the coolant should be in the tank during cold cycles (non-running) and hot cycles (engine running). This, in turn, adds more coolant to your system and helps to keep the engine a little cooler. The process of returning coolant back to the radiator is possible because the combination of the reduced steam pressure allows the atmospheric pressure to push coolant from the tank back into the radiator through the vented radiator cap. The smaller spring that can’t be seen is how coolant is returned – through the center of the cap. The heavy spring on the radiator cap that can be seen is compressed when pressures reach roughly. Different manufacturers called them different things: overflow – to catch the overflow from the radiator reservoir – to store the captured coolant or recovery tank – to recover coolant that was expelled when the pressure increased,” explained Harding. This was good for radiators, and much better for our environment. “Overflow tanks were added to cooling systems to catch the overflow and store it, instead of leaving it on the ground. What’s the difference between the two, how do they work, and do you need one? We reached out to Michael Harding of Champion Cooling to answer our questions. One common misconception we see with cooling systems though is the difference between an Overflow Tank and an Expansion Tank. Power Tour puts any cooling system through it’s paces. Usually the Power Tour is hours of driving through heat, sitting in some traffic, and doing it over and over again. If you’re trying to do some driving events such as the Hot Rod Power Tour, then having a proper cooling system is absolutely essential. Nobody likes to have their car overheat and be stuck on the side of the road. With summer coming, making sure your cooling system is up to date is crucial.
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