COOLANTEXPANSIONANDRECOVERYTANKS

byLorneGoldman

OverflowTank
Thesubjectofusinganoverflowtankisonethathasspawnedmuchforum
discussionandevenmoreconfusion.Thetermoverflowtankcommonly
hastwodifferentmeaningsonforums.Meaningsthatareanythingbutthe
same.
Thetrueoverflowtankissimplyanitemaddedonaftermanufacture.Itis
usedwithaconventionalcoolingsystemwhichconsistsofaradiator,fitwitha
fillerneckandsealedwiththerecommendedpressurecap.Thesystemisfilled
throughthefillerneck.
Whenthecoolantheats,itexpands,increasingthesystempressureabovethepressureholdingcapabilityofthe
pressurecap(listedonthecapinPSI).Thesealonthecapisforcedupwardandthisallowsthecoolanttobe
ventedoutthroughtheoverflowventwhichbecomesexposed.Theexcesscoolantventseitherintothe
atmosphereortheground.However,onecanfitanoverflowtankwhichcatchestheoverflow.Theoverflowtankis
underatmosphericpressure.Thecoolingsystemisunderatmosphericpressureplusanyextrapressurecreated
bytheheatexpansionofthecoolant.
Asthecoolingsystembeginstocooldown,theinternalsystempressuredropsuntilitallowsthepressurecap
springtoovercomethesystempressureandthecapthensealstheradagainwhenthecoolantsystempressure
dropsbelowtheratedpressureofthepressurecap.Accordinglythecoolingsystempressurewillalwaysbeeither
abovetheatmosphericpressureoftheoverflowtankuntilthepressurecapagainsealsandtheyarebothat
atmosphericpressure.Sotheflowofexcesscoolingcanbeinonedirectionandthatisoutintotheoverflowtank.
Thecoolantwhichwentintotheoverflowtankcannotflowbackintothecoolingsystembecausenothingcanflow
fromalowerpressureenvironmenttoahigherpressureenvironment.
Ergo,anoverflowtankservesonlytopreventcoolantflowontothegroundorcarwhereitcancausegreat
mischief.Ifusinganoverflowsystemonanoldercar,pleaselookatGerry'sarticlebelow.Thelevelofthecoollant
mustbecheckedbeforeanyusage.
Anoverflowtankisinstalledbyfindingaplacetoboltorscrewit.Trythevalences(Innerwings)orthebulkhead.
Theradiatoroverflowventhoseisconnectedtotheoverflowtank.Youwillstillneedtokeepaneyeonthe
coolantlevelintheradiatorandkeepittoppeduptoto1belowthebottomofthefillerneck.Ifanysystemis
filledhigher,itwillbeoverfullandtheexcesscoolantwillbeventedfromthesystem.

ExpansionTank
Anexpansiontank(akaarecoverytank)isfittosealedradiator.Iteitherhasnofillerneckoritissealedwitha
blankingcapwhichdoesnotreacttoorproducepressure.Itsimplysealstheradasidefromtheventandhosetothe
expansiontank.Theremotelylocatedexpansiontankisfitted,andsealedwithapressurecaptoventanyexcess

pressurebuildup.Theradiatorandenginearefullofcoolantandtheexpansiontankisfullfromabout1/3to1/2l
ofcoolant.Theemptyportionofthetankservesthesamepurposeastheemptyspaceweusedtoleaveitheold
conventionalradsheadertank.Theemptyspaceallowstheairinsidetobecompressedtoallowexpanded
coolantaspacetooccupy.Withthisformofsystem,asthesystempressureisincreased,excesscoolantis
forcedouttheradiatorventandintotheexpansiontank.Assystempressuredrops,coolingisdrawnbackfrom
theexpansiontankandbackintotheradiatorandengine.Whenfillingaradwiththistypeofsystem,filltothe
verytop!
IffittinganexpansiontanktoanolderMorgan,installitexactlyastheoverflowtankabove,butlocateitaboutthe
leveloftheradtopsection.Theradiatorpressurecapisreplacedwithablankingcap(lookslikearadcapbut
notspringorstopperonit)andtheexpansiontankshouldusetheproperpressurecapforyoursystem..The
overflowlinefromtheradiatorfillerneckisroutedtotheexpansiontank.Hoseclampsnowneedtobeusedon
thisline,asyouhavemadeitintoapressurecarryinglineratherthananoverflowline.Theexpansiontnk
overflowlineistheoneonthefillerneckoftheexpansiontank.Ithasahoseattachedtoitthatventstothe
atmospherejustastheconventionalradiatoroverflowhosedoesBUTthisshouldnotbearegulareventas,once
thesystemfindsitsbalance,theexcesscoolantwithreturntotheradandtheengine..unlikebefore.Theradiator
isfilledtotheverytopandtheexpansiontankisfilledabout1/3to1/2full.Theuseofthissystemwilladdabout
onetoonelitertothesystem.However,thiswilldependonthesizeoftheexpansiontankandhose.

Summary

Theuseofanoverflowtankisdoneforenvironmentalreasons.It
preventsaslightlyoverfilledradiatorsystemfromventingontothe
ground.Theuseofanexpansiontankcreatesanentirelydifferent
systemandeffect.InolderMorgans,withouteitherexpansionoroverflow
tanks,theexcessfluidproducedbythehottemperatureswasreleasedonto
theground.Frequentcheckingofthecoolantlevelandreplacementis
neededtoavoidoverheatingonthesecars.Manyownershaveretrofitted
eitheroverfloworexpansionoftanks.
Remember,thebiggestpanicisatthestart.Peopledon'tfilltheircooling

systemswhentheirenginesarehot.Theyfillthemwhentheirenginesare
cold..tothetop.Theystart'emup,heattorunningtemp(ajumpof80Cor
so)andmakepuddlesforafewdays.Itisunsettlingandembarrassingbut
harmless(excepttotheenvironment).Withanexpansionsystem,after
somedriving,thecollantwillfindahappybalanceandlevelandexpelany
excess.Ifitdoesn't,youhaveaproblemthatmustbecured.

CoolingaBigPlus8
byLorneGoldman

WATCHPOINTONWATERLESSCOOLANTS:ThereislessinternetexpertiseintheMorganowners'
communitythantherewasoncewas.Loreandexperienceislessaccessible.Thereisalsomoreof
apredatorymovementintheMorganmarketandevenonmajorforums.Thecarssuffer.Iwilladd
"WATCHPOINTS"whereIcan.
Oneofthehighlyhypedofferingsiswaterlesscoolants.Peopleforgetthatboilingovverisanimportant
symptom.Theengineisrunningtoohot.(duh!)Thishappenswhenacar'smostimportantcomponent,its
motor,ispoorlytakencareoforthecoolingsystemisinadequate.Waterlesscoolantsnotonlynormallycool
lessefficiently,theydenytheownerthemostimportantwarningsign!
Someofyouwillbesurprisedtoknowthatthebestcoolantispurewater.Sadlyitisalsocorrosiveandboils
overat100C..whenmostEFIcarsaremadetorunhotterthanthattoreduceemissions.Pressurizedrad
capsandamixtureofwaterandahighqualitycoolantraisestheboilingpointandpreventscorrrosionata
sacrificetobettercooling.
Plus8enginesarenotinherentlyheatprone.TheyhavenosuchreputationexceptinearlyMorgan,Triumphand
MGconfigurations.Thesecompaniesoptedforcheapcoolingcompromisesbecauseofspaceandbudgetary
considerations.Overtime,theenginesbecomepoorlytunedordamagedbecuaaseoftheheatandthatleadsto
morefrequentbollingover.Theycanbecuredwithcareandcommonsense,notsilliness.

AftermanyyearswithafewPlus8sIhavefoundahappyrecipeforallweathercooling.
1.Abiggermoreefficientrad.Iamnotenthralledwiththosewithadeepercoreormanymorefins.Myexperienceof