Rambro99
LVC Member
Anyone tried this bottle? i know the dorman has bad reviews but never heard anyone talk about this one. Mine finally went bad after 123,000 mi. Motorcraft bottle is 179.00 Napa is 99.00 what do you guys think?
Napa Degas bottle (Balkamp)
- Thread starter Rambro99
- Start date
Shredicus
Dedicated LVC Member
Go for the Motorcraft. Think they can be had for 145 if you poke around a bit. I know our hookup Max isnt at 5 star ford any more but try Tasca maybe?
joegr
Dedicated LVC Member
Actually, the Motorcraft one seems to last about five years, give or take one. The Doorman one doesn't always last a whole day.
Shredicus
Dedicated LVC Member
As someone who cheaped out and got a Dorman; I got 3 months of light use out of it before it held ZERO coolant.
Too bad it cant last forever like other bottles seem to.
joegr
Dedicated LVC Member
There's no physical reason that I am aware of that it couldn't be made out of some plastic that would. I never had any trouble from the plastic pressurized reservoirs on my Grand Marquis (what's the plural of Marquis?). The pressurized reservoir on the 325i I have is another story. They last about the same amount of time as the one on the LS, but when they fail, they explode and leave you where you are. At least they are cheap ($30-$40).
G-RELL
FULLY DIPPED LS
JOE's ON FIRE!!! you know its going to be a good day when Joe's crakin jokes..YES.
FYI... it would be Marquisesess.
hite337
Hite Performance
My custom aluminum bottle will last longer than my LS...if I ever get around to installing it
G-RELL
FULLY DIPPED LS
I actually have it... works great... Sorry Hite, didn't think you'd mind
hite337
Hite Performance
So that's where the leaking prototype went....I knew you had something to do with its disappearance
The other vehicles we have had never needed a bottle replaced regardless of mileage. But then again those bottles are not under pressure. I also wonder how an aluminum bottle would work with a pressurized system.
G-RELL
FULLY DIPPED LS
dont worry, I fixed all your shoty welds... (they were bad)
Shredicus
Dedicated LVC Member
There's probably a few bucks to be made by you welder-types if you can fab up a sweet aluminum reservoir.
joegr
Dedicated LVC Member
I would agree if the degas bottle was the only weak spot. As it is, it's just one of several parts that have to be replaced every several years.
Shredicus
Dedicated LVC Member
Even still it would be nice to take it out of the equation permanently. It seems like the other parts break less frequently or at least in longer intervals than the degas bottle. I'm sure you personally have diagnosed 1000 new posters' overheating issues(myself included) by that little leak in the driver side corner.
joegr
Dedicated LVC Member
Maybe. It's hard to say. My personal experience has been that the parts at the front of the engine become a problem before the degas. On my 04, when this happened the degas was cracked enough to be a problem, but it wasn't leaving puddles yet, the coolant outlet pipe was. On the 06 when the plastic at the front went, the degas still looked mostly okay. I could see micro cracks, but they didn't seem to be all the way through yet. Of course, I replaced it anyway. I'm sure it would have failed within a year.
hite337
Hite Performance
Way too much work for me. I have 9.5 hours of TIG welding alone on my aluminum bottle. The amount of money required to make these would be more than most would pay. You can buy the Motorcraft bottle for around $175 or less and it can last for 75-100,000 miles. A custom aluminum bottle like mine could cost $300-400 atleast to have made at a fabrication shop.
I did alot of searching for a pre-made or universal bottle that could possibly fit close or be easily modified to fit the LS and came up with nothing.
... by that little leak in the driver side corner.
hmm...wondering if this could this contribute to a burnt rubber smell on drivers side of engine by the firewall (and a bit of smoke)
joegr
Dedicated LVC Member
No, that's probably an oil leak.
hite337
Hite Performance
Yes I do. I will start a new thread about it soon and it will have all the info on parts and a drawing
Telco
Dedicated LVC Member
GM uses plastic reservoir bottles that are under pressure and I've never heard of one failing so it is possible to build one. The one on my truck is the size of a small car battery. And, if you think about it, most all radiators are made with plastic end caps now too so there's no reason why the LS degas bottle should have this problem. No idea if a reservoir from another car might be retrofitted to an LS due to the space constraints though. You'd have to pull up pictures of all of them, and compare the shape and size to the LS one to see if one's close. Too bad Lincoln didn't use the same kind of plastic GM did.
I wonder if it might be possible to eliminate the degas bottle altogether? Use an in-hose water filler with a reservoir tap, then use the degas bottle as a non-pressurized reservoir. It wouldn't look as slick under the hood, but would likely hold up better.