Coolant Surge Tank, is this genuine or aftermarket?

[Coug]

So ordered a coolant surge tank from what seems like it would be a reliable source, not going to name them as not sure yet if it's legit or what's going on or if it's a fluke that they'll take care of, just wanted to ask here for those that have seen more of these than me if the replacement tank I ordered is legit or not. From what I've read if it's shiny at the cap area (like the cheap ones found on fleabay) it seems to be aftermarket, and the fittings don't look like the pictures on any website I can find (including fleabay), and the lower fitting doesn't seem like it was made properly.

So is this tank legit or did I pay way too much for something that's not legit?

 

[gem1410]

Looks like the same junk I bought off a seller out of Georgia--It leaked--really bad manufacturing

 

[Coug]

I looked a little closer at some of the seams. The plastic they made it out of seems to be as much bubbles as it is plastic, and some really big bubbles (comparatively) at the seams does not inspire confidence.
I did message the seller and ask them about it, that they claim they only sell the legit ones, and this one matches their own description of the junk ones. I'm not about to install it into my truck until I'm sure.
Also, not sure if it's relevant or not, but box it came in was completely unmarked, and almost impossible to make out the writing and numbers on the tank.

 

[Bulldogger]

Looks poorly made, especially that bad alignment on the seam. As far as being "legit", well, it could be from a legitimate government manufacturer but be a second/reject, and some folks might still claim it is "legit".

If you can return it, I would. There are already plenty of challenges on a HMMWV with all OEM parts as it is. Between the pictures and description it looks like a blowout and stranded vehicle waiting to happen.

BDGR

 

[Milcommoguy]

Don't recall those monster mushroom looking connections either. The cap connection and screws look about right, but I bet the metal is a thinner material. (is it really brass?)

Can be a hard lesson to learn with the knock off. Maybe a list of knock-off / non-QEM parts needs to be generated (along with sources)?. Here's what I have: tail light buckets, turn signal flasher, control and front and rear lamp assemblies, and bulbs, all gauges and speed-O's, half-shafts. Not sure on glow plugs, but I have seen some of ??? quality.

Another "pip" on the HUMMWV radar, CAMO

 

[ken]

I ended up getting the aftermarket aluminum tank. It fit perfect with no leaks. I would highly recommend it. The one you have looks like a pirated copy part. It doesen't look legit at all.

 

[MarkM]

That can't be a military vendor with being as poorly made as it is but it could be a reject in any case I would send it back.

Mark

 

[Wire Fox]

Legit or not, it's not going to work. The part is a knock-off or a defect.

 

[Coug]

The vender got back to me, asked me for some pictures, and now they said they're talking to their AMG purchasing/engineers to figure out what's going on, so they aren't just blowing me off and seem to be taking this seriously. They sent me a picture of a new one in stock, and yeah, the top looks nothing like the one I got.
I'm guessing either someone returned an aftermarket tank in place of a good one, or it happened somewhere in their supply chain.
Either way, I don't see any way for the hoses to fit onto those fittings, so no way it's going in the truck.

 

[DatGuyC]

I ended up getting the aftermarket aluminum tank. It fit perfect with no leaks. I would highly recommend it. The one you have looks like a pirated copy part. It doesen't look legit at all.

+1 I dont trust the plastic tanks anymore since I've had 2 fail. Got an aluminum one and havent had any problems.

 

[Retiredwarhorses]

The plastic fitting are flared on the OEM tank as well.

 

[Coug]

The plastic fitting are flared on the OEM tank as well.

Okay, I expected them to be more of a ridge/ring that bulges out but starts out smaller in order to more easily get the hoses on, the flare makes it seem like fitting a hose on there would be pretty difficult. Flare portion is .550 inches, the flat portion is .400 inches diameter.

Have you seen any OEM tanks that have the shiny looking brass for the cap area as opposed to the dull look?

 

[Stonewall]

Unless there is some sort of huge civilian market for these, I would assume that these originally came from a legitimate source. The tooling/mold cost would not pay for itself, unless you produced and sold 1000's. I lean toward the possibility that these are parts that did not pass inspection but somehow ended up in a sellers hands.

 

[Coug]

Unless there is some sort of huge civilian market for these, I would assume that these originally came from a legitimate source. The tooling/mold cost would not pay for itself, unless you produced and sold 1000's. I lean toward the possibility that these are parts that did not pass inspection but somehow ended up in a sellers hands.

China makes their own version of the HMMWV now, so while there isn't a huge civilian market for them, they already have all the tooling needed to make them, they just use very inferior materials to do so for our market.

 

[Retiredwarhorses]

Unless there is some sort of huge civilian market for these, I would assume that these originally came from a legitimate source. The tooling/mold cost would not pay for itself, unless you produced and sold 1000's. I lean toward the possibility that these are parts that did not pass inspection but somehow ended up in a sellers hands.

Negative
I have been directly solicited from Chinese Mfg’s For this part and many others.
The numerous failures I’ve had with these units are the way the mold was done, they burst at the seams.
OEM has no such seam where as the Chinese mfg’d one does.

 

[Coug]

So latest update, the vender apparently placed an order with the distributor, but 2 weeks later they're still backordered, as all current stock is going to the military or something like that.
They offered to take the tank back from me and will send me a shipping tag. Even if nothing else was wrong with it, the shiny brass at the top compared to every legit one I've seen is enough to make me suspicious without any confirmation that they did a change to them, and the bubbles in the seam on the back just don't give me any confidence in it.

Price also jumped up about $80 since I bought it, and only a couple places I see have them down close to $200.

For that kind of money I decided to go with an aftermarket one instead.




And yes, by aftermarket I mean one of the aluminum ones on fleabay. Tig welded aluminum, so if anything bad happens to it, I can at least take it somewhere to be welded on, as opposed to replacing the plastic one every decade or so like a lot of people seem to have to do.

 

[Coug]

Got the aluminum surge tank installed.

One thing to note, it is a little longer than the plastic one was. The hoses for the Red Dot aircon were at the wrong angle, and interfered with the new tank, not allowing it to sit where it is supposed to to be tightened down.
Fortunately the rest of my Red Dot system is actually removed right now other than the compressor, so I loosened up one fitting, rotated it a few degrees, shoved one hose into a little different routing, and now everything fits how it should. Old tank had some sand and grit in the bottom, but not too bad, just leftover from engine casting would be my guess. Probably needs a system flush, rather than just the 2 gallons I had to drain out for the tank replacement, but that's something I'll worry about if I manage to get it licensed.


I did get one message asking me how to check level when hot with the aluminum tank, as it's sight glass isn't that big. My thoughts on the matter are as long as it shows any coolant in the window before I start and when I'm driving, then there isn't anything to worry about. Hard to have too much coolant when any excess will go out the overflow tube, just have to worry about it when cold.