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How easy is it to remove the oil tank?

No one? Some of the coating is flaking and I'd like to repaint it.

Ah. I'm doing the same thing while I have the headlights and intercoolers out. I did think about removing it but that'd be messy even if it's drained. I peeled off the loose paint, gave it a light keying, degreased it then brushed on some POR. If the weather is good this weekend ('cos it's outside) I'll spray some underhood black on it after flatting it if needed.
To get it out it'll need bumper off, headlight out and the airbox off as a minimum. Another thread (which I can't find off-hand) says that access to the bolt holding the oil lines to the bottom of the tank is restricted making it very difficult to remove.

I'll just paint it in situ then. Probs a job for the nicer weather. Curse of buying a car at the end of summer!

Have a look half way down page 1 of this thread...

viewtopic.php?f=47&t=129282

From what I recall I think Jim is correct it can prob be done with bumper, intercooler and intercooler brackets off. You dont have to break the difficult to get off pipes under the tank you can always split them lower down and leave them on the tank. Deffinitely not a 5 min job but then what is on these!

Doug_RS6 wrote: ↑

Thu Dec 06, 2018 11:34 am

No one? Some of the coating is flaking and I'd like to repaint it.

It won't just be some of the coating. I've just taken mine out - not easy but with a little fiddling you can get away without moving the coolant header tank - most of the coating has lifted, I can peel it off in big pieces.
While I'm here, big thanks to the cack-handed individual who fitted the coolant thermostat with one of the hose clips rotated so it couldn't be reached and best of all, cross-threading one of the cover bolts so that it sheared when I attempted to remove it.

What did you end up taking off to remove the tank?

Most of the front of the car is stripped but I reckon you need to remove:
Bumper
RH side:
Headlight
All inlet pipes including pipe between air box and turbo
Air filter box AND the spigot pins on the cam cover
Engine bay bonnet seal
Thick tank breather pipe
Coils
Oil pipes - not easy, you need either a cut down 6mm allen key or a ball-end version.
Remove vent pipe from the expansion tank
Disconnect oil level sensor
Remove tank fixings (3)
Pull tank forwards and ease thinner breather pipe past expansion tank vent (need to flex the expansion tank a little to get enough room)
Release thinner breather pipe
Rotate oil tank towards cam cover ensuring that the coil connectors are down below the edge of the cover
Then slide tank upwards over the cam cover - this is tight, there's a tab on the tank for one of the fixings which is difficult to get past the inner lip of the wing.
I've got the intercooler and radiator removed that side too which might not need to be removed but they certainly give you a lot more room to work.

State of the tank following a light degreasing - the paint just flaked off under the pressure of the brush I was using and the remains don't look as though they'll stand up to much.