coolant leak into driverside footwell?

[flatoot 0]

hi all! didnt know what section to put this one in thought either the interior or engine bay.. my problem is that last nit I got the corrado out of the garrage to give it a warm up before the summer. I let it run idling when I did the windows and when I had done the glass I jumped back in and turned the ignition off and noticed there was a green steaming liquid running down abouve the clutch and thought it right away to be the coolant. has anyone ever heard of this happening before? Ive got it booked in at my local garage but any pointers would be great!

 

 

the joys of raddo N 8)

[davidwort 0]

:( looks like another heater matrix has gone.

[vwdeviant 0]

search for Heater + Matrix + Failed...

sounds like new matrix time I'm afraid...

(In before VR6! :lol:)

 

Oh and Engine and year would be helpful!

[Neil VR6 0]

Definitely a heater matrix. Keep the heater switched off (and when they properly ‘go’ when you’re driving, the car tends to fill up immediately with steam and obscure forward vision).

 

Given it’s a dash out job I’d get a quote or perhaps take it somewhere who knows Corrado’s as they’re likely to do it better and quicker as it’s a common fault. Expect a few more dash rattles too once the job’s been completed

[vwdeviant 0]

Oh and apparently mk4 matrix's fit so no more exploding heater! :clap:

[renson 0]

I would have thought you would be better off bypassing the heater matrix for now. Its easy to do, just the 2 water pipes going into the bulkhead. I just used a couple of plumbers joints from B&Q to connect them together. Would stop you getting hot feet like when my old VR6 one went. Also means you won't steam up the windows when you forget and turn the heating up

[Neil VR6 0]

I would have thought you would be better off bypassing the heater matrix for now. Its easy to do, just the 2 water pipes going into the bulkhead. I just used a couple of plumbers joints from B&Q to connect them together. Would stop you getting hot feet like when my old VR6 one went. Also means you won't steam up the windows when you forget and turn the heating up

 

JMR keeps a pre-made up u-shaped section for exactly this job which is loaned to victims of this affliction to keep their cars on the road!

[flatoot 0]

cheers guys for the replys!! ive been scratching through other threads and its sounds like a fairly common thing to go on the raddo... lol I thought it mite be a bit of a fidly job (rattels?? over the VALVER). the garage ive got it booked into is dear and you have to get it booked in but hez worth it. I mite have a look at the pipes you mentioned renson. I was going to get a m8 of mine to tow me coz I thought coolant would just piss out from mine to the garage but then I thought the water pump mite still be turning when im getting towed? bipassing sounds like a cool trick!

 

cheers again

[HiAsAKite 0]

Had this happen to me a few years back whilst driving- one minute enjoying the countryside, next minute steam pouring out the dash and engine coolant spraying over my leg..

 

...as others have said- the matrix has gone..

 

You can bypass it in the engine bay (where the coolant goes through the bulkhead) which allows you to drive the car until you can get the matrix replaced (which is a dash out job)-

 

- however you should ASAP get all the carpets out that have been contaminated and 'wash' and dry them out, plus dry to get as much of the coollant out of the dash/lower centre section- as otherwise it will sit there and play havoc with any electrics that are caught by it....

 

...the glycerol in the collant is also hydrophilic and will absorb water out of the air, so until you get clean it it out will never 'dry' properly- if this has got into any of the electrics this may cause a problem for you - (in my case my immobiliser was soaked and needed to be replaced- it worked when dried with a het gun, but over a period of days would absorb moisture from the air back in and stop working until it was re-dried...

 

All the best getting it sorted..

 

PS: GSF do replacement matrices-

[flatoot 0]

good stuff hi as a kite! im gona go out in a bit and try and scoop the coolant. I thought there mite be a problem with it...... al let you know how I get on with it. just a wee question where xaktly is the pipes your on about? for doing the bipass

[HiAsAKite 0]

Um, they're two coolant pipes (circa 1" diameter maybe?) that go into the bulkhead at the back of engine bay in the 'top middle'- ie look at the engine bay from the front and they should be at the back of the engine bay, at the back at the top.

 

They are next to each other- you basically unplug them from the 'sockets' that sit in the bulkhead and plug them into each other so that engine coolant bypasses the heater matrix,,,

 

....the heater matrix itself is on the otherside of the bulkhead (ie the dashboard side rather than the engine bay side)..

 

If I had a picture of engine bay I'd annotate it for you which would make it alot clearer..

 

In order to do the bypass, if I recall correctly you need:

- something to act as a male-male 'conenctor' for the coolant pipes to connect together,

- jubilee clips to seal it-

Funnily enough, these are std issue in an AA patrol van..(and not Corrado specific)..

 

Not sure where you can buy/make a connector- hopefully someone else will come forward?

[Neil VR6 0]

I personally wouldn't use a GSF matrix even if it was free. They're not that expensive from VW

 

I also let me carpet dry out in the car with no adverse effects (as yet!)

[flatoot 0]

eh up! been away from the computer... intersting to know about the gsf part going to shite... and the mk4's (take it to be golf) may fit.

 

im just going now to get a wet vax and going to get stuck into it later and have a look to see what can be done with fitting a bypass joint.

 

 

if anyone could tell me what like a job is either taking the carpets out and cleaning them or IU might just replace??

 

 

catch ya next time im back online

[Neil VR6 0]

Just stick a fan heater in the footwell for a couple of hours and crank the windows open slightly

 

Much of the GSF stuff is of very dubious origin and quality - with a part which is susceptible to failure even in OE form I wouldn't risk some piece of patent crud

[-=Kris=- 0]

Hi all, i had this very same problem this morning on the way to work... at about 70mph on a dual carridgeway...

 

suddenly i couldn't see anything cos i was in a cloud of steam! had to finish the journey like ace ventura!

 

i'm gonna get this bypass thing done... and so far the electrics seem fine...

 

i'll be calling HSBC later as i got breakdown cover with them... do yall think they would have the tools to do this bypass?

 

also does anyone know anybody with experiance with taking a raddo dash out that they could recommend me around the hampshie/berkshire/surrey area?

and a rough idea on how much it would cost if possible...

 

thanks in advance...

[poll250 0]

Um, they're two coolant pipes (circa 1" diameter maybe?) that go into the bulkhead at the back of engine bay in the 'top middle'- ie look at the engine bay from the front and they should be at the back of the engine bay, at the back at the top.

 

They are next to each other- you basically unplug them from the 'sockets' that sit in the bulkhead and plug them into each other so that engine coolant bypasses the heater matrix,,,

 

....the heater matrix itself is on the otherside of the bulkhead (ie the dashboard side rather than the engine bay side)..

 

If I had a picture of engine bay I'd annotate it for you which would make it alot clearer..

 

In order to do the bypass, if I recall correctly you need:

- something to act as a male-male 'conenctor' for the coolant pipes to connect together,

- jubilee clips to seal it-

Funnily enough, these are std issue in an AA patrol van..(and not Corrado specific)..

 

Not sure where you can buy/make a connector- hopefully someone else will come forward?

 

Doh!

 

I'm pretty sure my Heater Matrix blew last night, Coolant Light came on, Windows steamed up and steam was slowly coming from the vents. Heater still worked on hot or cold though which was a suprise.

 

I haven't got the internet at home right now, so wasn't sure how to fix it last night and rode to work this morning instead. Having had a little seach around I know I can just join the two pipes together that go into the matrix through the bulkhead using some 22mm pipe, I assume it is the two pipes in the photo below:

 

http://media.corrado-club.ca/mods/image ... ore017.jpg

 

Will any 22mm pipe do or does it need to be a U-bend or anything? If anyone has a picture of their engine bay with the matrix bypassed that'd be great!

 

Thanks for any help,

Andy

[ZippyVR6 0]

22mm pipe and a couple of Julilee clips should be fine.

 

If you are being super effecient then a Ubend with 2 short bits of pipe coming out of it would be ideal. But either way it saves any more leakages, and as the coolant runs around the matrix at all times, turning your heater onto cold will not prevent scalded legs when it lets go.

[poll250 0]

Cheers mate, copper pipe will do I imagine?

[krnau 0]

It may be time for doing this: http://www.corrado-club.ca/forum/viewtopic.php?t=8848

[ZippyVR6 0]

Cheers mate, copper pipe will do I imagine?

 

Copper or a plastic piece are fine.

[-=Kris=- 0]

managed to get the bypass done... breakdown guy sorted it for me...

 

any ideas on how much the matrix would cost to get replaced?

[krnau 0]

managed to get the bypass done... breakdown guy sorted it for me...

 

any ideas on how much the matrix would cost to get replaced?

 

about 400& done in a garage, or about 40& done by yourself. follow the guide I posted just 3 posts before in this thread. it is a two-afternoon-job. I did it myself in a full dark garage only with a small torch and a mirror and got no problems at all :)

 

 

use a mirror to remove both of the screws on the engine bay, it will help you a lot !

[-=Kris=- 0]

yikes... i really don't think i'm that technical...!

 

how savvy would u say u'd have to be? is it easy?

[ZippyVR6 0]

Savy about 5 our of 10. Patient 10 out of 10. It is a sod of a job. but well worth doing yourself. Make sure you get a VAG matrix and not a GSF one as it is a job you will only want to do once.

[-=Kris=- 0]

i've got a week off in july, might just do it then...

 

jeez i hope i don't break anything!