Diesel Junior 0 Posted February 18, 2011 (edited) Hi folks, greetings from sunny Spain.......OK have noticed that have been suffering from a small coolant leak and after a bit of rummaging around discovered that it was coming from the union where the top hose goes into the top of the rad. The hose goes into a 90 deg plastic tube which then links up with the rad and that is where the leak is coming from. The trusty dealer was visited and €13 of parts were ordered comprising a new pipe, the rubber gasket/ring and two new screws and the dealer offered to fit it for free as the last bill (crack pipe and oil cooler) was such a biggie. Problem is that the screw nearest the slam panel wouldnt come out and the mechanic (who is excellent) didnt want to snap it and this would fall in the rad. Step forward 'Super' Mario from behind his golden desk and says that the only solution is to replace the radiator as well............€€€€€......i am not sure which side the leak is coming from altho i suspect that it is the side nearer to the radiator....anyway, i need a BODGE from y'all. Hope the pictures show the problem and a new radiator for me is a tad OTT. What would you advise? A bead of gasket sealant around the outside of the gasket?? Any help appreciated Edited February 18, 2011 by Diesel Junior Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
CazzaVR 0 Posted February 18, 2011 A bead of sealant should work short term. If it was mine, I'd soak it with plus gas (or WD40 if you haven't got plus gas) overnight. Tap it with a hammer. Get an Irwin bolt gripper on there and take it off. If it snaps, it won't fall in the rad unless you're incredibly clumsy! Strange thing for a mechanic to say, as the screw is set away from the hole... You could even cut away the plastic of the elbow around the bolt to give better access, you could get some plus gas right in there. Be very careful with the plastic top of the rad though. I had the same prob a few years ago and managed to crack the plastic, which meant new rad time. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Diesel Junior 0 Posted February 18, 2011 Cheers for that. Good point about the screw being set away from the hole, i did mention this but got the 'I'm the mechanic not you' look, but the workings of the dealers here in Spain beggar belief, they are still upset that i didnt take up their offer of €6k to repair the HG before Xmas when the crack pipe went. Funnily enough when i showed them this they again blamed it on the HG........ Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Diesel Junior 0 Posted February 19, 2011 Cazza, one out one to go after a nights WD 40, its the harder of the two to get to, set down and near to the slam panel, the darned thing will turn 45 degrees then click and stop as if its spinning on its thread. Have a pal coming on Monday who is a mechanic so fingers crossed. I dont have any Irwins just a boggo socket set...... Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Supercharged 2 Posted February 19, 2011 Usually new rad time when that happens unfortunately... good luck though and if you need a rad then they are available from Classic Parts in Wolfsburg Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
goozie 0 Posted February 19, 2011 Had exactly the same problem occur with mine,(leaking coolant) and found that the captured nuts that are in the radiator side of it all had actuall pulled out, so as a repair i removed and replaced with nuts and bolts to stop the problem happening again as some had tried to glue it before!! There for if you find that the captured nuts come out as well with out cracking the rad you could always try that method for re'assembly, haven't had a problem since. If this is a bad idea i'm sure someone will say and reasons why? Hope you get it sorted one way or another. Will post pics of repair once it is day light Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Diesel Junior 0 Posted February 19, 2011 Anyone bought one of these recently? I suppose there are radiators and radiators, euro car parts £175, gsf £120, http://www.corrado-teile.de/ which we all use over here have a VALEO at €180 are they any good? As per the nuts and bolts option (cheers goozie) i see no problem, as long as the damn thing is tight and the coolant stays in thats fine by me....... Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
CazzaVR 0 Posted February 20, 2011 As Steve said, once it spins around, it means the plastic in the rad housing is cracked. The nuts and bolts option is worth a go before you shell out for a new rad- not tried it before, but sounds like a plan! Valeo make stuff for VW and are a good make. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Diesel Junior 0 Posted February 21, 2011 (edited) You really couldn't make this up but here we go......well the other bolt came out in the end thanks to a steady hand with a drill, fitted the new pipe, gasket, nuts and bolts and left it all running for over half an hour, fans came on and everything going like clockwork......well so i thought. On the drive home after a good 2 km the damned red light came on again. At the moment cannot tell if it has chucked all its fluid yet again as it is dark but it seems the (new) problem is not where we did the work as that area looked dry. Well will have a look at the coolant tank tomorrow and see what has gone wrong this time:bonk::bonk::bonk: Edited February 21, 2011 by Diesel Junior Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Diesel Junior 0 Posted February 22, 2011 OK folks some help please......started the Vr6 this morning and headed to the market 7km away and the coolant warning light was on all the time although the gauge behaved perfectly normally. During this time the car didnt lose a drop of G12 AFAIK, ok on return journey the light never came on, the gauge behaved normally and then the fan came on, everything stayed ok and i can see no leak anywhere. My mate (30 years a mechanic with his own Renault Clio team......) reckons its the sensor at the top of the expansion bottle has attracted some dirt and a clean should help. When we looked in the top hose yesterday there was some brown **** which may be some of the residue from the broken heat exchanger from December. Any advice would be great as i really want to go to Madrid on Thursday (1000km round trip) for the classic car show but dont have the faith in the car at the moment :confused: Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Diesel Junior 0 Posted February 24, 2011 Crisis over. Turned out that the sensor in the expansion tank was filthy, a few squirts of degreasant and trip in the dishwasher equals no coolant light in the 500km to Madrid this morning! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
CazzaVR 0 Posted February 24, 2011 Nice one- glad it's sorted. The expansion tank sensors are rubbish! Thankfully yours hasn't failed totally. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Diesel Junior 0 Posted February 24, 2011 Its a relief cheers Caz, mind you expansion tanks dont break the bank i guess but coolant crud no match for Bosch dishwasher and a Finish powerball tablet. Story. End of. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
