Coolant Leak

[normanh]

Had what I thought was a minor issue last night with the heater, seemed to start working a bit later than normal with a normal temp gauge reading. The this morning after a 3/4 mile short drive onto the A13 the gauge showed a much higher reading that quickly dropped when I pulled off at the Five Bells. Checking the header tank I was down just over a litre of fluid as a guess, topped it up with the spare I had, leaving off the cap to drive home un-pressurised, yes there was coolant under the front of the car and more tonight at home.

the rad is just over 3 years old a pattern part from a well known supplier. I cant see anything through the grill indicating a leak. The fluid this morning was dripping down cold not even warm - so wheres this likely coming from? A hose to the rad , split rad, leaking o ring on the rad I am not sure. At this moment in time I am rushed off my feet moving to self employed and no time currently to strip the thing out. I am prepared for the worse and have ordered a new rad at £35 delivered. Any other suggestions please? Hoping the new rad arrives Monday so I have a few days to prepare in advance. Anyone else had issues with these pattern rads and a short live expectancy?

Norman

[Gaz mr-s]

I've never seen anything negative about them in terms of lifespan.

[Call the midlife!]

Rogue manufacturing flaws aside, you'd expect the rad to last a good bit longer than that so my money would be on a corroded hose clip biting into a rubber hose.
Unless you refreshed them when you changed the rad previously?

[gazza1286]

It could be something as simple as a O-ring failure on the bleed valve. No way to be sure until you get a chance to explore further.

[Ozzy]

Hopefully its something simple but could be the waterpump and if it is, chances are the radiator has probably gone too because of it from past experiences.

Other things come to mind are a stuck thermostat or maybe even the heater matrix which is usually a nightmare to do on most cars.

[normanh]

Thanks guys.

Not the pump, the water leaks at the front under the rad.
I changed the clips with the new rad.
O Rings on my list as its been mentioned in the past that they are not the greatest - had that once before on a Peugeot years back.
Hada thought this morning this rad had an extra small pipe that needed blanking off with a small rubber cap and clip.
Dont think its the stat

Norman

[Joesson]

Thanks guys.

Not the pump, the water leaks at the front under the rad.
I changed the clips with the new rad.
O Rings on my list as its been mentioned in the past that they are not the greatest - had that once before on a Peugeot years back.
Hada thought this morning this rad had an extra small pipe that needed blanking off with a small rubber cap and clip.
Dont think its the stat

Norman

@normanh , is the " extra small pipe" on a Cool Parts replacement rad and positioned on the top header on the passenger side?
This is what blew out on my car, although there was nothing other than a blanked pipe projecting and after a couple of years (not many miles) it blew out and I lost all the coolant on a dual carriageway, perhaps fortunately a temporary 50mph limit was in force and I was at the entrance to a Armco protected lay by.
That was when I found that my "Start" break down service worked.
When I took it up with CoolParts they were not aware of what I was talking about!
Fixed it with a short length of hose a " plug" and a couple of Jubilee type clips.

[househead]

Thanks guys.

Not the pump, the water leaks at the front under the rad.
I changed the clips with the new rad.
O Rings on my list as its been mentioned in the past that they are not the greatest - had that once before on a Peugeot years back.
Hada thought this morning this rad had an extra small pipe that needed blanking off with a small rubber cap and clip.
Dont think its the stat

Norman

@normanh , is the " extra small pipe" on a Cool Parts replacement rad and positioned on the top header on the passenger side?
This is what blew out on my car, although there was nothing other than a blanked pipe projecting and after a couple of years (not many miles) it blew out and I lost all the coolant on a dual carriageway, perhaps fortunately a temporary 50mph limit was in force and I was at the entrance to a Armco protected lay by.
That was when I found that my "Start" break down service worked.
When I took it up with CoolParts they were not aware of what I was talking about!
Fixed it with a short length of hose a " plug" and a couple of Jubilee type clips.

I'm running the coolparts rad too. Sounds like this might be worth proactively mitigating. Any chance of a cheeky pic?

[Bossworld]

I don't think it exists on 'newer' coolparts rads for what it's worth. I remember it being mentioned in guides but don't recall actually seeing it during installation

https://www.mr2roc.org/forum/index.php?topic=63556.0

[normanh]

Mystery solved - its was one of these silly spring hose clips not holding, right above the o/s front suspension arm. Removed the hose no splits of visible damage so I simply replaced it with 2 proper hose clips and a bit of silicone, I have 5 of these still in the front so one dry day I going through the car and replace the lot. It was that simple just have to finish bleeding the system now. New rad arriving on Monday was my back up plan not needed for now so will be held in reserve.

Norman

[Call the midlife!]

Mystery solved - its was one of these silly spring hose clips not holding, right above the o/s front suspension arm. Removed the hose no splits of visible damage so I simply replaced it with 2 proper hose clips and a bit of silicone, I have 5 of these still in the front so one dry day I going through the car and replace the lot. It was that simple just have to finish bleeding the system now. New rad arriving on Monday was my back up plan not needed for now so will be held in reserve.

Norman

Nicely done. At least you can replace the spring clips without having to remove any hoses and lose coolant again.👍🏻

[normanh]

Not that easy to remove the old clips without taking off the hose sadly.

Great Service from Coolparts its arrived today ready for collection at my local Argos, I only ordered it Wednesday evening.

Norman

[Call the midlife!]

Not that easy to remove the old clips without taking off the hose sadly.

Great Service from Coolparts its arrived today ready for collection at my local Argos, I only ordered it Wednesday evening.

Norman

I'm not sure which type you mean now when you say "spring clips", do you mean the thick wire ones or flat plate? The wire ones I nibble through with a pair of cutters.

[normanh]

These are a wide spring steel 6mm by 2mm no chance of cutting those in situ - standard Mr T fittings on our car. Anyone who has worked on the coolant system will know.

Norman

[Call the midlife!]

Yeah, done mine a few times but wasn't sure which pipes you still had to do as some of them are the thick wire type.