Loosing coolant - radiator or something worse?

[whaleys]

Hey chappies,

I have been on holiday for the past few weeks and had left this problem till I got back I have been loosing coolant lately, but it seems to only happen when I push the car into high revs. I realise this is likely to relate to pressure and when the front indicator lens popped out (drivers side) I noticed a puddle of coolant sitting in one of the plastic moulds. I should have put two and two together when there were oily (but not oil) wet marks at the front drivers side. I'm not loosing masses of coolant and the engine temp has been fine. So I thought I would see if I could tap into some of your expertise.

I have the eliseparts upgraded radiator, it was fitted a couple of years ago and the problem has only recently reared its head, so I dont think its a fitting problem and not the plastic radiator ends problem. I had bought a new coolant cap put that on, but when it was on I find I loose coolant REALLY quick. So I put the old one back on.

I'm assuming there is likely to be a leak around a pipe on the radiator, but I cant seem to get to it so I assume its a clam off job? I also find I think the worst and have wondered if its HGF and the coolant is being pressurised rather than a water oil mix, would that show these issues? I could test for it with a sniffer but does anyone know of where I could buy/borrow one from?

As always, I dont really have a clue and any advice is appreciated ,

Graeme

[r10crw]

Not too much help mate, but clam def has to come off to change the rad however you can actually get to the fittings by just removing the wheel arch liners so thats you first stop. As regards the new cap losing more water than the other? Im not sure.
Cheers Craig

[robin]

What model is it?

For the S2 K-series cars there's an additional bit of piping at the front, IIRC - it came off on Mike Brown's car at KH once upon a time and I refitted it in the car park. Anyway, front undertray and wheel arch liners out as Craig says should give you access to most if not all of the unions - given the amount of coolant you're losing it should be easy to find and repair the leak.

The new cap holds more pressure than the old cap, and I'm guessing you topped up the tank which increases pressure in the system also - good news is you should be able to find the leak really quickly by nearly brimming the expansion tank, refit the new cap, then let the car warm up under idle - as the temp goes up, so will the pressure and you should soon see some drops of coolant appearing on the floor ...

Cheers,
Robin

[whaleys]

Hi Robin, it's an S2 K-Series.

Robin, Craig, thanks for the tips on accessing the radiator pipes. Will give that a go. Do you think its likely just a loose clip or do you think it could be a symptom of something worse?

Thanks guys,

Graeme

[robin]

Holed pipe or loose jubilee clip are very likely; rad would have been top of the list, but you have the alloy type so should be OK. Apart from maybe the heater matrix (not likely, IMHO) there isn't much else up the front beyond the rad and the pipes ... so cannot really be anything worse I think.

Of course if it's actually caused by excess pressure then you may have HGF ... but that'll become apparent shortly after you tighten up the loose clip - it'll start to spew coolant from the tank or out of the exhaust pipes as steam I think that's quite unlikely though.

Cheers,
Robin

[Edin430]

Pop the indicator out on the drivers side and the top of the house (jub clip) is staring you in the face...

[MacK]

I had a loose pipe/clip on my S2 K, on the pipes as they come through the sill on the drivers side. Wheel arch liner out and fixed in a few minutes. It came from nowhere, just noticed some drips one day, next day afer a run it came pishing out!

Worth a check.

[whaleys]

Thanks guys,

Will be taking a look at it over the weekend, I'm hoping its going to be something obvious

Graeme

[whaleys]

Ok, it took a while but once I found the problem it was obvious. I never thought to take out the front grill to access the underside of the radiator until around 2 hours into taking things apart. I had checked all the hoses and the drivers side was fine, and there was a leak from the passenger side but it didnt seem to be coming from the hose. On closer inspection of the underside of the radiator it would seem that it is leaking.





That would seem fair enough but I have the invoice for the radiator stating it was purchased from Eliseparts on the 11th June 2007 which would mean that it's only two years old (and to be honest I've been topping up coolant every couple of weeks for a good few months now). This means it's failed within two years!

I'm going to need a new one but I've emailed Eliseparts to see where I stand as I'm reluctant to buy another at £350 if its going to fail within 2 years.

As usual, thanks for all your help guys,
Graeme

[whaleys]

I've had an email back from Geary and he's asked me to send it off to him so they can check it over and see if it has been a fault or not and if it is he'll sort something out for me.

I'm now looking for some more advice, I currently have the Eliseparts Aluminium upgraded radiator which is 45mm thick twin core. To replace that is £344, they also do a Aluminium Hi Pressure Radiator which is 42mm single core and its £229. I don't track the car, just have the odd spirited run. Is the Upgraded one just over kill or do you think I would be silly to go for the Hi Pressure one?

Thoughts wanted...

Graeme

[yrrab]

i have the pro alloy radiator and it failed after 9 months at the same place as yours.


after a phone call it was repaired pronto but still a hassle removing the clam twice.

[whaleys]

I don't really have the ability to remove the clam myself, so I'm taking it somewhere. Thing is I can't have it stored there or go through the process twice. I'm going to have to get a new one and swap it for the old, its a bit of a pain and expense but not much I can do.

[whaleys]

Ok, I have managed to sort out storage for the car which is handy. Geary put me in touch with the manufacturers of the radiator and they have been really good. They have said that the part only comes with a years warranty to cover manufacturing defects but it is very rare that I should have any problems within such a short time period. They have said that because of this they will take the radiator, test it and carry out the necessary repairs free of charge. In all honesty I couldnt have asked for better service regarding the situation. So at the moment it's a but I'll keep you all posted on how it goes.

Graeme

[whaleys]

OK, its taken a while to get the radiator changed over but it's all back together again. I would like to give a big and thanks to ProAlloy Motorsport.

They said the would repair the radiator free of charge even though it was outwith its warranty and get it all done within a day. They contacted me at the end of "the day" and said that they had been very busy and hadn't been able to look at the radiator. So instead of repairing it they had just sent me a new one!

Really pleased with the outcome (I was expecting the worst) and couldn't praise Pro Alloy Motorsport (I was in contact with Wayne) enough for their customer care!

And a big thank you to Geary for putting me in touch with them.

Graeme