Loosing coolant - replace radiator?

[T6 KFR]

I may be a tad premature posting this prior to fully inspecting the car but thought the knowledge on here may guide me to look for something...

The past few weeks the drive has patches appear , where my S2 elise (59 plate) has been parked. I thought at times it was moisture but they havent dried up.

Initial checks under the car doesnt show much as you would expect but i think its coming from the front : checked coolant level as i know the elise suffers radiator failures

Ill be honest not sure what level it should be but there is two chambers in the bottle. In heavy traffic i have recently seen the temperature go +100 but put that down to stop / start as it dropped back to low 90s when driving .

Any thoughts??

TIA!!!

Kev

[j2 lot]

I had a pin hole in the radiator of the Europa, almost invisible but under pressure you could see tiny air bubbles. every 100 miles or so I had to top up the water so nothing more than an annoyance. I eventually replaced it, before it went all together. The other suspect could be a loose radiator hose clip.

[T6 KFR]

I had a pin hole in the radiator of the Europa, almost invisible but under pressure you could see tiny air bubbles. every 100 miles or so I had to top up the water so nothing more than an annoyance. I eventually replaced it, before it went all together. The other suspect could be a loose radiator hose clip.

Thanks for your suggestion , i will need to remove the undertray to get access to the radiator right?

If the radiator does need replaced do you know if that is a front clam removal?

[Mikie711]

removing the undertray won't give you access to the radiator, you will be able to check the hose clips on the pipes that run up through the sill but not the radiator. The inner arches need to come out to check the radiator hoses & clips. The clam will need to come off to change it.

[T6 KFR]

removing the undertray won't give you access to the radiator, you will be able to check the hose clips on the pipes that run up through the sill but not the radiator. The inner arches need to come out to check the radiator hoses & clips. The clam will need to come off to change it.

Oh no

[Mikie711]

I can help with all of the above. Sounds daunting but reasonably straight forward. I now have the space to take on this so give me a shout if you want a hand. If you like you can pop out and I can test your cooling system which will tell us if you have a leak or not.
You have PM

[iain3915]

Another possibility is the bleed valve on the front coolant hose.

[T6 KFR]

With the risk of me sounding completely daft , considering i still have coolant : should i avoid driving the car right now?

[Mikie711]

Just keep an eye on the level. I wouldn't be to concerned if the level in the bottle is all you have to go on. It doesn't look unduly low,mine used to sit around there on the 111r.

[T6 KFR]

Just got a look in the inner wing. Pics below but looks like my leak and patches on the drive is from my shock , not raditor? Agree??

[2F45T4U]

Looks like its shock juice. It looks knackered.

[Dominic]

Looks like its shock juice. It looks knackered.

Is that Bilstiens that you are on? If so, you can probably get them refurbed.

[T6 KFR]

Looks like its shock juice. It looks knackered.

Is that Bilstiens that you are on? If so, you can probably get them refurbed.

Yeh its the standard units with eibach springs. I heard you can get a refurb but tempted to upgrade then sell the existing 4 bilsteins.

Any suggestions for upgrade? Default im thinking nitrons, see they have a street version for a good price?

[Dominic]

I am not convinced by the nitrons. Many seem to love them, but they seem to be high maintenance.

[j2 lot]

I thought Nitrons were fantastic at first but after having to get them serviced (£800) after they were out of warranty I wasn't as convinced. They need an annual service to keep them in warranty and tbh it's too much hassle to take the car off the road and send them back to be checked every year.