leaking radiator on near side

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anorakmark

Active Member
Posts
329
Location
Kent
Help time please before I visit my local. Independent.
Just noticed to day a small puddle on the garage floor. Upon further inspection I have noticed a leak of coolant coming from the bottom of the radiator on the near side. I had a look underneath but its difficult to see where its coming from. Is the bottom hope close by to the near side front. Doesn't seem to be a major loss at present but its defiantly coolant with anti freeze. I'm hoping somebody will advise me that its possibly a bottom hose.
 
If its a diesel both hoses are on top . What car crystal ball not working well if rad just get a new one they are only £120 ish
 
Yep and on V8 there is no bottom hose on N/S of rad. Unless it is being parked on a slope and coolant is running along bottom of rad and dripping off. Have you looked at the drain plug they can weep.
 
Its disgusting tony and in my garage too lol. I gonna have a proper look the weekend but I guess its a new radiator, the leak is small at moment but not gonna chance radweld heard bad story's of it blocking water channels etc
 
Its disgusting tony and in my garage too lol. I gonna have a proper look the weekend but I guess its a new radiator, the leak is small at moment but not gonna chance radweld heard bad story's of it blocking water channels etc

it wouldnt trust my range rover engine to a £1.99 bottal of stuff. its best just to get a new rad
 
Yep its a new radiator. Any special advice for me I'm g oing to try my skills and fit it my self. Just concerned that air conditioning. Pipes or oil cooler may be in the way. Any advice welcome.
 
The radiator on my RRC did the same thing. It started weeping in a couple of places. A new one here the States costs $560.00 so I pulled mine out and had it reconditioned. It cost $129.00 to fix.

I don't know what the differences are between our cars, but mine was pretty straight forward. And I'm a knucklehead, so I'm assuming you could pull it off just fine.

I just pulled my fan and the radiator shroud, then drained the system. After it's drained then off come the hoses and pipes.

I think the way that our rads bolt in is different, so I can't help there. On my '93 it was pretty simple to undue the thing and pull it out.

Reverse process to install. ;)
 
, then drained the system. After it's drained then off come the hoses and pipes.

. ;)


Much more fun if you dont drain it first.

for the v8 theres two 13mm bolts holding the bottem in and two mounts holding the top. and the fan gard in the way. But i dont know if the diesel is diffrent.
 
Remove fan and cowl. Remove two bolts one at each side, bottom. Remove hoses. Rad will lift straight up and out. Oil cooler pipes to remove if it's a manual.
 
Just a quick update Re: my leaking Radiator.
Just prior to buying a new one, I had another quick look the weekend to trace the leak that is trickling from what appeared to be the bottom N/S.
Upon further inspection the bloody leak is at the top.
The top of the radiator is like a hard resin plastic and there is a hair line crack about 1 inch long and there I watched it drip out down the rad along the bottom and on the floor.
Now my question is what are my chances of sealing it with a strong epoxy sealent or something similar. I have some Hard & fast metal epoxy putty and reading the instructions it states will bond to all hard plastics / ceramics / aluminium / brass / steel etc. Any advice on anything better.
Has anybody had this problem before with the top pf the Radiator splitting??
 
Just a quick update Re: my leaking Radiator.
Just prior to buying a new one, I had another quick look the weekend to trace the leak that is trickling from what appeared to be the bottom N/S.
Upon further inspection the bloody leak is at the top.
The top of the radiator is like a hard resin plastic and there is a hair line crack about 1 inch long and there I watched it drip out down the rad along the bottom and on the floor.
Now my question is what are my chances of sealing it with a strong epoxy sealent or something similar. I have some Hard & fast metal epoxy putty and reading the instructions it states will bond to all hard plastics / ceramics / aluminium / brass / steel etc. Any advice on anything better.
Has anybody had this problem before with the top pf the Radiator splitting??
It must be bone dry and clean to get the stuff to work.
 
my dse split the top of the rad couple of weeks ago was bit worried about excess coolant pressure being the cause but all seems fine with a new rad.
i used arraldite on mine to get me home with the cap loose to avoid any system pressure but i would never never use it as a long term solution!
with the p38 being prone to overheating and as yours is a v8 overheating and dropping liners, would you really want to run the risk of overheating your fragile engine!!!
for the sake of the cost of a rad is it worth the risk?!
and as the cracking seems to be caused by the expansion and contraction of the plastic with heat you can guarantee it will fail when you need it most!
do the rad there not expensive!
 
my dse split the top of the rad couple of weeks ago was bit worried about excess coolant pressure being the cause but all seems fine with a new rad.
i used arraldite on mine to get me home with the cap loose to avoid any system pressure but i would never never use it as a long term solution!
with the p38 being prone to overheating and as yours is a v8 overheating and dropping liners, would you really want to run the risk of overheating your fragile engine!!!
for the sake of the cost of a rad is it worth the risk?!
and as the cracking seems to be caused by the expansion and contraction of the plastic with heat you can guarantee it will fail when you need it most!
do the rad there not expensive!

Hi Nathan,
Its a 2.5 DSE, it's such a minute hair line crack, I will try the epoxy as a short term solution and a new radiator on next service which is due September.:)
 
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