Help!- coolant pouring onto my drive. Car is 1998/R 806 1.9SLDT with 84000 recorded miles (not convinced on that point though)...
Started with the low coolant level warning light on the dash panel - after figuring out thats what it was (initially thought it was telling me there was water in the fuel filter - I don't have an owners manual) I have been topping up for a couple of months - it has got worse and when the car is warmed up you can see a steady departure of coolant out the bottom of the car.
However it has been very hard to figure out where it is coming from - drips out underneath the radiator area at the passenger side.
Checked all the pipes onto the radiator and they appear sound.
By taking off the headlights/indicators and headlight surround/front plastic grille panel I have only tonight figured out that starting from the back I have a radiator, then a similar sized but thinner air conditioning condenser right up against it and then the intercooler in front of that but only 2/3rds of the height.
Unbolting the fans and pushing them slightly back I can see all of the back of the radiator and no obvious leaks, but a few whitish deposits along the bottom edge.
The water seems to pour out at the bottom of the condensor so I am assuming the leak is at the front of the radiator, but as the condenser is right next to the radiator it is impossible to tell without further dismantling, which I don't want to do without a new radiator at hand. So I have tonight ordered one up and put the car back together again for now, as I am 90% sure it is the radiator - unless anyone else had any ideas?
This is the first car I have had with aircon (and it doesn't work) so not sure about it. Haynes don't do a manual but I have a Peter Russek one which is not bad but doesnt say much about a rad change - my main question is can I get it out without disturbing the air con system??
I assume I continue taking off the front panels / bumper etc, unbolt the fans etc and then can take off the hoses and lift the old rad vertically up and leave the condenser and intercooler untouched??
Any advice much appreciated...
Michael Goodlad
1996 106 1.5d 110,000 miles
1998 806 1.9 SLDT 84,000 miles
806 Radiator change - help please
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Homer
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Wookey
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I've got an expert which is generally much the same. I don't have the aircon, but I have recently taken the whole lot to bit to change the engine. The rad sandwich is simple to dissassemble. The intercooler is just bolted to the radiator (goes into 2 slots at the bottom then 2 bolts to hold them together. I think the air-con radiator-thing is much the same. On the van at least, it is actually only about 6 bolts to take the whole front of the car off, giving really good access to all this stuff. The russek manual (for the expert) explains how to do this. The 806 bodywork may be enough different that this doesn't work - I don't know, but if it is the same, then I'd recommend doing this to avoid having to faff about in the limited space otherwise available. The only tricky bit is a screw holding a strip of trim on under each headlight, which is tiresome to get to.
If your radiator hose quick-release things work (my bottom one was rusted up) then getting the rad hoses off is strightforward. Then take off the intercooler pipes and the whole rad-thing should just lift out, where you release the top clips, apart from the air-con pipes. I don't know how flexible they are, or if they have clever sealing quick-release things. If it'd dead anyway then it doesn't matter too much.
hope that helps.
If your radiator hose quick-release things work (my bottom one was rusted up) then getting the rad hoses off is strightforward. Then take off the intercooler pipes and the whole rad-thing should just lift out, where you release the top clips, apart from the air-con pipes. I don't know how flexible they are, or if they have clever sealing quick-release things. If it'd dead anyway then it doesn't matter too much.
hope that helps.
Thanks for the advice - the new radiator is now in...
But I made a few mistakes which I will set out below so a) you can have a good laugh at my expense and b) you can avoid the same problems.....
1. Make sure the new radiator is exactly the same - the new one had a hole for the fan switch temperature sensor - as I had aircon the old one didn't have it - so had a big hole in the new rad and nothing to put in it - managed to buy the cheapest switch at the local Unipart had for about £5.
2. This was a disaster - I found it very fiddly taking the Radiator/Condenser/intercooler apart and putting back together again due to the two plastic heat shields at each end - you needed to move the rads up and down but the pipes etc going through the shields prevented this. Putting the intercooler back on I was wiggling it around and nearly had the tab hooked into the radiator bit but I pushed the corner accidentally into the intercooler and PUNCTURED it!!! Gas started hissing out in a violent fashion and there was nothing I could do but retire to a safe distance and open all the garage doors. #$%%##@!!.
My only consolation was the aircon didnt work anyway....and now I know it wasn't because of lack of gas......so I will have to do nearly the whole job again sometime in the future.
3. The Russek manual just says something like "take off the front panel in one piece" - easier said then done - got there eventually but there are two metal brackets holding it in place at the front - I loosened the front panel from the brackets - but I should have loosened the brackets from the chassis of the car - as when you go to put it back together again the bolts are not fixed in the front panel and you tend to push them back into an inaccessible part of the bumper - I had to take the brackets off and bolt them to the front panel and then offer it up to the chassis.
4. I also replaced the thermostat while I was at it - and it didn't come with a new seal - so its in with the old one - another basic error
(as you can guess I am not a professional mechanic...)
So I have a few questions after all that-
1. I was going to buy a aircon condenser from a breakers or ebay, fit it and then take to aircon guys to refill and fix the system - there is one on ebay at the moment but the metal pipes have been taken out of the metal oblong bit - do they just push in? Also will the old condenser have aircon liquid in it?
2. I couldn't find any upper bleeding screws as shown in the manual - also didn't use one of those fancy plastic filler bottles to fully bleed the system - seems to be fine - no sign of overheating and nice warm air blows into the cabin - is this okay or do I need to do it properly?
3. The old coolant was fairly old - it also had an oily sheen on top but still it was greenish rather than black. When I stick my finger in the coolant filler neck now, the new coolant is slightly cloudy and I do get a small oily deposit sticking to my finger - there is no bubbling of the coolant when starting the engine and no water in the oil - but is this a slight head gasket fault?
4. There was quite a lot of oil going through the intercooler -anything to worry about?? Must be picking it up through the turbo??
Any advice appreciated.
Michael
1996 106 1.5d 111,000 miles
1998 806 1.9 SLDT 84,000 miles
But I made a few mistakes which I will set out below so a) you can have a good laugh at my expense and b) you can avoid the same problems.....
1. Make sure the new radiator is exactly the same - the new one had a hole for the fan switch temperature sensor - as I had aircon the old one didn't have it - so had a big hole in the new rad and nothing to put in it - managed to buy the cheapest switch at the local Unipart had for about £5.
2. This was a disaster - I found it very fiddly taking the Radiator/Condenser/intercooler apart and putting back together again due to the two plastic heat shields at each end - you needed to move the rads up and down but the pipes etc going through the shields prevented this. Putting the intercooler back on I was wiggling it around and nearly had the tab hooked into the radiator bit but I pushed the corner accidentally into the intercooler and PUNCTURED it!!! Gas started hissing out in a violent fashion and there was nothing I could do but retire to a safe distance and open all the garage doors. #$%%##@!!.
My only consolation was the aircon didnt work anyway....and now I know it wasn't because of lack of gas......so I will have to do nearly the whole job again sometime in the future.
3. The Russek manual just says something like "take off the front panel in one piece" - easier said then done - got there eventually but there are two metal brackets holding it in place at the front - I loosened the front panel from the brackets - but I should have loosened the brackets from the chassis of the car - as when you go to put it back together again the bolts are not fixed in the front panel and you tend to push them back into an inaccessible part of the bumper - I had to take the brackets off and bolt them to the front panel and then offer it up to the chassis.
4. I also replaced the thermostat while I was at it - and it didn't come with a new seal - so its in with the old one - another basic error
(as you can guess I am not a professional mechanic...)
So I have a few questions after all that-
1. I was going to buy a aircon condenser from a breakers or ebay, fit it and then take to aircon guys to refill and fix the system - there is one on ebay at the moment but the metal pipes have been taken out of the metal oblong bit - do they just push in? Also will the old condenser have aircon liquid in it?
2. I couldn't find any upper bleeding screws as shown in the manual - also didn't use one of those fancy plastic filler bottles to fully bleed the system - seems to be fine - no sign of overheating and nice warm air blows into the cabin - is this okay or do I need to do it properly?
3. The old coolant was fairly old - it also had an oily sheen on top but still it was greenish rather than black. When I stick my finger in the coolant filler neck now, the new coolant is slightly cloudy and I do get a small oily deposit sticking to my finger - there is no bubbling of the coolant when starting the engine and no water in the oil - but is this a slight head gasket fault?
4. There was quite a lot of oil going through the intercooler -anything to worry about?? Must be picking it up through the turbo??
Any advice appreciated.
Michael
1996 106 1.5d 111,000 miles
1998 806 1.9 SLDT 84,000 miles
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fastandfurryous
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Blimey, you've been busy!
some thoughts:
You probably can't get an aftermarket radiator without a sender hole. There may have been a blanking plug that you should have had, that wasn't included.
I would guess that your aircon system was just a bit low on gas, which was preventing it engaging. Even a system which won't work due to low gas pressure still has a surprising volume of gas in it. A replacement condenser is easily fittable, just make sure that whoever re-gasses the system vacs it out for AAAGES.
"the Russek manual" ah, well there's an elemetry fault: relying on a russek manual. They are AWFUL. I have given up counting the number of huge mistakes in the one I have.
Coolant will often have a bit of oil scum on it. As long as there's isnt great globs of the stuff, I wouldn't worry.
Intercoolers are often full of oil, which is usually from the crank-case emissions vent pipe (which then routes through the turbo and intercooler) again, unless there are several litres in there, I wouldn't worry.
some thoughts:
You probably can't get an aftermarket radiator without a sender hole. There may have been a blanking plug that you should have had, that wasn't included.
I would guess that your aircon system was just a bit low on gas, which was preventing it engaging. Even a system which won't work due to low gas pressure still has a surprising volume of gas in it. A replacement condenser is easily fittable, just make sure that whoever re-gasses the system vacs it out for AAAGES.
"the Russek manual" ah, well there's an elemetry fault: relying on a russek manual. They are AWFUL. I have given up counting the number of huge mistakes in the one I have.
Coolant will often have a bit of oil scum on it. As long as there's isnt great globs of the stuff, I wouldn't worry.
Intercoolers are often full of oil, which is usually from the crank-case emissions vent pipe (which then routes through the turbo and intercooler) again, unless there are several litres in there, I wouldn't worry.
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Wookey
- (Donor 2019)
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- x 12
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I didn't bother with the filler bottle thing and there isn't an upper bleed point on mine either. Russek appears to be simply wrong here, or referring to a slightly different model. The only bleed point I have is the filler tank itself and one on the top of the radiator. Seems to work.
Fastandfurryous - I agree the Russek manual is less-than-perfect but for these vehicles it is the one and only choice so far as I am aware. I also have the parts CD which can be informative but for torques and proceedures it's russek or 'work it out yourself', and the latter can lead to expensive mistakes.
Fastandfurryous - I agree the Russek manual is less-than-perfect but for these vehicles it is the one and only choice so far as I am aware. I also have the parts CD which can be informative but for torques and proceedures it's russek or 'work it out yourself', and the latter can lead to expensive mistakes.