Pagh, I entirely agree with Harryb.48. I used fortes radseal stuff in the Aura to cure a tiny leak in the radiator and it did an excellant job, so far (a year) no further signs of any leaks, and the car runs at a steady 85-95 on its heat gauge..
It's got to be worth risking £12 (ish) and 2 mins work putting it in, as provided that its only a small leak and not a large hole! it may very well solve your problem permenantly. [:)]
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Xant. - Heater Matrix gone?
Moderator: RichardW
I would possibly agree with pouring a bottle of "bung hole" in if I was selling it off to a dodgy dealer, but I personally think it's false economy on a car you intend keeping.
I was talked into doing this on a Mazda/Ford van I had with the result that within a few months I was looking at a headgasket job as well as a couple of water pumps, had to fit a new radiator after all and in the process of everything stuffing up, the excess pressure blew the heater matrix anyway.
If the Xantia has the same style of matrix as the BX, then it has a loose end plate that is sealed off with a series of "O" rings. We had one that was taken out of the car to fit a new control valve and in the process, the end fell off. We fitted a few new "O" rings and coated it with a good sealant before reassembling an 2 years on, it still doesn't leak. The rest of the matrix was in excellent condition, so if it can be bypassed (keep the connection as discreet as possible so as to not take any chances with the MOT) and taken out at your leisure, it may even be that the matrix is repairable if you're as lucky as we were. The car in our instance was an 88 BX 16V that was a private import from the UK.
As I say, it's a personal choice but you need to weigh up the potential risks. I think Denmark is a bit like Australia in that we have to pay much more for our cars and as a result we tend not to take too many gambles with their long term future.
Alan S
I was talked into doing this on a Mazda/Ford van I had with the result that within a few months I was looking at a headgasket job as well as a couple of water pumps, had to fit a new radiator after all and in the process of everything stuffing up, the excess pressure blew the heater matrix anyway.
If the Xantia has the same style of matrix as the BX, then it has a loose end plate that is sealed off with a series of "O" rings. We had one that was taken out of the car to fit a new control valve and in the process, the end fell off. We fitted a few new "O" rings and coated it with a good sealant before reassembling an 2 years on, it still doesn't leak. The rest of the matrix was in excellent condition, so if it can be bypassed (keep the connection as discreet as possible so as to not take any chances with the MOT) and taken out at your leisure, it may even be that the matrix is repairable if you're as lucky as we were. The car in our instance was an 88 BX 16V that was a private import from the UK.
As I say, it's a personal choice but you need to weigh up the potential risks. I think Denmark is a bit like Australia in that we have to pay much more for our cars and as a result we tend not to take too many gambles with their long term future.
Alan S
I have installed shutoff valves in both radiator hoses in the engine compartment, so if the matrix does leak again, I can isolate it and keep on driving. Steam coming out doesn't sound right... I would check for a blown head gasket and the coolant level. If the head gasket does let go, then the pressure from combustion chamber can blow the seals where the hose enters the matrix. This happened to me once. I re-torqued the head bolts, and after a while of isolation the leak under the dash was no longer there. Now it's like nothing ever happened, and I have not seen the inside of the engine or the dash.
Alan and PeterMann,
I must say I´m thinking of using somekind of stop-leak product. I plan to run the car for another 2 years.
And the post from PeterMann doesn´t make it easyier. What are the signs of a blown/bad head-gasket? It has been using a little bit of water for the 1 year i have owned it, but has had the radiator cap as the thief.
But it has always smelled funny when using the heater, but other "older" Citroen`s i have been in, has smelled a little funny to, so thought it was a normal Citroen thing.
It pulls OK, but has "holes" in accl. It is probably the MAP sensor thats faulty.
What to do/check?
I must say I´m thinking of using somekind of stop-leak product. I plan to run the car for another 2 years.
And the post from PeterMann doesn´t make it easyier. What are the signs of a blown/bad head-gasket? It has been using a little bit of water for the 1 year i have owned it, but has had the radiator cap as the thief.
But it has always smelled funny when using the heater, but other "older" Citroen`s i have been in, has smelled a little funny to, so thought it was a normal Citroen thing.
It pulls OK, but has "holes" in accl. It is probably the MAP sensor thats faulty.
What to do/check?
my m reg xantia did the steam trick a couple of years ago (in the middle of winter) the other interesting side effect being it fogged the inside of the windscreen up nicely......normally i would never use the 'stop leak' stuff as it seems to block heater matrixes anyway...but in the end as the matrix was duff and i wasnt about to dismantle the car to get it out i thought i would give it a try and its worked, the matrix stopped leaking and its done about 40000 miles since then.
Its a hard call to make, you chuck 'stop leak' in your system and you could knacker something or you could get lucky and stop the leak. Though, to be fair, my car with the mileage its done is worthless anyway so i can afford to take those sort of gambles
Its a hard call to make, you chuck 'stop leak' in your system and you could knacker something or you could get lucky and stop the leak. Though, to be fair, my car with the mileage its done is worthless anyway so i can afford to take those sort of gambles