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Radiator Problem


Pete W
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Hi, i have a 2000 2.0 VVTI, and this morning when driving i noticed steam coming from under the bonnet. When i had a look it was coming from the top of the radiator. The plastic top between the top hose and filler cap had split for about 6" in length. I took the filler cap off, and topped up rad, with about a cup full of water. The expansion tank was still full up to the maximum. Do you think this is just a rad problem or something more sinister. Any ideas greatfully accepted. Thanks. Pete.

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If there's a physical burst in a pipe there's every chance that's the problem. I suppose it could've burst due to high pressure but perhaps also just cos it wanted to burst. If you're handy with your hands Araldite would make a temporary repair to prove whether there's more to your problem or not.

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Yea if it was a hose i would just replace it, but with it being part of the rad i was a bit worried about pressure. Will get it into my mechanic and let him check it out for me. Thanks for the reply

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HI Peter, you could try BARS seal which you can get from Halfords. it may well fix the crack but not if the crack is moving in anyway.

this will not do any harm whatsoever to you cooling system whatever the uninformed may try to tell you.

Dont forget your antifreeze will be diluted with your topping up it up with plain water so that will need checking.

Good luck.

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Yea i think the crack is a bit too big to seal. Will get a new rad i think.

Ive seen Bars seal fix large holes where stones have gone into a rad on commecial vehicles.

Youve only got a few quid to lose by giving it a try.

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holes dont flex like cracks can

personally on my own car id not try and bodge it but get a replacement or uprated part

i used to get oversized alloy rads for my imprezas at about £120 each , wish they were made for the avensis

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well i wouldnt bodge the cooling system either with any form of stop leak gunk... i have seen people pour k-seal into there water systems only a week later to be having to do the work.

i guess im one of the "uninformed" that wonders why they dont gaurentee it wont damage anything with a 100% repair promise if it does... most companys like to promise that sort of thing yet these stop leak people never do funny that

coop

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well i wouldnt bodge the cooling system either with any form of stop leak gunk... i have seen people pour k-seal into there water systems only a week later to be having to do the work.

i guess im one of the "uninformed" that wonders why they dont gaurentee it wont damage anything with a 100% repair promise if it does... most companys like to promise that sort of thing yet these stop leak people never do funny that

coop

Several car makers use BARS seal on the assembly line. Vauxhall use to and may still do recommend the use of it after rebuilds or repairs. to the cooling system It was owned by Bluecol and is no way any kind of Gunk. Its a quality product.

Where people go wrong with itis they put it into the expansion reservoir, the top hose should be removed and the seal should be crumbled into the hose or rad first.

Never noticed any can of of oil saying it had a 100% repair promise so why should the BARs seal have one. it been on the market for many many years and is a approved and proved product. To compare it with K seal is just showing ignorence of the subject.

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Thanks everyone for the replies, took it into mechanic today, and he advised a new rad, or one from scrap yard. New one priced at £74.00. Does that sound about right?.

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Thanks everyone for the replies, took it into mechanic today, and he advised a new rad, or one from scrap yard. New one priced at £74.00. Does that sound about right?.

HI Peter if its a new genuine one thats a snip. and even if its a pattern one the price seems too good.

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He rang 3 different places, and they varied from £74.00 to £85.00, all pattern parts, so ihope it's the right one.

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well i wouldnt bodge the cooling system either with any form of stop leak gunk... i have seen people pour k-seal into there water systems only a week later to be having to do the work.

i guess im one of the "uninformed" that wonders why they dont gaurentee it wont damage anything with a 100% repair promise if it does... most companys like to promise that sort of thing yet these stop leak people never do funny that

coop

Several car makers use BARS seal on the assembly line. Vauxhall use to and may still do recommend the use of it after rebuilds or repairs. to the cooling system It was owned by Bluecol and is no way any kind of Gunk. Its a quality product.

Where people go wrong with itis they put it into the expansion reservoir, the top hose should be removed and the seal should be crumbled into the hose or rad first.

Never noticed any can of of oil saying it had a 100% repair promise so why should the BARs seal have one. it been on the market for many many years and is a approved and proved product. To compare it with K seal is just showing ignorence of the subject.

like compairing it to oil isnt showing stupidity.... all c ar manufacturers tell u to change the oil....never seen one tell u not to fix a ater leak and bodge it with either a liquid or a solid u crumble....

saying it must be good cos they still sell it is just as silly an argument... i could name lots of things that r bad for proplr yrt nthey r still sold everyday across the world

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just info and my opinion here not trying to preach or owt

you ask a radiator repair company if they sell k seal or bars leak etc. and they will tell you it can be a cheap temp fix but never lasts as it can cause more problems with blocking rad cores heater matrix, water passages , block heater valves, thermostats etc

i know its not in there interests to sell the stuff but iv seen the cores mentioned and the tell tale copper flakes as evidence.

cant believe vauxhall recommend the use of it after repairs , as if you repair a thing correctly then you dont need this as an insurance policy to save your shoddy workmanship.

would never use this on my own car.thats what breakdown cover is for if it happens when your out and about, if car is at home just bite the bullet for new parts if you care for your car

there is uses for it and i may be contradicting myself here as i use it once in a blue moon and it can save the day

in my case

working on plant machines that are bespoke

radiator springs a leak

production has stopped causing thousands of pounds per hour to customer downtime.

parts lead times for replacement or repair of rad can be days even a week

repair times to change rad can be varied from a couple hours to a full shift.

top up coolant and bang in some kseal run to temp till leak seals then top up again job done

BUT ID THEN ORGANISE A CONVENIENT TIME THE CUSTOMER HAS A QUIET SPELL THEN DO THE JOB CORRECTLY.

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I did use one once on my fiat, a bit like an oxo cube that you crumbled in, and it came from a vauxhall dealerships parts department, but that was a few years ago. Seem to recall it ended up being the heater matrix, but it stopped it for a while.

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I got a stone through my bike radiator on a track day. It was only the second session so I fixed it with a self tapping screw, cold weld and a leak fix (similar to Bar). It got me through the rest of the day with no detectable leaks. I stripped it out and made a tidier job of it when I got home. Self tapping screw and Cold Weld are still on it years later. A lot cheaper than more than £400 for a new radiator. Did I worry about it leaking? Yes. Did it leak? No. Do I worry now? No.

Bodge complete.

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i have used it once but it was a case of my dads last hours and i needed to get to the hosp at 2 am so i bought some from a 24 hour garage knowing i was going to fix the leak (inlet manifold gasket) the next day. when i took the manifold off i as presented with this white goo like substance that i then spend 3 hours cleaning off. there is a use for it but very limited.

druid im not sure what coldweld is.... but i am susspecting (could be wrong) that it is an external thing u put around the self tapper so there was no risk of it entering the cooling system and plugging up the wrong bits

back to the op's question 70-80 quid for a rad is a good price i would of thought if u have the funds go for it

coop

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hi all i dont know if its any use to you but there is a product on qvcuk.com called ct1 mirical seal it might be worth a shot for £23

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well i wouldnt bodge the cooling system either with any form of stop leak gunk... i have seen people pour k-seal into there water systems only a week later to be having to do the work.

i guess im one of the "uninformed" that wonders why they dont gaurentee it wont damage anything with a 100% repair promise if it does... most companys like to promise that sort of thing yet these stop leak people never do funny that

coop

Several car makers use BARS seal on the assembly line. Vauxhall use to and may still do recommend the use of it after rebuilds or repairs. to the cooling system It was owned by Bluecol and is no way any kind of Gunk. Its a quality product.

Where people go wrong with itis they put it into the expansion reservoir, the top hose should be removed and the seal should be crumbled into the hose or rad first.

Never noticed any can of of oil saying it had a 100% repair promise so why should the BARs seal have one. it been on the market for many many years and is a approved and proved product. To compare it with K seal is just showing ignorence of the subject.

like compairing it to oil isnt showing stupidity.... all c ar manufacturers tell u to change the oil....never seen one tell u not to fix a ater leak and bodge it with either a liquid or a solid u crumble....

saying it must be good cos they still sell it is just as silly an argument... i could name lots of things that r bad for proplr yrt nthey r still sold everyday across the world

That would be a good post if you knew what your writting about. its seems your another one who knows it all after reading a Haynes manuel..

untill i retired i had worked in the motor/engineering trade for 56 years on engines of a !/2 bhp through to 33000 bhp marine engines.so i dont need any advice from someone who i doubt hardly knows which end of a screwdriver to use.

If BARS seal is good enough for Vauxhall and Jaguar to use in their products it cant be that bad.

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well i wouldnt bodge the cooling system either with any form of stop leak gunk... i have seen people pour k-seal into there water systems only a week later to be having to do the work.

i guess im one of the "uninformed" that wonders why they dont gaurentee it wont damage anything with a 100% repair promise if it does... most companys like to promise that sort of thing yet these stop leak people never do funny that

coop

Several car makers use BARS seal on the assembly line. Vauxhall use to and may still do recommend the use of it after rebuilds or repairs. to the cooling system It was owned by Bluecol and is no way any kind of Gunk. Its a quality product.

Where people go wrong with itis they put it into the expansion reservoir, the top hose should be removed and the seal should be crumbled into the hose or rad first.

Never noticed any can of of oil saying it had a 100% repair promise so why should the BARs seal have one. it been on the market for many many years and is a approved and proved product. To compare it with K seal is just showing ignorence of the subject.

like compairing it to oil isnt showing stupidity.... all c ar manufacturers tell u to change the oil....never seen one tell u not to fix a ater leak and bodge it with either a liquid or a solid u crumble....

saying it must be good cos they still sell it is just as silly an argument... i could name lots of things that r bad for proplr yrt nthey r still sold everyday across the world

That would be a good post if you knew what your writting about. its seems your another one who knows it all after reading a Haynes manuel..

untill i retired i had worked in the motor/engineering trade for 56 years on engines of a !/2 bhp through to 33000 bhp marine engines.so i dont need any advice from someone who i doubt hardly knows which end of a screwdriver to use.

If BARS seal is good enough for Vauxhall and Jaguar to use in their products it cant be that bad.

Why a sealant is used is on a makers assembly line is if there is a SMALL leak in a part of a coolant system which is possible with the many hose connections used etc which does not need a major strip outm to fix then a quality sealant ( bars seal ).wil be added as a matter of course.when adding the coolant.

There well maybe anti leak additives that are a load of rubbish and indeed could cause problems if used, but never heard Bars seal if used as directed causing a problem.

As i said if makers recommended for use use after rebuilds why are those who have never used the stuff finding fault with it..

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"33000 bhp marine engines."

You should know what a "Greek repair" is then?

If you're broken down in the middle of the Atlantic (been there, done that!) without the parts to effect a permanent repair then a temporary fix is the only way to get things going to a place where parts can be sourced to repair properly.

I would class Bar's Seal or similar as that temporary fix but only until the affected leaking component can be replaced or properly repaired. Yes, I have used it, and Bar's Leaks as a short term fix only.

I suspect Vx & Jag don't recommend as a permanent repair. If they do then remind me never to buy one of their cars! :)

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"33000 bhp marine engines."

You should know what a "Greek repair" is then?

If you're broken down in the middle of the Atlantic (been there, done that!) without the parts to effect a permanent repair then a temporary fix is the only way to get things going to a place where parts can be sourced to repair properly.

I would class Bar's Seal or similar as that temporary fix but only until the affected leaking component can be replaced or properly repaired. Yes, I have used it, and Bar's Leaks as a short term fix only.

I suspect Vx & Jag don't recommend as a permanent repair. If they do then remind me never to buy one of their cars! :)

Funny you should mention breaking down in mid Atlantic cos it did happen me ( and the rest of the crew) on BP Tanker MV British Craftsman. A new type of fuel injection system had been fitted to the Prime Mover a Vertical apposed DOXFORD 2-stroke. 2 Fuel pumps got wrapped around the fuel pump drive and there was no way it could be fixed so we had to be towed back to Jarrow,The original type equipment had to be fitted as there were no replacements for the damage ones.

That was way back in 1956,about the time of the Suez crises., no going through the canal.

How do you not know that Toyota dont treat their original coolant fill with a simuler product.

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acetip there r lot of mechanicle engineers that have worked inthe trade all thier live dont mean they r any good.... i dont claim to know everything i jut know when something is a temp bodge and when its repaired. if ur so confident bars is the way to go go get ya self a lotus or a caterham with a water leak put barrs in it and see how long it goes b4 u end up haveing to rebuild the entire engine cos the head has gone and it has gunked up all the water ways in the block if ya lucky. but then agin i guess someone like u wouldnt bother they would just chnge the gasket and think it fixed.

as to my experience with engines and mechnics i been playing bout with em for 30 years but then as im not u i couldnt possably know wht im talking about.

i have seen the dmage barrs etc has done others on this post/forum have so there we have it either except the difference of oppinion or ignore me i dont care which

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before this gets too deep

were all grown ups here , can we all agree to disagree

op has priced a rad and seems happy with that :donatello:

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before this gets too deep

were all grown ups here , can we all agree to disagree

op has priced a rad and seems happy with that :donatello:

Yes your correct.

I will just add i used to work at Lotus in what was called the components dept then which was where the Lotus 7 seven (caterham).and the formula racing cars (other than formula ones).

Although i and my colleaques worked on the racing cars, buildind and rebuilding after damage when things were a bit slow we would help those on the 7 production 'line'. so i dont any advice by a part timer of only 30 years experiance.

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