Radiator/Cooling leak

[michaeljclark]

Afternoon

Could anyone perhaps help with a little problem?

I seem to have a cooling system leak - at least thats what I think it is as the liquid is clear in colour and dries without leaving any marks

I spotted it the other day when I cam back to the car and found a little puddle under the car and I've tried to take a picture to see - but haven't quite managed to get the focus right - but I did manage to put and arrow on the offending area where the water appears UNDER the car



I also seem to have collected water on the undertray?



which I have tried to clear out to see if it is the radiator leaking and the water running away

I have the car booked in for a pressure test on the 16th - but if anyone could shed any light I would be most grateful

I have also filled the radiator up to the MAX mark to see how much I'm loosing it's of any use to those who know I'm a few short of 103,000 miles

cheers guys

Mike

[munfred]

easiest way to find out what it is would be for you to dip an absorbant material in it and take a whiff. Was going to say dip your finger in it, but best to be safe. ;) (Not that I can think of anything that would damage your skin much)

could be a cooland leak, or could be a similar problem to what I had, where the fuel return pipe had become porous, and was letting diesel seep out?
See if the fuel pipings are all intact.


Could quite possibly be, just water that has settled, from driving through a puddle, or from rain draining.

[michaeljclark]

Well the coolant WAS at max when I left, did a 5 mile round trip and cooland was below MIN

I should say that it's a 1.8 LX Petrol on an N plate

I don't think it's head gasket as the oil looks OK

Filled it up again - but it looks like a trip to the main stealer (not where I was taking it for a pressure test) as I don't think it'll last long

Oh dear

I might need another 406......

Mike

[Welly]

Tricky to tell, but it's at the correct side of the engine for a water pump leak, but also it is possible I suppose that the expansion bottle (or piping to it) is leaking and running down there.

[michaeljclark]

Tricky to tell, but it's at the correct side of the engine for a water pump leak, but also it is possible I suppose that the expansion bottle (or piping to it) is leaking and running down there.

The pump was what killed my old 405 and I wasn't parting with £600 to fix it.

However I did notice the following - as you stand infront of the car and put your hand under the radiator on the left hand side it seems that the piping leading to the rad (I hope that's what it is) is wet so I have fingers crossed that it's just the rad

This morning however the damp patch was on the RIGHT hand side and not the left - that may be due to the angle I parked the car at but who knows

Still only a week to go before it gets looked at I hope it's just the radiator as I'd imagine that a new pump would be pricey?!? And I really don't want to spend what I have saved up on a new car - I need a new kitchen and the rest is saved for other projects

If I may ask at what point you the folks here consider getting rid of their 406 and getting a new one becuase of repair costs? I got my 406 for £600 and thus far it's had about £100 worth of work done.

[Welly]

If I may ask at what point you the folks here consider getting rid of their 406 and getting a new one becuase of repair costs? I got my 406 for £600 and thus far it's had about £100 worth of work done.

What a superb question.

The trouble is you could spend £300.00 on it and it would be fine for another couple of years cheap motoring.

On the other hand you could scrap it (in which case you get nothing), you could break it up at home (in which case your house will look like a junk yard) and you might gain a few hundred in selling parts but still have to scrap it after.

If the car is generally ok and fixing the water leak is all it needs then I would do it.

One thing I know is that with cars of less than £1000.00 you takes your chances, they may run well with no problems or they can fail with costly problems leaving you wondering whether to fix it, even my car at £3295.00 needs a £500.00 repair plus the £300.00 a/c repair.

Cars eh ? I have contemplated the same things recently, wondering whether you are better stretching to a much newer car which won't go wrong but you will have finance and depreciation to account for.

My Uncle works for Ford and gets a 35% discount on new cars, he buys a brand new car every 9 months and it costs him £900.00 a year out of his pocket to replace the car each time taking into account the discount offsetting the depreciation. I think that's a good deal and he never has a service, tyres, or anything.

Funnily enough the 605 stdt I had on a K reg ended up a real shitter, it was puthering smoke out, it was really tatty, poor starting etc but I still sold it for £375.00 as it was, maybe you could put some rad weld in there and sell it?

[michaeljclark]

you could put some rad weld in there and sell it?

Forgive my own stupidity - my skills aren't with mechanics but what is "rad weld" - or rather I can guess what it is but does it do a good job?

I don't really want rid of the car just yet - if it could hang on until next year that that'd be great - it goes from A to B, etc the only thing I wish it had was A/C but you know I'll make do without. I had ear marked next years bonus for a new(er) car

P.S Thanks to everyone for their help/suggestions

Mike

[michaeljclark]

Could anyone help me with my query regarding rad weld?

I'd like to give it a go this weekend if poss and would like any info possible

Thanks

Mike

[Welly]

Sorry Chap I should have explained,

If your rad is leaking then there is a substance called rad weld, it is a small bottle of liquid (I think Wynn's make it) and it is designed to plug small holes in the rad as it reacts with air and forms a seal.

If you've got a gusher then it won't work, but also if you don't use it right it can block the radiator or other parts of the colling system and cause no end of trouble. You would have to study and obey the instructions maticulously. I don't like the idea myself because I think it causes a bit of a restriction in the radiator which won't help the efficiency of the cooling system.

I would only use it if the rad was weeping a bit, and only as a sort of temporary fix, to be honest I CANNOT recommend you doing this, it would be up to you, I dont think it would help a leaky water pump and could make it worse.

Perhaps others on here might be able to advise on rad weld through there own experience.

[michaeljclark]

Cheers Welton

I have been having a butches on line and have found the following 406 up for sale near me

I know everyone has been very helpful (and I am very grateful) but one final request

What are the initial feelings of the collective on THIS beauty (at least it looks like one)

I'm kind of wondering weather to bite the bullet.......

I know it's an HDI 90 - is there gonna be that much difference between my 1.8 16V and it - I'm not really into lugging massive loads or interested in being damon hill away from the lights (OK maybe once in a while!!!)



Cheers

Mike

[Welly]

You must have missed Black Beauty discussed last week here

The 90 will go along quite nicely thankyou but for me, and for that sort of money I would go for a 110, although if you could get a 90 cheap enough you could budget for a remap to 110 (like turbolag did).

I like the look of the S spec alot

Funnily enough, you'd be surprised how much you will be able to negotiate a trade in for yours, might save you a lot of bother (especially if you get away with the rad weld)

[michaeljclark]

I was reading the back beauty thread last night nice one supa

So now I have a real quandry

I have seen the 406 and let me say that for 71,687 (mainly motor way) miles it looks mint - few scratch's here and there and a few stone chips - but it looks lovely. It's an ex lease hire car but doesn't show it - I took my bro who works for a BMW dealership along to check it out - he was impressed with it too

The inside is also very tidy and the AC blew cold the minute is was switched on (ok it wan't instant but it was cool within 15 seconds or so - and it was very warm outside)

BUT

I think that it's going to need a new timing belt (I seem to have read that it's due at 72,000 miles??) the garage say they will service it as per pug's specifications and change the belt - this would be included in the purchase price - as would be replacing the spare tire which is decidedy illegal in it's baldness

So then I trotted along to the local main stealer and test drive a 2002 (52 plate) 307 estate - which was £1000 more and had only done 35,000. Now for starters I don't like the high up driving position and thought that for a 2.0 HDI at 90BHP it seemed a bit sluggish.

I also took the step of clearing all the water from infront of my 406's rad (which you can see in the 2nd of the 2 pic's above) before I went on my car finding jollies 3 hours later the water was back (the car hadn't been used) so it has to be the rad that has the leak.

Both places are offering £250/300 for the old motor - and I got it for £600

So do I go for an older car (the 307) which is £1k more but with half the miles or the newer 406 with 72,000 on the clock (I also didn't test drive the 406 - no one to take me out at the time) or fix the old one - I know Welton says fix it if it's just the rad but what else might just go wrong - it seems to have a minor oil leak too

Luckily for me the money is not an problem - it's just taking the leap of faith and deciding what to do

Any words of wisdom please

Much grovelling appreciation and thanks

Mike

[Foghorn Leghorn]

So do I go for an older car (the 307) which is £1k more but with half the miles or the newer 406 with 72,000 on the clock (I also didn't test drive the 406 - no one to take me out at the time) or fix the old one - I know Welton says fix it if it's just the rad but what else might just go wrong - it seems to have a minor oil leak too

For the love of GOD whatever you decide to do DO NOT buy a 307. Extremely unreliable cars absolutely riddled with problems.

French cars have a reputation for being unreliable, some, like the 406 don't deserve it, others like the 307 most certainly do, its a nail.

Fix the rad on your car, its not a difficult job to do. I'm sure other things will go wrong on your car at some point, but they will on any car you buy. They most definitely will on a 307!!

Fog

[xplosiv]

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[xplosiv]

Hi,

have a look at

Ebay

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there are many more on there

Andy