leaky rad

[kevtherev]

afternoon all,
noticed that the car is losing about a litre of water every 8 weeks or so, checked all the pipes etc no obvious leaks so dried everything off in my lunch break, drove home after work and there is coolant on the valance underneath the rad. so i can only assume the rad is leaking.
bought some k seal off the net, and its arrived today. read the instructions and it says it treats a cooling system of upto 20 litre capacity.read some horror stories of it setting in big gloopy lumps in the head etc so do i chuck the whole bottle in or just a quarter to treat my approx 5l system??
(helpfully it doesn't say how much is in teh bottle but i would say 250ml at the most.)
regards
kev

[jonsowman]

If it's like many D8s it'll be the rad/bottom hose joint. The connector rusts and disintegrates and causes a leak.

A litre per two months sounds about right for the above. Did it start suddenly or has it got worse over time?

[daley2450]

Iv never used it, personally i wouldn't use it not if there is a chance of it clogging up.

I had a leak on my 05 audi a3 i took out the rad filled it with water found where the leak was and used liqud metal to fix it about 18 months ago, and its sill going strong it only took me a few hours, why not give it a try if it works your laughing, if not then you can think about the k seal.

[kevtherev]

Iv never used it, personally i wouldn't use it not if there is a chance of it clogging up.

i got it off amazon and read the customer reviews.. most raved how good it was, one chap said it coagulated ,he only found this out when he went to change the head gasket which was the reason he bought it in the 1st place ,but my initial thoought was he put too much in, hence my question.people on here also say its good stuff.

If it's like many D8s it'll be the rad/bottom hose joint. The connector rusts and disintegrates and causes a leak.

A litre per two months sounds about right for the above. Did it start suddenly or has it got worse over time?

i will take a closer look at that connection . the prob is i go work in the dark and come home in the dark lol finished work for xmas now so got all week to have a goose. not goin out now it's persisting it down here. this connection is at the bottom , left hand side (as looking from front of car)?? it seemed ok couldn't feel any water when i checked but will look closely
thanks for the advice guys

[teamster1975]

I used K-seal in mine, it really is good stuff; don't expect it to seal a leak from the system though, I had a leaky head gasket which was pressurising the system and it cured this. Same problems with mine as the chaps mentioned; bottom conrad fitting on the rad was disintegrated.
Another favourite leak point is the thermostat housing; the o-ring perishes with age and it'll leak a good'un from here. Also the thermostat housing itself (the top cover with the bleed screw) can crack and require replacement.

[kevtherev]

I used K-seal in mine, it really is good stuff; don't expect it to seal a leak from the system though, I had a leaky head gasket which was pressurising the system and it cured this. Same problems with mine as the chaps mentioned; bottom conrad fitting on the rad was disintegrated.
Another favourite leak point is the thermostat housing; the o-ring perishes with age and it'll leak a good'un from here. Also the thermostat housing itself (the top cover with the bleed screw) can crack and require replacement.

so if it is the rad you don't think it would cure it then teamy? i'm gonna have 1 last good look at that bottom hose but i've had it up to temp so the bottom hose is warm and couldn't feel any leaks/steam. i'l just chuck half the bottle in and see if it does the trick.
replaced the stat incl new o ring and the stat housing too in the spring so thats all good.
thanks again

[teamster1975]

so if it is the rad you don't think it would cure it then teamy?

It's doubtful; if there is a hole in the rad it depends how big it is. You'd be better off with that putty stuff that you can mold over the hole.
Of course there's the possibility the head gasket is failing & the coolant is either being pressurised and blown out the expansion tank or finding its way into the oil, in which case the k-seal worked for me!

[Gary406]

best bet would defo be source a 2nd hand rad and fit it .. job done..

i got a brand new rad for my 406 last year and paid £30 for it. it had been fitted to a car but you could see it was as new...

cost you about £50 with coolant if you do it yourself... i did mine myself its not to hard if your confident with the tools .

[kevtherev]

update:
got the engine up to temp today and had a good look at the bottom hose , it looked all good , no white residue or steam visible, after goin for a quick spin, stil had the coolant gathering on the underside of the splash guard,so when driving it leaked but when idle nothing visible?? it seemed to be coming from the right hand side of the radiator somewhere.
took the plunge and put the whole bottle of k seal in, let it do its thing for a few minutes and switched off.
hour later went to visit some relatives, 5 mile away, got there, checked in the engine bay...... no coolant visible.
seems to have done the trick for now so will keep an eye on it and see how it goes.
thanks for all advice again and fingers crossed

[Gary406]

a leaky radiator means it needs a new one. no point using kseal really unless your gonna replace it soon...

[kevtherev]

a leaky radiator means it needs a new one. no point using kseal really unless your gonna replace it soon...

i shall keep an eye on it . if it starts losing coolant again shall source a new rad. one thing that i have noticed is that the temp was struggling to reach 80 before, oonly just getting there right at the end of my 10 mile commute but since putting the k seal in it will only take a few minutes of travelling and it's up to temp.

[lozz]

K-seal is good,
it only goes gloopy if you dont shake it before putting it in
ibought some a few months ago and was shocked to see how smaller the container as gone
they used to be 3x the size and at £7.50 a throw its expensive,

you need at least 2 containers of the stuff for some leaks ones not enough idont think,

the rad on my citreon was weaping, the seam on the bottom of the rad had gone,
ive welded it , ithink k- seal is ok but antifreeze finds leaks so these things in bottles dont last many weeks

[Busman]

I think its ok as a stop gap, but we all know really that once a rad starts to leak, its only getting worse. But k seal will buy you a but of time, but it can only be temporary.

[omega]

got a rad here off a 16 valve 2.0 liter if you get stuck,but i reckon the k seal will work.

[kevtherev]

best bet would defo be source a 2nd hand rad and fit it .. job done..

i got a brand new rad for my 406 last year and paid £30 for it. it had been fitted to a car but you could see it was as new...

cost you about £50 with coolant if you do it yourself... i did mine myself its not to hard if your confident with the tools .

just had a goose on europart £93.60
also seems that every engine has a different rad. the tubby is differnt to mine so are the diesels. also depends on if ya car has aircon too
oh well will bite the bullet and take it off and have a look in the new year. aint shagging the car up over xmas lol
did you go scrappy for that rad gary?

got a rad here off a 16 valve 2.0 liter if you get stuck,but i reckon the k seal will work.

i think there difeernt mate looking on europarts i put me reg in for the correct rad then put both 2.0 petrol and diesel in and they all appear to have diffeent sizes. thanks for the offer tho omega