406 2.1td loosing water

[habbers]

Hi All,

My pug is loosing water, quite a bit right now as you look at the fron of the car it is coming from the right hand side underneath the car at the front under what looks like the bottom of the rad - i cannot see exactly where as the rad sits on/in a thin crossmember/rad holder thingie. It is tight and no room to move about otr see to much so before i strip it doewn is it likely to be the rad or is there a hose or such it could be.

I am hoping it is not the rad. had to spend a lot of money on this car over the last year and do not want to continue to do so. What are the options rad wiser, any places/deals. I am in Northampton.

Many thanks,


Paul

[mjb]

Possibly a swiss cheese radiator. If you use a high concentration of antifreeze, a leak should be evident from a coloured patch on the radiator

[habbers]

Thanksn not sure it is the rad tbh, the water does appear to be comoing from right at the bottom, out of sight and not spoutinging out of the rad, it there a hose that side at the bottom that joins the rad?

It has been leaking for some 6 months, just a trickle, on a run it would hardly loose any around town a lot. currently putting 2 litres a day in commuting. Have tried a couple of bottles of radweld, did not sem to make a diference.

Car done some 160k miles, not too sure about the rad though.

If the rad how much?

[habbers]

Oh and to mention the rad cap is ok, it is not blowing past that.
No oil in the water or vise versa
No smell of stream whilst driving
Jusdt a big puddle forming when stationary and after it has been driven.

[Captain Jack]

Hm, could be a leaky water pump or just a hole in a pipe somewhere.... or a join. Get a compression test done, shouldn't cost anything and you may be able to determine where the water is coming from. In my case it was the radiator, but I knew that anyway as the coolant was leaking right under it.

[habbers]

Thank you jack.

Right then, topped it up this morning and guess what, it is coming out of the other side top of joint where the bottom pipe joins the rad (bottom). Looks like the pipe/leaking on the joint, whats the score there, is the pip a gen only and how much/whats involved. it does not seem to have a jubilee clip to hold it on.

[habbers]

OK chaps, it is leaking from the joint, there is not any sort of clip or wire or anything i can see holding the hse on. I read the othet thread on this page re hose coming off, could it be the clip has come off.

Being an old fashioned sort of chap the last rad hose i put back on had a jubilee clip. Are these fittings/hoses different from the old style and can a clip be installed on its own, does it have/need new o rings, what is the easy fix if the hose is ok just water getting past the joint.

Can i just put a jubilee clip on it and be done???

[steve_earwig]

I think it's one of those conrad fittings which needs a new o-ring every time but you'll have to take it off to see if that's all that's wrong with it, apparently they love to corrode too. There should be a wire spring clip around it which you remove, then the hose should tug out.

There's been a lot of problems on this forum lately with this sort of thing so someone will be along soon to correct me if I'm wrong!

[habbers]

Hi There, thanks for the reply.

There is no clip on it, i have no idea what the clip should look like, can it be fitted with the hose in place - i somehow doubt it but just in case?

The fitting and rad looks on OK condition and not sure if original, i seem to remember them being replaced by the previous owner.

The lack of clip may well explain the increase in the leak.

I spoke the the local stealership this morning
Parts chap arrogant and unhelpful - will see how he is face to face at lunchtime today!

Will hopefully get away with an o-ring and clip, fingers crossed!

Any tips for fitting them???

Again thanks,

Paul

[teamster1975]

Hi There, thanks for the reply.

There is no clip on it, i have no idea what the clip should look like, can it be fitted with the hose in place - i somehow doubt it but just in case?

The fitting and rad looks on OK condition and not sure if original, i seem to remember them being replaced by the previous owner.

The lack of clip may well explain the increase in the leak.

I spoke the the local stealership this morning
Parts chap arrogant and unhelpful - will see how he is face to face at lunchtime today!

Will hopefully get away with an o-ring and clip, fingers crossed!

Any tips for fitting them???

Again thanks,

Paul

The clip is a nearly circular piece of sprung wire with a couple of flats on it. This clips around the slots cut either side of the union on the rad and holds the hose.
It's a sh1tty design; if it is corroded it's a bastard to get the hose out of the rad. Imagine a metal collar which is clamped over the end of the hose with a couple of O-rings for the seal; it pushes into the union and the spring clip holds it in place. Load of rubbish. I hate them. (As you can tell I've struggled with this particular problem in the past! )

[habbers]

Thanks Teamster.

The clip was there i could not see it due to the cr@p and muck around uit. It was in good condition and the fitting separated easily although was really corroded.

spent an hour cleaning it up and working on it, put it together and it still leaked, not as badly.

It dumped 4 litres in 4 miles this morning which was nice!

Anyhow, topped it up, drove home 4 miles and heh presto, no leak.

I assumed it had emptied itself but no, hardly any room in the tank for new water.

Drove to work with 8 litres in bottles, 30 mins' of stop/start and it was fine, no leaks.

Tank full when i got to work. It could just be toying with me now.

Fingers crossed!

Again thanks to all those who contributed.

[teamster1975]

I hope you've got it cracked!
I've got to replace the bottom hose, it's pissing out a goodun'

[mjb]

I hope you've got it cracked!
I've got to replace the bottom hose, it's pissing out a goodun'

duct tape! fixes everything a big hammer can't...

[teamster1975]

duct tape! fixes everything a big hammer can't...

Can't hurt to try, my bike is covered in the stuff!

[Welly]

Billy Bodger

Why not just crack an egg into the coolant and let it set around the leak (only use Tesco Value Eggs cos they set the hardest)