Coolant leek

[mat from preston]

Went out in car yesterday and all was well then i came to it this morning there was a pool of coolant on the garage floor between the front wheels.I took the cover off between the engine and radiator and the fibreglass under the radiator was also wet.I dried everywhere of and filled the coolant up.I then ran the car up to temp and there was no signs of a leak or loss of coolant.
Any ideas? Thanks in advance,Matt

[morebeanz]

The only places that you tend to collect in the front there are through a loose or perished upper/lower hose connected to the rad or a pin hole in the rad itself. none of the other manifolds or hoses will tend to dump water in the front there.

I'm assuming you're certain it's a coolant leak?

[Gazzab]

In my experience:-
the metal coolant pipes can be rotten and need replacing (doesnt sound like this is the case with yours)
the rad can leak (and this can be intermittent and can be hot or cold leak)
the Y pipe under the expansion tank
the expansion bottle cap can leak
the rubber hoses that come off the rad can leak

[mat from preston]

I should have said i went back to the car a couple of hours after using it yesterday to cover it up and everything seemed fine then.Since running it this morning i have been back out to it a couple of times and had a good look/feel at the hoses and all seems fine.

[morebeanz]

Have you topped up the coolant?

I find mine does different things dependent on the coolant level!

[mat from preston]

I hadn't topped it up before it leaked if thats that you mean!

[Allandwf]

Also check the plug in the radiator, top drivers side. Original is plastic and can work loose. Might just be that.

[mat from preston]

Allandwf said:

Also check the plug in the radiator, top drivers side. Original is plastic and can work loose. Might just be that.

Mine has a brass bolt and it seems fine.It was the first thing i thought to be honest.

[greencerb]

Mine used to do this and it seemed to be very random as to when it would do leak. I took the plunge and removed the radiator...it was knackered. Cost £180 for a recore and it is as good as gold now.

[FarmyardPants]

Did you fill the windscreen washer reservoir as that will p!ss out onto the floor before the level reaches the top..

[mat from preston]

Thanks for all the input guys.I think the rad is favorite so i will take it off over the weekend for a close look.Thanks again,Matt

[Mr Cerbera]

Matt -before you do anything major like that I would just like to say that I had a leak (which turned out to be from the Y-piece junction from the rear cross-over junction of the water rails) but it happened to leak down the inside of the foil heat-protection panels and eventually appeared mid-way under the engine area.

Bought 240 quids worth of neoprene pipes before I discovered that it was this 3 quid piece of plastic.

Good Luck

Edited by Mr Cerbera on Thursday 9th September 09:28

[mat from preston]

Mr Cerbera said:

Matt -before you do anything major like that I would just like to say that I had a leak (which turned out to be from the Y-piece junction from the rear cross-over junction of the water rails) but it happened to leak down the inside of the foil heat-protection panels and eventually appeared mid-way under the engine area.

Bought 240 quids worth of neoprene pipes before I discovered that it was this 3 quid piece of plastic.

Good Luck

Edited by Mr Cerbera on Thursday 9th September 09:28

Thanks for the info,I will check it tomorrow before I take the rad off