Leak - help / advice please

[Chunk49]

Hi all

I went for about a 25min drive yesterday evening and when I returned home and parked up I notice that there was fluid leaking from underneath the car at the front right corner and steam or smoke (?) coming out from the front right cooling vent. The leak coming out at a decent rate I would say, certainly not a slow drip drip if you know what I mean and quickly there was a decent pool of fluid on the floor underneath the front right corner. Wondering if something like this could be caused by slight damage going over a speed bump a bit too fast (not that I recall any specific speed bump incident).

The leak left a visible trail behind the car which I followed (my car lives in a two storey car park and I am on the lower storey) and weirdly the leak appears to have randomly started as I descended the ramp to the lower storey. Not sure if that info is relevant or not but adding for completeness.

So could you wise people advise as to what you think the leak is and what I should do. I obviously have not driven the car today.

Edit to add - car is 996.2 C2

Many thanks

Edited by Chunk49 on Saturday 14th November 11:03

Edited by Chunk49 on Saturday 14th November 11:04

Edited by Chunk49 on Saturday 14th November 11:15

[ievans]

Chunk49 said:

Hi all

I went for about a 25min drive yesterday evening and when I returned home and parked up I notice that there was fluid leaking from underneath the car at the front right corner and steam or smoke (?) coming out from the front right cooling vent. The leak coming out at a decent rate I would say, certainly not a slow drip drip if you know what I mean and quickly there was a decent pool of fluid on the floor underneath the front right corner. Wondering if something like this could be caused by slight damage going over a speed bump a bit too fast (not that I recall any specific speed bump incident).

The leak left a visible trail behind the car which I followed (my car lives in a two storey car park and I am on the lower storey) and weirdly the leak appears to have randomly started as I descended the ramp to the lower storey. Not sure if that info is relevant or not but adding for completeness.

So could you wise people advise as to what you think the leak is and what I should do. I obviously have not driven the car today.

Edit to add - car is 996.2 C2

Many thanks

There is a coolant radiator in each front corner, and they are susceptible to corrosion when leaves settle and rot in there, and also prone to stone chip damage. A common problem, and as long as your engine hasn't overheated, it will be easily fixable. Depending on how far away your dealer is, you could top the coolant level up, and drive the car there, or if the coolant loss is significant, get the car recovered there.

Edited by Chunk49 on Saturday 14th November 11:03

Edited by Chunk49 on Saturday 14th November 11:04

Edited by Chunk49 on Saturday 14th November 11:15

[Orangecurry]

Or, if you have time and interest, you could do it yourself.

It's not a difficult job.

[Trev450]

As above. More than likely radiator gone through corrosion. Although it adds to the cost, it will save you money in the long term if you have both rads and A/C condensors done at the same time.

[fossilfuelled]

same thing happened on mates turbo. sounds like you've got a hole in the rad.
Get both rads replaced, and invest in some grills for the intakes at the front to prevent it happening again. only takes stone/bit of debris at the wrong angle to ruin your day. heads up - it will cost around £2k to fix this time round. only £200 for some grills though!

[Demort]

One of the biggest problems is leaves collecting in the radiator cowling and trapping water , try to blow out the ducts if possible every few weeks.

As was mentioned grills are a good idear and yep it sounds like a radiator.

[Chunk49]

[quote=Orangecurry]Or, if you have time and interest, you could do it yourself.

It's not a difficult job.[/quote

Thanks all for the helpful replies, sorry not responded been snowed at work. I definitely have interest and will make time (especially if the alternative is a £2k bill as someone suggested). However, I have no idea where to start and am not at all practically minded. Is there a walk through anyone can point me to? Or links to the parts I'll need to order!?

[harleywilma]

If you are not practically minded then just get a good spanner-man to do the job for you as its a bit of a pig to bleed
the system, you shouldn't need an Indy or opc as its only radiators and not science,Just supply the affected Rad or Rads and antifreeze and get some grills to protect the rads from future damage,also put in the lower temp thermostat available from hartech while you have the system drained..Happy Day's.

[edc]

Here's a guide for AC condenser which which is almost the same. You will have to remove the AC to get to the rad.

http://www.boxa.net/forum/index.php?showtopic=5994...

[Trev450]

I'm not sure where the £2k figure came from (maybe opc) but I had both rads, both condensors and some pipework renewed earlier this year on my CS by my indy and I had change from £1500.

[edc]

Good quality aftermarket AC condensers can be bought for £50 delivered. Rads won't be much more so £2k is very excessive.

[Chunk49]

edc said:

Good quality aftermarket AC condensers can be bought for £50 delivered. Rads won't be much more so £2k is very excessive.

Thanks. Any idea where online I should be buying the condensers, rads and grills from?

[edc]

I've bought from coolpartsuk on eBay. They have a regular website but their eBay shop was cheaper when I bought. Email or call them and they will tell you about the different brands they supply and you can check up on the relevant manufacturer website. They will also sell you the o rings etc. if you want grills then since everything is coming off its cheaper to make yourself. Just get some extruded mesh steel and cut to fit with tin snips. Cable tie or screw in from behind bumper.

[Trev450]

Chunk49 said:

Thanks. Any idea where online I should be buying the condensers, rads and grills from?

Good advice above on the rads and condensors - you don't need to pay crazy money for them. If you don't fancy doing a DIY on the grill mesh, Zunsport make a quality product. https://www.zunsport.com/index.php?route=product/s...