Coolant leak - engine bay panel removal

Coolant leak - engine bay panel removal

Author
Discussion

Chris

Original Poster:

269 posts

285 months

Saturday 21st December 2002
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I have a coolant leak on my 97 4.2 (first TVR, thoroughly smitten). I am trying to remove the panel in the engine bay (in front of the radiator) so I can have a better look at where the leak is.

Before I go removing air boxes and anything else, does anybody know what the bare minimum is that I have to remove before being able to get the panel out (without damaging it!).

Many thanks.

Chris

Original Poster:

269 posts

285 months

Sunday 22nd December 2002
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Many thanks for your help - from your descrption it sounds like our two cars are exactly the same - I'll give it a try tomorrow!

Chris

Original Poster:

269 posts

285 months

Tuesday 24th December 2002
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I've got the panel off - thanks for your help Les! I can also see the source of the coolant leak (one of the hoses leading to a junction on the passenger side where 3 hoses come together).

Unfortunately, it doesn't look like tightening the hose clips is going to do any good - they already look too tight(squashing the hose wall against the fitting much more than some of the other fittings- maybe this is what has caused the leak in the first place?). So I suspect a new hose is required.

To do this, though, will clearly require the system to be drained and then refilled with coolant. Is this a big job on the Cerbera - how do you do it - or should I leave it to someone who really knows what they're doing?

Many thanks for your help.

Chris

Original Poster:

269 posts

285 months

Thursday 26th December 2002
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Thanks for the advice.

The leak is coming from the seal (or lack of it) between one of the hoses and the manifold/junction/thermostat (not sure what best to call it) to which it is attached (using a hose clip).

The hose itself isn't visibly perished, other than potentially being damaged by overtightening of the hose clip. The manifold/junction/thermostat itself is quite badly corroded - maybe this is the cause of the leak, in that the hose cannot form a watertight seal because of the corroded surface to which it is joining - on removal I plan to clean it up anyway.

Any comments would be welcome.

Chris

Original Poster:

269 posts

285 months

Thursday 26th December 2002
quotequote all
Just read the Joolz post - thanks for this- he talks about initially filling with 5ish litres of neat antifreeze then topping up. Sorry if this is obvious (don't want to get it wrong) but presumably, you would top up with water (given the coolant capacity of 12 litres according to the manual).

Also, on draining the system, is there a valve to do this?

Thanks again in advance - Merry Xmas!