Major Coolant Loss

[MikkiJayne]

Interesting failure. I've not seen that happen before. The pipe is a bit complicated to fabricate as it does have a few odd angles, but I have powdercoated items on the shelf as they always look pretty scruffy when I do engine bay refurbs so I can courier one to you if you need it. It may be possible to weld up the hole in yours of course - depends how crusty it is inside.

[steamship]

It will now probably be the weekend before I get another look at it, as I've managed to arrange a lift for the next couple of days down to my brothers to help out.

From the illustration, it looks easy to remove, so may do that so I can have a decent examination.

EDIT: Another question. Would it be worth getting an entire coolant flush done since it's now empty and I'll be filling it with fresh antifreeze? If so, any recommended products?

[steamship]

Managed to remove as much stuff as possible to get access to the pipe, but now waiting on some hose clip pliers... especially for the back one.

As to the pipe itself, the little stud that I mentioned is still there, but there's a hole next to it. That's the dimple I felt with my finger. Not very obvious from the still image, but the video shows it better.

[MikkiJayne]

Wow! Rusted rght through I have one on the kitchen table for you but I forgot to box it up and get a postage price. I'll try and do that tomorrow

[steamship]

Originally Posted by MikkiJayne

Wow! Rusted rght through I have one on the kitchen table for you but I forgot to box it up and get a postage price. I'll try and do that tomorrow

Tools are due to be delivered today, so I might ever manage to get the pipe removed and have a proper look at it.

MJ, can you send me a PM regarding cost and payment details? I sent you a PM with postcode to get a quote. I'd normally suggest Royal Mail as I've never had issues with their delivery service before, but with the strikes I'm still waiting on something I purchased 9 days ago that was sent by Royal Mail 48.

[steamship]

Tool arrived around 3:30 so had to go out and try it, despite it starting to get dark. It did the job with the hose pipe clips, but the pipe is still a pig to remove in situ.

I've attached a couple of photos of the pipe, both from the outside and inside, using some white paper to make the holes, yes plural, stand out. They are about 3x4mm and 5x6mm in size, with the smaller one just covered by the rubber hose. I gave the inside of the pipe a wipe with a rag which explains the colour difference further down.

[HPsauce]

Sean, I'm trying to make sense of this, but I'm missing something....
Where exactly is this? and how big - diameter and length? And what is it's role in the cooling system?

And as for getting it out, was it a Clic-R tool you needed?

[steamship]

Originally Posted by HPsauce

Sean, I'm trying to make sense of this, but I'm missing something....
Where exactly is this? and how big - diameter and length? And what is it's role in the cooling system?

And as for getting it out, was it a Clic-R tool you needed?

The previous photos are the underside of the pipe.

The end you see (with the holes) connects to a rubber hose that attaches to the top of the radiator. It then runs down the left side of the engine, does a 90 degree turn and connects to another rubber pipe at the back of the engine. The pipe is L-shaped, measuring about 46cm x 17cm x 3cm diameter. Looking at the pipe from just below each barcode in the background, the pipe is triangular in shape. I've flipped this image of the entire pipe so that it looks the same way it would sit in the engine bay.

The other attachment is the type of pliers I needed. I just know them as hose pipe pliers, but I got a set which includes a pair of the Clic-R ones.

[HPsauce]

Originally Posted by steamship

The other attachment is the type of pliers I needed. I just know them as hose pipe pliers

Ah, for those horrible spring band things!
If I encounter those I tend to try and replace them with jubilee clips.

[Ronin]

isnt that pite stainnless? how dod it rust?