Radiator leak

notorious · #1 15th June 2013, 01:29 PM

Discovered radiator leak today. Not sure yet if it leaks G12++ or ATF.

Will havd to change radiator now... Not sure this is DIY job since ATF draining will be involved.

And I just changed ATF in January. Bad luck

Why radiators are manufactured from alu matrix and plastic sides? Of course they will leak with time. Never seen car of 2000 era without radiator leak yet. Why don't they make radiator from proper stuff like stainless steel? Air conditioning condensers are manufactured from steel and they don't rust. Why radiators are compromised?

B@fink · #2 16th June 2013, 08:30 PM

That's similar to where mine started leaking 2 years back though mine was red and crusty and clearly coolant!. We got a rare scorcher of a day (the wild heights of 27c) and after a drive I parked up and saw a small red puddle forming. Not helpful when I was some distance from anywhere! I made an executive decision to rad weld it to get me home (several hours waiting for tow trucks and 100+ mile recovery made it a temporary repair I was willing to do to get home though i watched the temp gauge like a hawk on the way home in case the failed rad gave up entirely and leaked with spectacular suddeness!) and ordered up a rad when I got home. The rad weld held beautifully for the few additional small journeys I had to make between discovery and replacement and indeed the rad was sealed and bone dry when It was taken off the car! To answer your question the heat transfer of alloy (and indeed copper which used to be used on "old" cars) is much better than steel, they are much more resistant to internal corrosion which would mess up the coolant and they are significantly lighter than steel. Steel cores also wouldn't stop leaks forming at the header tanks where mine and indeed most failures occur as the plastic and steel would still expand at different rates and eventually fail.

notorious · #3 16th June 2013, 08:43 PM

Thanks B@fink, did you change yourself?

Ordering genuine Audi radiator first thing on Monday.

B@fink · #4 16th June 2013, 09:32 PM

I ordered a quality Non gen (if I recall correctly it was a nissens unit that arrived) which was a perfect fit, it was in the region of £130 plus vat and was a next day delivery. Yes, I swapped it myself but several parts of the job required 2 people to do it and it took several hours and so unless you are confident at waving spanners it's a job for the professionals.

notorious · #5 17th June 2013, 07:06 AM

Changing radiator is not a big problem for me.

I'm only concerned about ATF part of radiator. I will completely drain engine coolant and I will fill refill system when job done. This won't work with ATF. I need to learn how to change it in a smart way without draining system completely. I can't put car completely into air and this is my issue. I only have same basic ramps for the front part of car and this doesn't help with ATF change. Now thinking to use couple of improvised caps to seal ATF lines as soon as I remove radiator so I will drain just the radiator. When it comes to filling it back I'm a bit worried to leave too big bubble in the system.

B@fink · #6 18th June 2013, 08:41 PM

Yeah, unfortunate you have just had the ATF swapped! Mine hadn't long been swapped when mine went, seems the old 8's aren't without a sense of irony! Hopefully you can find a way of doing it correctly? If in doubt you may need a mechanic with a proper ramp to make sure it's done properly?