Major Coolant Loss

[steamship]

Originally Posted by HPsauce

Stupid question time: Same on a 3.7 AKC?

Yes is the answer. As MJ said, the illustration in post #2 is very misleading. With the picture in post #6 it was a quick dash outside, look in the area, and it's blindingly obvious.

So far, I haven't been outside yet today. Leaving it to this afternoon when it's due to reach a balmy 2 degrees.

[steamship]

A little update. Left it to this afternoon to look at the car, but had an old heater placed underneath the engine just to try and heat it up. Turns out the drain pipe that MJ referred to was partly filled with rusty muck, which I cleaned out. I put a litre or two of antifreeze in the expansion tank and left it for a good while. When I came back to it, it was pure antifreeze dripping out, the rest of it having already come out into a basin along with a little muck. Plugged the drain and refitted the two radiator pipes.

Poured in about 3-4 litres of antifreeze and heard it coming out again. It's still at the junction of pipes 9 and 11. I felt around the metal pipe with my bare hand this time and noticed what I would call a dimple. Now, looking at a picture of the pipe itself, there are two small metal studs near the right end of the pipe. As best as I can make out from feeling it, I'd say that the lower one is definitely missing and this might be where the coolant is escaping from.

I'll jack up the drivers side tomorrow so I can get a better view of it from below.

EDIT: Forgot to ask. If this is the cause, could I get a pipe made up, or is there something about how it is shaped in places, as it isn't that tight a space.

[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.

[sarg]

Originally Posted by MikkiJayne

Interesting failure. I've not seen that happen before.

And now you've seen it twice

[steamship]

Originally Posted by sarg

EDIT I too have a hole in my pipe BMW is coming to another meet by the looks of things

Have you managed to remove the pipe, and if so, what size hole are we talking about?

Originally Posted by sarg

And now you've seen it twice

It must be like buses. You never see one, and then all of a sudden...

[sarg]

Originally Posted by steamship

Have you managed to remove the pipe, and if so, what size hole are we talking about?

I've got the airbox and gubbins out, got pipe #9 off, had a feel around bottom pipe #11 and can feel the hole, and could see some coolant dripping straight through it before it reaches the opening - need to get underneath again, but I'd say hole is about 5-6mm - more will likely be revealed once I get the pipe #11 off

I removed the clip at the front, holding #9 on to #11, with regular pliers, but I'm not entirely convinced my clip here is OEM, it looks a little different to the diagrams. EDIT: looks the same as the ebay items so maybe is OEM

The MAF connection I sorted, was just being a noob, realised the plug unclips rather than having to unscrew the socket.

Are you saying that once the rear clip is loosened, a bit of force and wiggling should bring the metal pipe out?

As for the meet, it's only about 10 days away, and I am dependent on parts arriving, which I have not yet sourced all of, so with the best of intentions, if it's still in bits awaiting parts, then it's still in bits - the clips for example, are about 4 weeks' lead time - I might be able to reuse existing one, or replace with jubilee clips, will try that before ordering them