water fountain in van

[lordcamperman]

hi there
had a maestro 500 van on drive over winter started it after a month to take to garage to get water pump fixed as it was leaking previous to buying topped up with water it started flooding from rear of engine block found out it was one of the engine plugs like a bottle cap has popped out
i cleaned the cap and then with some sealent fitted it back in the hole this done the trick unless this was wrong?
left it for a few days to go off then i filled with water started the engine then staight away all the water was coming from the top of matrix some where into the foot well drivers side i checked the two water hoses passenger side that come from the engine into the van to the matrix they were fine and not leeking is there another escape route for the water to leak
unfortunatly i have got back trouble after a previous crash in a tandy van and are limeted to twist under the vehicle to see anything
wondered if there was a easier solution instead of ripping out the whole console to see this magical waterfall
thanx
kind regards
lucky jay

[E_T_V]

Did you have just water in there? Did it freeze solid? If so then the core plug pops out to prevent the block from splitting.
However the radiator and heater matrix inside often don't fare so well

If you can't see the leak easily then it is a dash out job I'm afraid.

[lordcamperman]

thanx for info
more water than antifreeze as it was just ticked over on drive now and then as pump was leaking thought i waited long enough to thaw
wish the job was a quick dash to do it oh well
maybe when i can twist abit better will investigate more
thanx for time
kind regards
lucky

[E_T_V]

Dash removal is fairly straightforward on the mk2 type. The later mk3 is a little more fiddly with the cables but not hard.

[lordcamperman]

Dash removal is fairly straightforward on the mk2 type. The later mk3 is a little more fiddly with the cables but not hard.

just to recap i fixed the leak it was the little radiator that sits inside the matrix
i did read that it can be taken out via the glove box which i think can be possible but i decided to go the hole hog and take all the dash out as to have more room
the frost burst about three pipes
lesson learnt fix the water pump before winter sets in
still the replacement looked a lot better so when the water pump is fitted hopefully it will blow hot
hopefully the above will enlighten others for future reference
thanx for advice

[E_T_V]

The prima heater is never fantastic I'm afraid. Its ok but nowhere near as hot as the petrol engines. I'm hoping my L series one is better!

[countrydude]

Still takes as long to heat up but I would say it is better. A lot to do wit the oil cooler I'd say as my prima one was a fair restriction just before the matrix pipes.

I'm hoping my L series one is better!