Radiator leak

[D813YBB]

Hi

I was recently tinkering inside the engine bay of my 1.6 Maestro when I noticed some wires going into the side of the radiator. So being of a curious nature I thought what do they do, lets pull them out and have a look, upon which coolant started to pour out on to the ground. After hastily pushing the device back in I have been unable to stop a slight leakage from what I now know is the radiator cooling fan sensor. Would anyone have any ideas on how to cure this as there is now a damp patch under the car when it is parked up for any period of time? Despite further fiddling it just won’t make a tight seal.

[Guest]

I know others on the forum frown on such action but I have used radweld quite successfully on a number of previous cars with no ill effects. In fact I drove a Renault 5 for about 2 years after the rad started leaking and I just put some radweld in to effect a "temporary" repair.

Just make sure you shake the bottle really well!

Alternatively I think there is a radiator on ebay at the moment?

[Guest]

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/MAESTRO-1-6-MO...QQcmdZViewItem

There are a couple of others on there too but they are MG ones (not sure if they are the same).

[Guest]

I had exactly this happen when I put in a new rad into my Monty. The design around the sensor mounting hole on the replacement was slightly different from the old one. The sensor is simply pushed against the rad by a frame that fits over the top. The frame is pressed down by screws that screw into pillars.

As I recall (and I might be wrong about this) the answer was to decrease the length of the pillars a bit by filing a small amount off their tops. This allows the frame to press down tighter thereby substantially sealing the leak. I also needed to add a bit of gasket sealant to finish the job.

Steve H

[Guest]

I used a rubber O ring the same size as the brass sensor switch when the plate was screwed down the O ring privided that extra push to give it a good seal. Hope that makes sense

[D813YBB]

Mine is not screw in fit. Its a plastic ring fitting over the top that twists in to place.
I'll probably put a bid in for the radiator on ebay if its the correct part.

[Simon]

Mine's the twisty one too. The rad had been off for a while, so when I reconnected it up and filled with antifreeze I got a leak from there too (quite a bad one in fact - overnight I lost the contents of the expansion tank). All I did was give it a wiggle, made sure it was done up tight and it has been leak free since. You could invest in a new seal and use a smear of soap to lubricate the sensor to ensure it seats fully home. Mind you, my rad's only a year old.

[mgdavid]

if it's got a rubber seal, I'll bet it's become compressed with age. Remove the seal, turn it over and fit it the other side up. Refit and you should find the leak stopped.

[Guest]

I used a rubber O ring the same size as the brass sensor switch when the plate was screwed down the O ring privided that extra push to give it a good seal. Hope that makes sense

I think this sounds like a simpler and sheaper solution than a new radiator. I made a rubber O ring for my shower using a bicycle punture repair kit and a stanley knife.

[D813YBB]

Update

After draining the coolant and inspecting the parts, the rubber grommet that the sensor slots into appears to be at fault. The grommet should be soft and pliable, but mine was hard and cracked. I've now aquired two replacements from the scrapyard. It appears from the cars in the yard there were three different designs for the attachment. Hope this stops the leak.

[C191JOE]

coolant leak

I've just cured the very same problem. I could not work out where the damp patch on the garage floor came from- all pipes seemed secure. So I put some radweld in the expansion tank. I've been up to sheffield this weekend in the car (262 miles) and all now appears to be well. I'd seen a wet area around the sensor fitting on the rad and suspected that the fault lay there. I must look again when I next change the coolant to see if ther is a rubber grommet.