GolfGTIforum.co.uk
Model specific boards => Golf mk2 => Topic started by: hamster on 29 March 2006, 12:26
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hi all i have a intermitent water leak i think its leaking from the bottom right of the radiator as you would look in the bay is there a temp sensor down there as it looks like thats the leak strange thing is that the water will not leak for weeks then suddenly dissapear when i fill her up no leak :undecided: any ideas would be good cheers mark
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When it does leak it could be worth poking your head under the bonnet (and under the engine) and see if you can see if there is any evidence of where the leak is coming from.
If it is leaking from a temp sensor then you should just simply be able to replace the seal ring which sits between the sensor and the rad (if there is one?).
If not just run a small tub of redweld through, this seals most things (even small cracks in the block!) and lasts for ages. £2.50 well spent :smiley:
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aye radweld is good for making your heater matrix explode!!
you'll probably find the leak only happens when the car is really hot. i.e. expansion. as said just replace the wee rubber seal on the sensor
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DONT USE RAD WELD!
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Agreed, dont use radweld unless you fancy replacing your heater matrix :)
First thing I'd do is replace both plastic flanges on the front & right side of the head, these warp and start leaking. Dirt cheap from VW :) Once you remove the old ones, plug the holes with some tissue and rub down the mounting surface with some sandpaper to allow the o'ring to make a good seal.
Next take a close look at the radiator, especialy along the plastic end caps. Its worth taking the grill and radiator fan shroud off so you can get a good look at it :)
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Awesome stuff Radweld, I can't recommend it enough. I used it on my old Nova SR and it lasted 18 months (probably lasted longer but sold car). Never had any heater matrix probs on that, unless its just a VW thing?
Obviously its worth doing the job properly, I just suggested Radweld as a cheap fix so to speack.
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Agreed with above, nothing wrong with radweld, people just can't read the instructions :rolleyes:
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I agree, never had any probs with radweld, used in previous 16v to cure the leak in the heater matrix and it worked well but....... Don't put it in cooling the system through the header tank. Warm the engine up to about 1/4 on the temp guage & release the pressure in the header tank. Disconnect the top hose from the rad and drain some coolant off then tip the radweld (small tin) straight down the hose and then reconnect it to the radiator. Top up the header tank and run the engine up to full temp. :smiley: If you put the radweld in the header tank it makes a real mess and takes ages to get into the engine also it mixes with the air in the tank and makes a real mucky mess :sick: It won't last forever though, if ever you flush out the coolant and refill with antifreeze it will find the leak again. :rolleyes:
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Agreed with above, nothing wrong with radweld, people just can't read the instructions :rolleyes:
yeah you absolutely do have to shake it up like a mofo cos you get lumps that gum up your system if you dont i used it on a peugeot once when my rad blew a hole. got me home from work!
brought a new car then and drovfe the sh!te peugeout without any coolant in it for a laugh to see how far i could go, got from witney in oxfordshire to abingdon (prob about 15miles) before it dropped a piston and blew up was a giggle. this was in the days when scrappies paid you for your crud car so i got a tenner, a ride home and a beer!! best thing about that car that was!!
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i think it was radweld that gunked up my bypass valve, but it was starting to stick anyway :undecided: it did the job on my rad though :smiley:
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I always carry a bottle of Radweld in the car (well, at the moment it's Halfrauds own stuff so Radweld in a different bottle then!).
The instructions go on about shaking the bottle really well and pouring into the radiator.
It also says "not suitable for Rover 825/827" and I do know that this was because the channels in the matrix in those cars are a lot smaller than normal. Some Jags also had the same problem.
Would I use it? Yes, if I was really, really, really stuck.
Why do I carry it around? Cos it was a pressie :laugh:
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would be better if it was cos it was a cossie..........
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would be better if it was cos it was a cossie..........
:grin: :grin: :grin:
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i know its a ford buti wouldnt say no to an original tickford rs with rwd
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Agreed with above, nothing wrong with radweld, people just can't read the instructions :rolleyes:
Yeah just because you had no problems anyone who did is obviously too stupid to follow instructions properly :rolleyes:
I will add that it did a good job of plugging the leaks on my rad for a few months, so gave me time to get a new one. Unfortunatly the side effect was a cold car, though it was in the summer so not all bad.
I wouldn't recommend it myself, as topping up your water for a bit then replacing the rad is alot easier than replacing the heater matrix. Not as if a good second had rad even costs a great deal!
Edit: forgot to add the real reason I wouldn't recommend it: when I took the head off I found most of the water channels thru the head gasket were clogged up with radweld :cry: It doesn't help that although the coolant channels in the block are quite large, the holes thru the gasket are much smaller! After I replaced it the engine ran much cooler and heated up faster :cool:
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Agreed with above, nothing wrong with radweld, people just can't read the instructions :rolleyes:
Yeah just because you had no problems anyone who did is obviously too stupid to follow instructions properly :rolleyes:
I will add that it did a good job of plugging the leaks on my rad for a few months, so gave me time to get a new one. Unfortunatly the side effect was a cold car, though it was in the summer so not all bad.
I wouldn't recommend it myself, as topping up your water for a bit then replacing the rad is alot easier than replacing the heater matrix. Not as if a good second had rad even costs a great deal!
Edit: forgot to add the real reason I wouldn't recommend it: when I took the head off I found most of the water channels thru the head gasket were clogged up with radweld :cry: It doesn't help that although the coolant channels in the block are quite large, the holes thru the gasket are much smaller! After I replaced it the engine ran much cooler and heated up faster :cool:
I've used radweld in dozens of cars, never has a problem. So i must be doing something right :rolleyes:
If most of your water channels were clogged with radweld, how many bottles of it did you put in the coolant system? because one bottle certainly WON'T do that :laugh:
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Just the one mate, though cant vouch for what happened before I got it. My point is theres no need to imply anyone who has had problems doing this is stupid, simply because nothing went wrong when you tried it.
The fact that so many people have had issues suggests that maybe it isn't such a great idea to use radweld in a MK2 Golf, possibly because of the already fragile design of the heater matrix, who knows.
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Its hardly a case of me just trying it mate though is it? i've used the stuff for years :smiley:
and yes i do believe lots of people have problems because they don't use it right, for example i always set the heater to hot when using the stuff, and never had a problem with the matrix.
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it is a bit of a bodge fix really :undecided:
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Its fine, but only for very small leaks, anything more and fix the problem!
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its definately a get u out the sh!t temporrarily product.
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and yes i do believe lots of people have problems because they don't use it right, for example i always set the heater to hot when using the stuff, and never had a problem with the matrix.
Setting the heater to hot would make absolutely no difference on a mk2 golf, how would this avoid matrix problems
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and yes i do believe lots of people have problems because they don't use it right, for example i always set the heater to hot when using the stuff, and never had a problem with the matrix.
Setting the heater to hot would make absolutely no difference on a mk2 golf, how would this avoid matrix problems
Its what i do on any car when using radweld, also i leave the cap off the expansion tank for 5-10 mins to prevent any airlocks.
Never had a problem, so i must be doing something right!
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But how many times have you done this on a MK2 Golf :)
The problem is you can never be sure how often its been done in the past, after seeing what it did to the coolant channels in my engine, I'm not going to risk using it no matter how many bottles it would take. It could mean the difference between having a heater that works all through the winter or having to lie down in your footwell on a cold wet weekend in November swapping the matrix (but I'm not bitter :laugh:)
It is good practice to always have the heater set to hot before doing work on the cooling system, if in doubt that the controls affect coolant flow through the matrix. As said on a MK2/MK3 Golf this has no impact whatsoever, but on earlier VWs such as the MK1 Golf there is a tap on the inlet pipe.
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3 mk2 golfs, 2 mk3 golf. i think, as far as i can remember.
Maybe flushing the coolant system thoroughly first would be advisable then before using a product such as radweld.
I would only use it for very small leaks anyway as i said. That is when it is very hard to see where the leak is coming from, as often the system can leak when under higher pressure ie. when driving.
I would always tell people to sort the leak, if you can see the leak, then fix it, if its only a small pressure leak that can't easily be found then try radweld, but use the precautions that i listed above. That is what radweld is designed for, small pressure leaks, not bigger leaks. Some people probably do keep putting the stuff in, bottle after bottle, to cure an obvious leak that should be fixed, in your case Johnny i would suggest that is what happened to your car in the past.
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God knows tbh, probably the same joker who forced the rad fan plug on the wrong way round, and 'installed' an electric aerial by twisting the wires together and putting black tape round it!
I did flush it pretty soon after I got it as the coolant was a nice shade of brown :sick: probably why it started leaking, flushed out all the radweld holding the rad together!