heater matrix leaking, may use stop leak......

[animaniac]

My heater matrix in the vr6 has started to leak, you can smell it when it begins to warm up, also the windows have fogged up a few times......

my matrix went on my mk2 and that was a night mare to do.... took me a week to do it on the drive....

but in the mk3 you have to take off the whole dash and again i've got to do it outside, problem is the weather is crap and we really cant afford not to have the car working for more than a day..

so i'm concidering using a stop leak, there are many rumours that it causes clogging but i'm sure that it will work ok.....

even if its not a perminant fix aslong as it lasts a few month it the summer then i can replace the matrix..

i'm rather confused, but its a right pain in the A** that the whole dash has to come off.... and that its gone at the wrong time of year when the weather is still cold and damp!

[vwagain]

I used radweld on my Merc 190 when the matrix started to leak and it sorted it out. That was over a year ago and its still spot on to this day(i know the guy i sold the car to)so id recomend it big time mate.

Stu

[animaniac]

i used some yesterday, i was rather worried it may do more harm than good, but i've used engine stop leak and oil with seal conditioners in it my favorite valvoline maxlife and that kept my gti going to 211000 without any engine work, my gearbox failed not the engine and the box was less than 2 years old!! the cause the bloody diff pin!

 it did have a come and go smoking habbit but after using valvoline max life it stopped, even when it was off the road it still started with no sign of blue smoke!! so it just shows that you can getaway without replacing the valve oil seals!!!! at the end of the day if the oil did sure it its most definetly been worth a try..

i put the radweld in the hose which runs to the marix, then topped it up with coolant and fired it up.....

most people have said it blocks the matrix but mines working as good as before...

i've started it up and went for a drive the windows havent steamed up, but the only time that have done it is when you go somewhere park for 5 mins and when you return you put the fan on and the window fogs up. this morning its not happened so...

i think its probibly cured it 90% at least i'm just not sure on the smell of the air, its got a smell of coolant but i soppose i've got to give it time to settle down and seal up, and if there is any coolant inside the matrix box then thats also got to dry up etc so thats probibly why i can still smell something....

on a search on google its supprising how many people in 2003 and 2003 cars some fords and chevys have the matrixs leaking!!!!