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[bappy]

I have coolant issues

There was steam coming out from under the driver's side edge of the bonnet (initially thought it was oil smoke) so I bought a replacement HBV off ebay which my mechanic and I fitted according to one of the instructions on this site. (the mechanic managed to dent my wing and shatter the scutter whilst removing wipers )

The old one was deffo leaking coz there was whitey pinky crud all over the hoses surrounding the valve.

There is steam still coming out from under the bonnet and my coolant is still leaking yet as far as I can tell the new HBV looks fine. There is a very slight possibiltiy that I might have punctured the hose on the passenger's side of the HBV whilst playing with the clips as I accidentally squeezed it (rather firmly) with the pliers I was using on the clips.

How should I proceed? Is it worth dumping the can of 'coolant system stop leak' aka dog turds into the system to possibly seal the possible hole in the hose or is that a bad idea?

Is there anything I ought to check before buying a new passenger side hose? (if not does anyone have the part no?)

Thanks in advance for your help

Ben

[Kevin Wood]

I would never use a system sealer if you know what the problem is and can fix it relatively easily. It won't be a permanent fix anyway. Can you not cut the holed part of the hose off and pull it a little tighter?

Kevin

[jules]

I wouldn't dump anything into it.

Start at the HBV and work methodically through the cooling system piping checking for leaks ?

[bappy]

All well and good but I only have about 4 inches of space to get my hands in :s thats why i did it myslef and not my big-handed mechanic lolhow can I tell if there is a hole in the hose?

Its difficult to cut and stretch as there is pretty much no slack in that hose anyway. If there is a hole it's likely 3-4 inches away from the HBV aswell....

[Marks DTM Calib]

Open the bonnet, remove the scuttle and run the engine upto temp and observe where the leak is  

[bappy]

ok cheers lads.

If there is a hole in the hose is there any way to patch it if it's too far away from the HBV to cut off?

I'll play with it tonight.

ta,
Ben

[ians]

If you can see steam water vapour, then you should be able to see the leak when the bonnet is open - try shining a torch in towards the HBV from the side.

[snackeroo]

This is just an alternative thought to consider. I had what i thought looked like  steam coming out from the drivers side of bonnet back in a cold spell. When i opened bonnet i couldn't see anything but it smelt hot & oily.
Turned out to be a slight oil leak from rocker cover seals finding its way on to the hot exhaust. But it sure looked like steam coming from under the bonnet in the cold morning air.
Worth further investigation unless you are obviously losing coolant?

[edwardmickey]

You certain the HBV was new and not someone's knackered one?

Knowing Ebay as we do..........  

[Matchless]

Only use a genuine Vx HBV with all the part numbers moulded into the top, there is a batch of dodgy ones around at the pattern part sellers, no writing on the top, they last about a week if you are lucky.

I have found that the hose from coolant bridge to HBV can perish and delaminate at the cooland bridge end (its hotter there), worth a look with scuttle removed and a mirror.