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[pembroke]

I had a new vauxhall cambelt and water pumb fitted 4 weeks ago, the mechanic mentioned a small coolant leak on top of the V of the engine near the oil pumbs. I spoke with the mechanic today and he recommends taking the engine apart and checking to see if the leak is from the oil pump or it's gasket..very expensive work. My local Vauxhall mechanic (different chap) said to try a bottle of stop leak in the coolant and monitor. The engine temp is always fine and I've only had a low coolant warning twice in 10 weeks, on both occasions a little water added fixed the warning. Who's advice sounds the most sound?

[amba]

Don,t start putting "snale oil" in the coolant system.
Get iot pressure tested which should identify the leak,or if compitent make a pressure tester yourself and see where coolant starts to appear.

[pembroke]

Thanks, but does the leak sound serious? I don't mind spending the money if it's justified.....

[goonv6]

Likely to be the HBV. Not too expensive to fix.

[RobseyMV6]

If it was spotted when cam belt was replaced then sound to me like the oil cooler plate seal has a small leak?

[pembroke]

If it was spotted when cam belt was replaced then sound to me like the oil cooler plate seal has a small leak?

Should that be fixable with a bit of stop leak, or is it VIP to strip down and repair ASAP? The coolant is not leaking quickly....

[RobseyMV6]

Sure stop leak or what ever you put in will do the job till the warmer weather comes around to check it out, i'd strip down to oil cooler and pump up system, go from there... see what you find

[The Red Baron]

thermostat housing maybe as its at the front.

[Darth Loo-knee]

I personally would not put in stopleak, radweld etc into my car or advise anyone else to do so mate.
If your Oil Cooler Plate is the problem would be best to remove it and reseal.
Like already said worth checking the HBV too

[amba]

I think you would be better,especially as you say leak is only minor,to just keep an eye on the coolant level in the bottle and top up with 50/50 mix as required.
The problems with putting quick fix "snake oils"in the system may cause further and more complex problems further down the line ,even when you come to flush it through in the warmer weather.
My advise is only ever put water and coolant into the system..nothing else.

[feeutfo]

some sound advice there it seems to me.

Stop leak works very well on small leaks. The thing is you dont really want it in the system unless its really needed.

End of the day its up to you how you deal with the problem. Basic answer is re seal the oil cooler  cover plate at your earliest convenience. Which for me would be in March at the earliest in this weather.

Its not a bad leak at the moment, but may or may not get worse very quickly. You could stop leak now and leave it until the weather warns up. You could pay somebody now to sort it. You could diy now in the snow if your hard as nails. Or just leave it and  top up as needed. Hth

[Entwood]

I'm with amba on this one ...

leak stop / radweld / whatever work by blocking small holes as the flow rate is too low for them to be "washed away" by larger flows .. the theory being that low flow rates only occur at leaks, pipes will always have a high flow rate.

Unfortunately within both the heater matrix, the radiator matrix, and places like the throttle housing, there are very small drillings/pipes that only have a very small flow.

There is a high risk of the "additive" actually blocking these deliberate small holes... and causing many more long term problems than they solve. ....

Just my view .. nowt else .. 

[goonv6]

What you can do, to verify that this is the point of leakage, is to pressurise the system. There are special pumps you can buy to do this but it can easily be done with a footpump or low pressure airline. You feed in the air line through an air tight bung in the header tank. Gradually pump until you feel the pressure build up, this will exagerate any areas where there is seapage (It also won't hold pressure for 5 minutes if this is the case)

[pembroke]

Thanks for all the advise, I'll monitor for now and look to fix when warmer (no snail oil!)

[ianu]

I personally would not put in stopleak, radweld etc into my car or advise anyone else to do so mate.
If your Oil Cooler Plate is the problem would be best to remove it and reseal.
Like already said worth checking the HBV too

This sounds exactly like the part I've just mentioned in my other post today - and fits with water on top of the V (doesn't the HBV drop it straight down the back of the block onto the gearbox ?). Up to you how long you can live with it tbh.

Cheers
Ian