So erm, first breakdown

2p
I've had radiator hoses fail on brand new vehicles - always a "clean" split too in my case... it happens. /2p
 
That's what happens when you drive around with a trailer of wet wipes everywhere. Couldn't you have stuffed the crack with some wet wipes? Or maybe just drained wet wipe fluid in the coolant every 0.5 miles?

Hehe! No mate I hope you get it fixed up safely. Let us know.
 
snowdog said:
Wouldn't a failed HG mean a mayo like goo on the oil dipstick and excessive steam from the exhaust ? The car has neither of those and I checked the oil specifically for that when it happened today.
Click to expand...

only if it goes near a oil and water gallery. just as often it will go from cyclinder to water jacket and pressurise the cooling system heavily as well as other symptoms.
 
AAARG it's not the hose, just went there under daylight armed with some tape thinking I can try it out in no time, but it's more complicated. The ''crack'' appeared to be just some dirt on the hose. The leak, after pouring 2 liters of water in it, is from the radiator, it's literally pouring out with 2 small beams of water. Most likely a big stone chip or similar broke my rad while I was traveling at high speed yesterday on the motorway.

The place the leak is, is a bitch to get to, It'd bumper off time I think. I'll return when it's not rainy and use some liquid sealing on the rad where the leak is temporarily to get it home, or I'll simply tow it home with someone, it'll need more time and attention, and that's if I'm lucky and didn't damage the engine.
 
It might have just rotted the radiator through. They don't last forever.

You might get away with Radseal but I'd better not say that or I'll get a stoning on here. Because it'll make your heater matrix swell up like a corpse and it'll burst then the car will explode and you'll get a burnt leg and kittens will die and nuns and small children will cry. I read that on here.
 
Don't have good experiences with such products, we used Bars anti leak a couple of years ago and it did bugger all, only made a mess of the coolant. The leak is too large for such a fix anyhow I think, any water you pour in the rad is out within a minute again.
 
I would imagine the radiator is simply old or worn out and has failed as a result. From personal experience I can tell you it simply isn't worth faffing about trying to replace the odd bit here and there, bodge that with Radseal, etc etc.

Just replace the cooling system on the car - the radiator is shot anyway and is the most expensive part, whilst its out take the opportunity to renew all hoses, the waterpump, etc etc. Then you'll know it's all fixed and it's all working properly and you can guarantee if you dont do it this way you'll be for ever chasing cooling leaks as different bits fail at different times.
 
The other thing I've plugged big leaks with is Chemical Metal which you should be able to get at any motor factor. I'd normally try and solder it, but if there's no access it's not always possible and a big wodge of CM is sufficient as a permanent repair in my experience.

Edit: though this is on cars where you can't just get radiators etc ;)
 
I will the only issue is the car is in a place where it is a bitch to work on, I dread not having my own private bit of land to just put it down and work on it calmly for a couple of weeks in my free but I'll figure something out, in the worst case I'll tow it to a public garage opposite of my street where I would at least be able to work on it and be dry.

I'll see though either I'll tow it here and simply start replacing the whole rad. Or get the bumper off where it is atm, try some liquid sealant/gasket on it ( the rad I mean) you know the heat resistant rubbery stuff and test if it's worth doing anything at all on it ( if the engine runs fine in the first place). From one side I'm kind of disappointed it has it's share of issues on the other side it's a great opportunity to just mess about on the car and learn a bit, I still have my first car and I've only spent a fraction of my budget so far on it.
 
Last edited:
sigma said:
Weeks? It's a only a couple of hours of work, if that.

If it's possible to tow it, just tow it.
Click to expand...

It needs:

Fixing cooling/new rad. ( if the engine is not borked).
New clutch disc.
New front suspension ( simply worn, it's passed MOT but it's simply not practical at all), I rammed a hole in my exhaust because of it and my bumper scrapes over tall speed bumps if I go faster than walking pace.
Exhaust leak fixing ( basically has a MASSIVE dent and small hole in it, the place where the 6 pipes from the engine converge into 1 pipe, It smacked against a speedbump).
Neatening of rear left Arch.
New driver's seat and a good leather treatment overall.


Luckily all the electrics on the car work fine and the brakes are fine too, it's had a major brake revision 7 months ago.

But my point is, if I could I'd try to take the engine out and learn things like clutch replacement or similar. But I don't think my neighbors would appreciate me lifting an engine out of the bay on the public parking lot.
 
Last edited:
eggs work a treat for small holes in radiators, so does pepper apparently...:D on a suspension note, my rear suspension is shocking! saying that though punto's aren't known for having great suspension and im guessing the lowered springs and low profile tires haven't helped much! regarding what happened to you with speedbumps, i personally think the amount of speedbumps and the height of them is getting ridiculous, near where i live there are so many of those speed 'hills' all over the place, car has just enough ground clearance to get over them without bottoming out. :eek: local councils need to cut it the hell out with all the speedbumps like...!
 
The coolant radiator is behind the air con condensor (radiator) - so any "stone" would have gone through that, too, rendering your air conditioning broken.

For specific advice on the Galant, get onto ClubVR4
 
snowdog said:
Fixing cooling/new rad. ( if the engine is not borked).
New clutch disc.
New front suspension ( simply worn, it's passed MOT but it's simply not practical at all), I rammed a hole in my exhaust because of it and my bumper scrapes over tall speed bumps if I go faster than walking pace.
Exhaust leak fixing ( basically has a MASSIVE dent and small hole in it, the place where the 6 pipes from the engine converge into 1 pipe, It smacked against a speedbump).
Neatening of rear left Arch.
New driver's seat and a good leather treatment overall.
Click to expand...

That's nothing, just go to Poland and someone there will do it for a fiver.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom