another radiator/coolant leak

Hi all,

Happy new year.

Finally have an update on the side flange from the new head. Mechanic was unable to plug the sender on the metal piece so temporarily put the plastic one on there.

In time I still hope to change as many plastic items as possible, including the water pump flange to the under/side next to the sump.

Si

Good to hear you got it sorted, I know some don't like the plastic items used by VW but I've not had much trouble with them in the 25 years of knowing my Golf, I've only replaced the water pump/thermostat flange and flange at the side of the head once in the cars life, the Golf has now done 288,000 miles and I replace them at about 200,000 miles, the car has been in the family since it was 5 years old and only covered 45,000 miles when my mum bought it so they were genuine VW parts before I changed them…
I could of just been very lucky?

I never had one IOTA of flange issues on my 81 Rabbit/Golf Diesel LS…(all Metal).

My 90's Cabby's are a car of a different color, and I probably was a victim of cost reduced manufactured parts (CHINA).  The ones I got from one vendor all said Maid in Ireland, and being of Irish Distraction, well they did last about 12 Months…. But as soon as I got all metal replacements, I haven't had to replace one in a few years…. So it was time/effort/monies well spent IMHO.

main thing with the plastic flanges, is buy genuine or you buy twice. OEM plastic parts will last years, but the trick is finding them once they become NLA.

alloy flanges are preferable, but you cant always find correct ones to suit your engine. and if they exist, they're all NLA so you have to hope that you can find a good used one, or source from classic parts.  Used alloy flanges have their own issues, often PO havent serviced the coolant systems properly so they're corroded, if you cath it early enough they will still seal ok or can be repaired. Also you have to be carefull when tightening or loosening, do the bolts in stages else you risk cracking them

Cheers guys!!!

Mark, you've been lucky but importantly I think regular usage has helped the car. Well done to you and the family. 👍🏽

Brian, Jonny… thanks again. I'll take the Metal flange(s) to the new mechanic & ask him to fit them.

Si

Hi all,

Not sure if you guys have had these problems with the recent cold weather too, but the coolant hoses sprung leaks when the car was sat still for 7-8 days in the cold.

I topped up the coolant, but even though she's driven everyday I am still getting very slight leaks at the hose ends, but especially at the top hose & flange junction entering the Head.

In fact from the picture below, you can see the pink coolant at the junctions with the 2 pipes. Circled in Pink



This is the only hose-flange junction which still appears to be leaking.

Of maybe more concern is the damp area of the photo above circled in Red. The car head a new cylinder head & of course gasket in Dec/Jan (about 300 miles ago).

Can anyone tell from experience if it is a bad gasket seal, or the damp from the top flange/hose leak above??

You can see in the pic below too that the coolant leak causes puddling on the block, circled in Blue.



Lastly, is the gold/yellow staining on the block anything I should be worried about; circled in Gold.
It's dry to the touch, so hoping it's maybe just some HGF residue from previous problem.


Many Thanks,

Si

In colder weather, as in WINTER.  Hoses that didn't leak when you removed them in the summer start dripping in the winter, as the metal flanges or plastic flanges contract.  Usually tightening them a wee bit more resolves the issue.

If the hoses are old, then it probably wouldn't hurt to renew them, then at the same time use a Sandy type paper and clean the ends of the flanges so that you get a tight seal between the hose and the flange….

If it is a plastic flange, then be cautious as you can break them just by looking at them cross-wise.

This is one reason VW used the Spring clamps as they contract tighter when cold, and allow for some expansion when warm, yes they are a major pain in the keister to remove sometimes, but then again, I don't usually have to "tweak" them tighter….

If you look at the small screw types, when you tighten them smaller, they actually allow the hose to deform, and don't circumferentially tighten evenly..they are wop-sided, so on those occasions I  use fuel clamps.

Yellow stains, did you scare the thing to death where it wet itself?  I don't know of a fluid that stains yellow. So I wouldn't worry too much about that.