catastrophic coolant 'leak' (more like a pouring out)

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Originally Posted by clubagreenie

Yes the one in the hose is about 3mm (def not 4, couldn't make it fit.) Either way, you need to just cut the section out and insert pipe, buy tee on its own (with bleed) and cut out hose tee and replace.

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Thanks for that :-).... I kinda followed what you were on about.

I managed to pressure wash the engine/bay area yesterday afternoon so had a clean slate to work with :-D... In the end i've not gone with my husbands idea and have done my own....i've used the brass bleeder screw and a metal screw clamp AND the original hose without any cutting and joining etc.

I shaved off about 1mm (if that) off the lip from the inside of where the original bleeder screw screwed into and with alot of downward force and a spanner managed to "screw in" the brass bleeder screw with O ring seal.

I also got a metal screw clamp and slipped that over the hose/top of the brass bleeder screw and tightened that up and did the "wiggle" test. No amount of 'wiggle is going to move that off but we're on about pressure now generated from the engine...

so.... I started the engine, let it run @ idle... did some revs at about 2 thou and inspected for any leaks around the brass bleeder screw and thermostat. Happy to report that there are no leaks from either of those.

I've just come back from a 5 min run on the road varying speeds/revs/gears and have checked for any coolant escaping (brass bleeder screw / thermostat) and also checked whether the clamp had moved around at all....

Happy to report that no coolant escaping from O ring or thermostat and the metal screw clamp is securely in place...

Just want to thank everyone for all of their input .... it's much appreciated :-D (now that that's sorted for the time being ... off into the front yard to do some excavating)


Pic attached....

Cheers,
Lp

so the bit that came out of the hose you put back in?

Quote:

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Originally Posted by clubagreenie

so the bit that came out of the hose you put back in?

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Nope, didn't use it. Somehow I just managed with shaving ever so slightly that lip off to "screw" in the brass one.

Worth mentioning though was that I used a "screw extractor" tool to shave off a smidge of the lip. Perhaps that got things started with a thread of sorts for the brass bleeder screw to get screwed in????

I explained to my husband what I wanted to do and he said it wouldn't work using the screw extractor tool... and that he didn't have a tap n die set - guess he was wrong on that one.... gosh, hope that makes sense!! Eitherway... it worked... maybe a fluke on my part ??

while I know the thread needs something to thread into (which is the bit that fell out or equivalent)... didn't want to risk it so used the clamp as a precautionary measure to hold it there!!)

Cheers,
Lp

I held my broken bleed screw in with a cable tie as temporary measure, are you planning to replace the top hoses? It would be more reasuring to replace top hoses and install the brass screw in the plastic tee piece. Hopefully soon I will look to install an enginesaver alarm on my V8.
Cheers Matt

Quote:

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Originally Posted by imatt

I held my broken bleed screw in with a cable tie as temporary measure, are you planning to replace the top hoses? It would be more reasuring to replace top hoses and install the brass screw in the plastic tee piece. Hopefully soon I will look to install an enginesaver alarm on my V8.
Cheers Matt

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I am planning on replacing for sure, however... some have the bleeder screw in the T piece and mine is in the top hose... do you know if they come standard in the T piece now or are there varying types???

Out of curiosity.... - is there any reason why a bleed screw is needed at all? I know the radiator doesn't have a cap (like older cars)... but wasn't that just for releasing pressure... which.... isn't that what the OAT reservoir does??? Are there any folk that drive around without a bleeder screw in any hoses???

Cheers,
Lp

btw - great use of the cable tie too :-D

You need the bleed screw as that's the highest point of the system (until you lift the reservoir to fill, as in the manual) and you need to let the air bleed out. So it is kinda necessary.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by clubagreenie

You need the bleed screw as that's the highest point of the system (until you lift the reservoir to fill, as in the manual) and you need to let the air bleed out. So it is kinda necessary.

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Hello,
Hope you are enjoying your afternoon :-)

Thanks for the reply...

... So everytime I put coolant into the reservoir I need to release the bleed screw to let air out??

Isn't that the same as unscrewing the cap off the coolant reservoir and slightly reving the engine to expel any air pockets?

When I took it to the mechanic a while back he did the latter - my 'assumption' was that it was to get rid of any air pockets.... ???

Please correct me if I am wrong - confused now....

Thanks,
Lp

the bleed screw isnt really required if you know how to bleed the cooling system without it. I usually use the coke bottle method and either a jack or a hill to get the vehicle on the right angle.

since I havent done a post up on the coke bottle method and I just happen to have a tdi300 that needs its cooling system filled and an empty coke bottle I'll do up a thread on it.

DO NOT use those T clamps on the thermostat, heater, radiator or expansion tank hoses, its quite easy to torque them around and snap the fitting off of the parent item or to crack it by over tightening. Good quality screw clamps are more than enough and with the correct preparation Ive not had those one use spring clamps leak yet.


reving the engine increases the coolant flow once the thermostat is open and assists in purging the cooling system of air. Due to the fnaegalry in the layout of the cooling system in a modern vehicle they sometimes need a bit more than that.

fnaegalry???

I think it must be one of Daves more obscure technical terms,,:D