drip....drip....drip

[sgrant]

Utterly trivial problem I know, but I cannot, for love or money, stop the coolant leak where the bottom hose joins the rad. I've fiddled around with the clip placement, drained the whole lot, re-positioned the hose, tried different clips, etc. etc and every morning I open the garage to find a puddle under the car. Although I can't see anything obvious, I'm starting to suspect that the rad is the problem - perhaps the braze/weld has failed on the pipe. There is a smidge of wet higher up on the rad body, but it's clearly wet where the hose meets the pipe.

Is the rad a Westfield part, or is it from the original Midget or similar? I do have a new A-series Metro rad lurking in the garage, but I'm not sure I want to spend what's left of the summer modifying the mounting points and the fan housing to get it to fit, so I was hoping just to try a straight swap for another rad. Just wondered if I need to go to Westfield for a replacement or whether it's a standard part.

thanks,

stephen

[biggles]

pinhole in the radiator hose itself?

[sgrant]

The hose itself appeared to be dry.

[Westfield 129]

The radiator is a standard Spridget cross flow. Replace it or send it to a specialist, as it has a crack.

My guess is that a replacement may be less expensive than the repair/overhaul.

You will have to plug the vent in the new radiator, or rout it back to the expansion tank, or swirl pot.

You can do the same with the heater tap.

[biggles]

what happened - any update? You obviously made it OK to Goodwood and back!

[sgrant]

Sorry, yes - I tried a Mikalor 35mm hose clip and that did the job perfectly. It's quite a bit fatter than the jubilee-clip style fasteners, and of course it is smooth inside, so the pressure is more evenly distributed. Worked a treat. Unfortunately, I had convinced myself by then that it was the rad, so Charles very kindly posted me his original one, which is now sitting in my garage un-needed....

stephen