Coolant leak

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Gouldy
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Coolant leak

Post by Gouldy »

Hi guys, I seem to have a coolant leak from the underside of this part with two coolant hoses. Anyone know what the part is and where to get one from?
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Jaba
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Re: Coolant leak

Post by Jaba »

That looks like the oil cooler. Does the oil filter screw onto it? As for sourcing one I am not sure apart from a used one. It can be safely bypassed while you look for another.
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white exec
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Re: Coolant leak

Post by white exec »

That part is the oil-water heat exchanger (aka oil cooler) that sits under the engine oil filter.
Should be easy enough to find a replacement.

They come in a variety of thicknesses, and the tubular bolt that holds the unit in place - and carries the oil filter - has to be the correct length . . . so you'll need a replacement cooler of the same thickness, or the appropriate length M20 tubular bolt for your new one.

Hopefully, your unit is just leaking externally, and not allowing oil and coolant to get into each other. Check there is no sign of oil in the coolant, and no coolant in the oil!

If just an external leak of coolant (and assuming it's not just a hose leak) the two coolant hoses can be temporarily taken off and joined together, with a short length of 15mm copper pipe and some hose clips. This will jump the cooler out of the water circuit, but still allow normal oil flow through the filter. Engine will function quite happily like this under normal conditions, while you source a replacement.

These small steel coolers have a pretty good working life, but can fail eventually.
Chris
Gouldy
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Re: Coolant leak

Post by Gouldy »

Thanks guys epic help
As usual!
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David
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Re: Coolant leak

Post by David »

Your picture isn't very clear, but it looks like the oil cooler to me. Is the car an automatic and is that picture on top of the gearbox? You'll need to replace the cooler to fix the leak, but make sure that you get the correct one as I believe the coolers are different between the engine and gearbox. It might be worth changing the gearbox oil too if it's leaking water as it could have got water in the gearbox. Assuming that's it is an automatic, that is.

Hope that helps.
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