Hi All,
A few weeks ago (early in August) while driving slowly through a 50mph restricted section of a motorway I noticed coolant temperature arrow leaving normal position and gradually moving up fairly fast as I drove towards the nearest Tesco, almost touching red mark at the end of the scale at the end. The radiator apparently leaked along the upper seam between metal and plastic and accepted almost 2.5L of water when I topped it up in about 30min. I then reached home safely and repaired it using Loctite 5660 silicone sealant instead of the rubber gasket and the seal looked almost perfect upon testing. Had no more issues over the next 1-2 weeks of driving although expansion tank was empty when I checked it soon after fixing the radiator (which I disregarded, attributing it to possibly stuck air somewhere escaping the system).
Much to my surprise (as I did the repair job very carefully, removing lots of oxide and/or rubbish from gasket slot and abrading it to bare aluminium) the same symptoms reoccured yesterday under exactly the same circumstances. The radiator apparently leaked through the repaired seam in several places and accepted about 1.2L of water this time.
Before buying a new radiator I'd like to understand whether the problem likely starts from water leaking through poorly (as it appears) repaired radiator or elsewhere? I don't see any leaks under the car when leaving it in the office parking lot or at home overnight. My worst worry is: are F20B6 engines known to have their cylinder head gaskets occasionally get damaged by the time they reach ~180k miles? (I'd hate to learn that it's not uncommon)
Notes:
- back in spring last year I had what looked like a native water pump replaced with QH QCP3175 along with the timing belt replacement at ~167-168k miles just in case it matters
- also in spring last year I had the problem described happen once (first time ever actually) as the same radiator leaked through the lower seam between metal and plastic, which I repaired using Loctite 5699 silicone sealant and coolant temperature arrow never left its normal position for over a year by now, under any driving conditions.
Many thanks in advance!
A few weeks ago (early in August) while driving slowly through a 50mph restricted section of a motorway I noticed coolant temperature arrow leaving normal position and gradually moving up fairly fast as I drove towards the nearest Tesco, almost touching red mark at the end of the scale at the end. The radiator apparently leaked along the upper seam between metal and plastic and accepted almost 2.5L of water when I topped it up in about 30min. I then reached home safely and repaired it using Loctite 5660 silicone sealant instead of the rubber gasket and the seal looked almost perfect upon testing. Had no more issues over the next 1-2 weeks of driving although expansion tank was empty when I checked it soon after fixing the radiator (which I disregarded, attributing it to possibly stuck air somewhere escaping the system).
Much to my surprise (as I did the repair job very carefully, removing lots of oxide and/or rubbish from gasket slot and abrading it to bare aluminium) the same symptoms reoccured yesterday under exactly the same circumstances. The radiator apparently leaked through the repaired seam in several places and accepted about 1.2L of water this time.
Before buying a new radiator I'd like to understand whether the problem likely starts from water leaking through poorly (as it appears) repaired radiator or elsewhere? I don't see any leaks under the car when leaving it in the office parking lot or at home overnight. My worst worry is: are F20B6 engines known to have their cylinder head gaskets occasionally get damaged by the time they reach ~180k miles? (I'd hate to learn that it's not uncommon)
Notes:
- back in spring last year I had what looked like a native water pump replaced with QH QCP3175 along with the timing belt replacement at ~167-168k miles just in case it matters
- also in spring last year I had the problem described happen once (first time ever actually) as the same radiator leaked through the lower seam between metal and plastic, which I repaired using Loctite 5699 silicone sealant and coolant temperature arrow never left its normal position for over a year by now, under any driving conditions.
Many thanks in advance!