Radiator f'ed?

[Oistush]

Right, for some stupid reason I thought it might be a good idea to replace the coolant in my 2.2 saloon 230k miles.

After replacing Ive started to leave pools of coolant anywhere I park. Have checked it's not the drain plug, including replacement of the o ring.

If I fill the reservoir I'll see coolant dripping from the radiator. From the pictures it's obvious the radiator needs replacing (I think.) old coolant was blue, new is red.

What's confusing is the leaking can't be new but the car drives normally, never overheats and blowers work perfectly.

There was probably just under five litres when I drained it so I'm thinking if I fill it with more it just leaks out and the engine runs away ok with five litres.

Am I going to damage the engine if I drive it before changing the radiator?

 

[Oistush]

 

[Oistush]

 

[F6HAD]

I wouldn’t risk overheating with a knackered radiator. Just swap it out for a new one.

 

[Oistush]

I wouldn’t risk overheating with a knackered radiator. Just swap it out for a new one.

yeah, you're probably right.
Have you ever done it? the shop manual has me taking off the splash shield which would be an absolute pain, hoping i could manoeuvre it from above

 

[Channel Hopper]

yeah, you're probably right.
Have you ever done it? the shop manual has me taking off the splash shield which would be an absolute pain, hoping i could manoeuvre it from above

I have had to replace the air conditioner radiator on a Mercedes before, horrible experience. The Tourer engine rad is a doddle.

 

[stellamon]

Splash shield/undertray should be easy enough to remove, usually you'll find some fixings have become useless and need replacing so maybe pre-order these prior to removal.
I've used products like radweld before to fix these type of problems, some people frown upon it but it works unless the problem is serious..