Anyone had this problem before??

[shaky]

As the weather was nice yesterday I decided to go for a drive, nipped to the local Shell garage filled her up and proceeded home to give her a clean. Got there and could smell coolant, went straight to the front had a sniff - nothing, opened up the engine cover and noticed the level had dropped slightly, looked underneath and around the centre of the car coolant was pi$$ing out!!

Obviously stopped the car and began to cry!

Only thing is last time I drove the car was to the OPC for their 111 point check, they found coolant leaking from one of the head gaskets, and fixed this - could they have disturbed something in this area?? is there anything around there which could fail??

Thanks all

Rick

 

[johnk]

so are you saying that opc have had the engine out then,

have seen it on a couple of occasions where they have put the engine back in and not secured the coolant pipes that run over the driveshaft
,therefore rubbing on driveshaft whilst driving along and through the pipe

only other thing i can think of is they haven't securely clipped pipes back into place and they have popped out .. get it on a ramp asap...

 

[shaky]

I don't think the engine came out, they only charged £150 for whatever they did - around £20 worth of parts!!

That could be a possibility, hard to tell when you can't see much - it has drained the whole header tank overnight which would suggest a true leak rather than a pressure problem.

I'll be ringing the OPC tomorrow and see what they say, looks like the RAC will be getting a call too!

Thanks all

 

[johnk]

could you tell whereabouts it was coming from at all... one other thing is it manual or tip

 

[gezr]

Perhaps it was core plugs they replaced? When did they do this? It's just your sig suggest you are far from eligible for a warranty!!!

 

[shaky]

porsheuro - When I looked underneath it was coming from centre of the car just behind the front seats, it is a manual car too.

gezr - No it wasn't the core plugs, I'm looking at the receipt now it says 'supplied and fitted new 'O' ring to the cylinder head as it was leaking' an 18p part!

I'm not eligible for a warranty, I haven't had the car long so just wanted to be sure everything was ok - which it was apart from that, now after nearly 100 miles (trip home was around 60) we get this happening.

 

[johnk]

sounds a bit like something not been put back right or has nicked the o ring when putting it back, either way take it back to be checked...on a truck

 

[shaky]

porsheuro - many thanks for the advice, quite ironic really I was supposed to be coming up to your place on Sunday - but alas never made it.

I'm just waiting for the RAC to come and assess it, to see if they can fix it - before taking it back to the OPC.

Will keep you all updated, I also said to the OPC that I'll be coming with it to see what has happened!

 

[shaky]

Just got back from the OPC, it wasn't in the area they'd worked before it was the main aluminium pipe which runs front to back, has corroded - only problem now is my car is stuck @ the OPC and they want £1400 to put it right, they reckon it takes 10 hours to replace them!!

Bit shocked is not the word, especially after paying for their 111 point check and 100 miles down the road this happens, what else could they have missed??

 

[johnk]

which opc is it stuck at shaky is it at sheffield?

sure this job could be done for half that price matey...

 

[Black80XSA]

And if you paid for 111 point inspection only 100 miles ago I think they should be refunding your money - i'm sure Trading Standards will have something to say

 

[silvermilnec]

Don't leave it at the OPC take it to a good indi, I use the one in Leeds i won't plug them on here! but i always get great service. I have used the OPC in Sheffield and they were very helpfull, certainly better than Leeds!!!!!
Good luck with the repair.

 

[Michael996]

Hi Shaky

My brother had a similar problem with a aluminum A/C pipe leaking fluid and OPC were silly money, he took his car to an air con specialist and they repaired the pipe at a fraction of the cost.

Maybe air con specialists could do the same for your car?

 

[shaky]

It is the 2 x heater matrix pipes, where the rubber pipe sits it has eaten into the alloy and pitted/holed it, hence the leak.

I managed to talk the OPC down to £895 job done in the end.

Unwanted expense but apparently its not unheard of.

Thanks for all the help folks

Rick

 

[davidcross]

pal of mine took 996 to opc east london who done health check and when he got car back it overheated but he managed to limp it home. upon inspection the coolant level was down and clearly had leaked. i posted a thread about it but typically i cant find it! he ended up taking the car to a specialist who topped up the coolant and job done. basically east london had cocked it up and now he takes the car to opc colchester. if u wanted to compare notes with him im happy to put u in touch with him via email. it may not be the same thing but may well be worth comparing notes....