Leaking Rad?

[Carl120]

Hi I have I fabia vrs and have a leaking radiator I think, been loosing coolant since I bought the car but only small amounts needs topping up every 2/3 weeks but have not been able to trace the leak until I carried out an oil change last week and found small amount of coolant around the bottom left corner of the radiator see pic if I have managed to attach it ok. Looks like it is leaking from the joint between the alloy rad and the plastic ends but not 100% sure what do people think?

If it is the rad I will attempt to change it my self and have found 2 listed on Eurocarparts an EIS one at £51 or a valeo at £103. Has anybody had any experience with the EIS radiator or is it worth spending the extra on the valeo?

Thanks for your help

Carl

[kevinm79]

check the sensor just above there that's a normal point it leaks as well.

I replaced mine a few weeks back just got the cheap one and used the forum discount code "brisk25" 25% off all parts.

make sure you get the right one as well as there was 2 sizes for mine.

[Vrsvirgin29]

Mine was doing this for a few months took it in to have the cam done and found out I had a head gasket gone too .but no obvious signs of it going water in oil ect . It was pressurizing the expansion tank and leaking out the over flow and was leaving no obvious places it could be leaking from . Hope it is just your rad mate .

[Carl120]

Thanks for the replies, hopefully not head gone will check the sensor before getting buying the rad.

Cheers

[TeebsVRS]

I had a rad completely fail due to corrosion on an 06 plate car a year or so ago. It was whilst it had been stood for a couple of weeks at a long stay airport car park.

[Gizmo]

This is a common fault across the VAG range, they tend to fail from around 5 years old onwards, the bottom corners corrode and they start to weep coolant once the system is up to temperature and therefore pressurised.

Don’t forget to get some G12 coolant as well, in fact it’s an ideal time to do a coolant change, considering most of it will have been dropped out during the rad change.