Driving the Felicia home today I noticed I had a vapour trail so I pulled over to see where it was coming from and it was clearly the bottom of the radiator.

 

To be honest I'm surprised it has lasted this long. I'm not sure, but it might still be the original. So I'll maybe just give the whole cooling system a bit of an overhaul. The metal pipe along the bottom pulley side of the engine has had rust bubbles on it since I got the car nine years ago. Perfect time to change it.

Very good idea to overhaul the cooling system. Often neglected, the outcome is overheating. This year the summer will be equally torrid as last year when we had 4-5 reported head gasket failures.

Apart from flushing the system, I suggest pressure testing the system at 1.1 atm. (16 psi). Old hoses have a tendency to burst when least expected.

22 hours ago, RicardoM said:

Very good idea to overhaul the cooling system. Often neglected, the outcome is overheating. This year the summer will be equally torrid as last year when we had 4-5 reported head gasket failures.

Apart from flushing the system, I suggest pressure testing the system at 1.1 atm. (16 psi). Old hoses have a tendency to burst when least expected.

 

Yeah the hoses are all still original so will probably replace them. If and when I get a hold of them.

 

I was intending to do a coolant flush as part of the service this year so I already have some flushing fluid.