97 Polo 1.4 16v leaking coolant- cant drive until I fix!

peejay01

Hi,

I have just replaced the thermostat housing (the whole plastic assembly that all of the coolant pipes connect to) on my polo. I only wanted the cover where the thermostat goes but the motor factor sold me the whole assembly so I went and replaced the lot.

I am getting a leak where the housing attaches to the coolant pump supply pipe (running behind the engine block) when I start the engine. After joining the pipe to the assembly I slid the horseshoe clip in from underneath and thought everthing was okay but when I started the car there was a lot of coolant leaking from the join.

Does anybody know if there is a seal on this pipe that I may have dropped when taking the old housing off? Im worried that I might be missing something as I cant figure out why it is leaking. Is there a trick to reattaching this pipe? As it is the pipe is bare except for two notches in the side that look like they are there to accept the horeshoe clip.

Would really appreciate any help from anyone with experience of polo cooling systems!

Thanks,

peejay01 :mad:

peejay01

Adding image to try help clarify that first post:

This is a pic of the the housing. The highlighted are shows the notches where the horseshoeclip slides in after attachement to the pipe that runs from behind the engine block. The pipe from the engine block has two notches that line up with the ones on the housing.

Will try get a pic of the pipe to see if I might have broken a piece off ot what not.

crosstownk

Firstly, have you fitted a new seal where this pipe fits the housing? - no.15 in the image below. Secondly, be sure the pipe is clean and that there is nothing in the housing that might cause anything other than a snug fit

peejay01

Hey crosstownk,

Thanks for the reply. Went back at it yesterday to try figure out what was wrong. Took the battery out this time so I had much more room to work and could see what was going on which ended up leading me to the problem. There was a wire running at the back of the coolant hose that the horseshoe clip was catching, hence the leak.
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Put everything back together and she's running sweet now!

Originally car was taking ages to heat up so went to check the thermostat and realised I had been sold the car without one in it. Put one in and the car started overheating. Turns out the housing was broken and the previous owner/mechanic was to lazy to sort it so just pulled the thermo out!

Pain in the hoop, but finally sorted out after weeks of troubleshooting.

How bad is it for a car to run cold over a couple of years?

crosstownk

Glad you're sorted.

Running cold shouldn't have much impact once the oil has been changed regularly. Sometimes excess condensation can mix with oil turning it to sludge. So if your oil is OK or has been chaged recently then you should be OK.

The biggest benefit of having a stat is a warmer driver during the winter months

peejay01

The oil is fine I changed it there last month and no sludge. I have got a rusty colour in my expansion tank thought. I flushed out the whole cooling system and the expansion tank. The system was quite clean but cant shift the stuff from the tank. Though it could be something to do with head gasket but not sure!

Yeah I fixed it at the wrong time of year! At least I wont be freezing my nuts off next winter

crosstownk

You've just replaced the coolant - presumably with the right mix of G12. Once the scum build up on the expansion tank doesn't get worse then I'd say you're out the gap. Keep an eye out for a build up of mayonnaise on the underside of the oil cap and for a steamy exhaust when the engine is hot. If none of the above happens then happy days.