Hi all, 2008 1.8 petrol mk2.5
Noticed coolant dropping the past week, done it again tonight.

Cant see any obvious leaks in the engine bay or inside footwell, the front left side of radiator does look wet compared to the rest of it, also undertray below radiator has a puddle of water.... cant tell of its rain water or coolant. No smoke or no oil/coolant mixing.

Are radiators prone to leaking? Is it a diffucult job to change? I have A/C

 

Usually it's the AC condenser that gets hit by 70mph stones through the grill as it's in front of the coolant radiator. 

But aluminium does degrade over time, so it's not unusual for all radiators to leak eventually.

It's not a difficult job to replace on the Mk2 as long as you have some tools and experience.

51 minutes ago, TomsFocus said:

Usually it's the AC condenser that gets hit by 70mph stones through the grill as it's in front of the coolant radiator. 

But aluminium does degrade over time, so it's not unusual for all radiators to leak eventually.

It's not a difficult job to replace on the Mk2 as long as you have some tools and experience.

So the front rad I can see through the front grill is for the AC, is that correct? I was thinking this is the coolant rad.... 🤔

 

4 minutes ago, mike-evans said:

So the front rad I can see through the front grill is for the AC, is that correct? I was thinking this is the coolant rad.... 🤔

 

Yes that's correct.  The rear one is for the coolant, sandwiched between the AC rad and the fan cowling.

30 minutes ago, TomsFocus said:

Yes that's correct.  The rear one is for the coolant, sandwiched between the AC rad and the fan cowling.

Thats blown my theory out of the water then that the rad was leaking and this is likely where ny coolant is going 🤣🤦‍♂️

I'll have to take another look into it. Drove to work this morning (15 miles) and its not lost any coolant, blowers hot etc... so looks like once its under pressure then it's causing the leak... with pinhole in rad/pipe or expansion tank may well be cracked?