Citi Golf Coolant/Radiator Bottle Leak

[Aq786]

Greetings All, I would like some advice/help please.

I have a 98 Citi Golf Deco - Carb. Over the weekend i flushed the radiator using a radiator flush and then filled it up with anti-freeze preparing for the cold winter in the vaal. It worked wonders and i had no problems starting the car over the past few days, however, this morning it started fine, but after i reached work and parked, as i was walking away after a few minutes(3-5) i looked back and i saw a steaming puddle of coolant/water mixture on the floor. I had a look and it looked like the seal had given(thats what i thought). Before i left work i had to fill up just over a liter of water, and i pulled over on the way to check up, had a look and the water level was still full. When i reached home the same thing happened, only a few minutes (3-5) after i switched off did it start to leak. There was also a decent size puddle on the floor.

I did a check now, had to fill up about 400ml , and it is actually leaking from a small squarish hole/outflow on the radiator bottle (not the seal as i though). Please see picture, there are two holes, its the bottom one, you can also see the coolant that leaked out. Also when i had the engine running just now, with the radiator water cap was closed, and if i squeezed the pipe between the radiator and engine several times, building up the pressure, there was steam coming out of this hole and after a while the coolant actually leaked out as well. Similarly, when i switched off the car just now, and when i squeezed the pipe , you could hear air leaking out and after a while the coolant leaked out again.

Now i'm not too clued up with this, but is this a pressure relief valve or something? and is it normal for me to be getting overflow like this after i switch off the engine? Or do i need to replace the whole radiator water bottle?

Any suggestions/help would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks in advance.

[Kpt_SuperSkoot]

I had a similar issue a while back; fill up water, drive, spew. Also had a gurgle sometimes when braking...
Seems my radiator element was blocked with rust from me driving it without anti-rust coolant for 10 years...
The spewing problem is gone now (new radiator), but I have other issues which I do not want to confuse this post with (radiator fan fuse keeps blowing).
Maybe have a good radiator flush? Get a bottle of Wynn's Radiator Flush and a hosepipe and somewhere you can slosh many liters of water. Also, don't leave the flush in too long, radiator cores are soft little things.
Hope that works for you, I know it nearly cost me an engine before I got it sorted (died of heat stroke, luckily not seized).
Good luck.

[Killerwatt]

nice, another Vaal guy! Welcome bud.

Could be a few things but cheapest to replace would be the cap.
You can grab it from goldwagen in vanderbijl or vereeniging....

[Psycho8v]

What Killerwatt said. Also, if you fill with too much water, the first time you drive your car really hard, it pushes the excess out by the sides. If it keeps doing this, it will more than likely be your cap's seal that went and you need to get a new cap

[Topsport]

The filler cap is usually your point of departure they are relatively cheap and should be replaced every so often anyway.

The system could also be airlocked due to the draining and refilling exercise that you recently completed. The more air that you have in the system will result in higher temps (coolant is hampered in its flow and is less efficient in doing what it is meant to do) and with the bottle sealed the system will only bleed when you stop (resulting in hissing as steam is released and ejecting coolant at the same time).

the bottle inside has an inner section and an outer section sealed by one plastic cap with a rubber seal, designed that way for safety, under normal operating conditions you will find that if you attempt to open the bottle when the car is hot; before the cap is completely loose from its thread, high pressure steam and water will be diverted through the pressure release opening on the side of the bottle (this is the function of the outer section of the bottle so us mortals don't scald ourselves).

Easiest is to start when the car is cold with the cap off, let it idle to normal operating temp, the thermo should open and allow the coolant to flow through the system (water level should fluctuate at this point). keep an eye on the thin rubber pipe that enters the bottle at the top there should be a narrow stream of water (same colour as the coolant that u used) flowing in an uninterrupted manner (if it is stop/start or spluttering then let it continue until it smoothens out airlocok is released), once this happens put the new cap back and all should be well, if not then you need to check the little more complicated cooling system issues.

Let me know if you come right bud. Good luck

[King8v]

I have exactly that same problem, its not the cap. Where the head of the arrow points to, that recess, it cracks there and water/coolant mix seeps thru when pressurised . i previously waited for the car to cool completely, dried the area properly and stuck some silicone in there. It worked tops for about 6 months now, actuallly just discovered yesterday that water is seeping thru again. Kwik fix and cheap. otherwise get a new water bottle

[MeanTdi]

The bottle tends to leak after while - we replaced the ex-Citi one exactly 2 days out of warrantee. GW has good prices on them...

Very easy DIY fix BTW.

[V4RUN]

Hi Guys

I'm also having a similar problem..

Was it the bottle and cap that was the problem for you?
Because mine is also pushing out water and steam from the bottle and I bleed the system.
Also my temp gauge fluctuates between quarter and half with the fan coming on.

Thanks

[Lyletun]

Hi my heater pipe is leaking on the passanger side steam coming up do I need to take off my whole dash to change the pipes?

[Wolf Mk2 16V]

Nope, the heater core is easily accessible on a mk1...be glad you don't have a mk2 though!