Doing a routine check around the bay after a drive today. Noticed coolant dripping under the passenger turbo. Had a closer look but couldn't really pinpoint it. Nothing I could see from above. The dripping was directly under the turbo, and it was hitting something hot. Some drips would sizzle like dripping onto hot metal, others would just hit the floor. Any ideas? If its an obvious hose, is it easy to reach from below?
Either: Under Plenum hoses or bypass (if you've done it) Turbo coolant hard pipes or where they join the cartridge Upper passenger turbo coolant hose, you can see it if you look under the plenum on the passenger side, just in front of your EGR pipes. This is where the underplenum coolant hoses start (or bypass if youve done it) Or bastard hose.
could be one of the turbo water pipes . But if it drips and sizzles then good chance its higher up underneath the plenum . There is a nice maze of old piping just waiting to die .
could be any of the rest. the sizzling also sounded like it was coming from down low. ill get the car up tomorrow see if i can sticky beak around find some white build-up.
Me too!! But I find it's quicker to do when I pull the engine out to top up the windscreen washer bottle.
Still haven't had a chance to check it out. Hopefully this weekend. I'm confused. Is the bastard hose just a get under the car and scrape your knuckles job?
The bastard hose is made up of hard and soft sections that run from the the heater oulet pipe down, behind the block, over the top of the gearbox and to the passenger side turbo coolant pipe. The easiest way if part of it is leaking is to bypass the lot of it, I did a write up somewhere in the past.
its that bastard hose! when mine died it was a little easier cause i had done battery relocation to boot and had cut battery tray out. went in from the top past oxy sensor. it was still a nightmare. cried for hours doing it.
oki sussed it out just then. I believe I have found the bastard hose. and it looks like a well matured 23year old piece of gear. three pics here. From underneath. top of the pictures are firewall side. left is turbo, right is driver side, bottom is front of car. here is the culprit. it looks like the hose is super old, cracked on the front lip. it even looks like the hose itself is all bloated jsut before the hose clamp?? and the leak is coming from where the clamp itself is, not the end of the hose. so im guessing this means rather than the hose clamp being loose, the hose is cracked. can anyone explain the bloating? either way, i think ill need to fix this asap. next weekend. another pic just to confirm which hose it is. i cant see where it goes, but the bottom end connects to a hardpipe that bends toward the turbo. so can anyone confirm this is the bastard hose I need to replace? Also Andymac you mentioned the best option is to bypass the multiple sections with one longer hose. Where would the other end of this be? The heater outlet pipe... is that the one on the drivers side? So just a single hose from heater outlet pipe (put this on from above. maybe pull a few things off to make room??) over the gearbox down to this bit i've got pictured? (which I would approach from under the car. it seems fiddley but doable). As for those long needle nose pliers, I have a single pair, the straight ones. Will they likely suffice or will I need the whole set. Ill order a set off ebay now regardless but they wont arrive for a while. And I need to drive at least 20km a week to work and back. Just worried about the bloating of the hose exploding..
Yeah thats the one. You can just get the plyers from auto1, supercheap, bunnings in a 3 pack. Your going to want the 45 degree angle ones f'sure. Bypass hose runs from that hardpipe up to (i think, I can't quite remember) the lower heater core hard pipe. There is a nipple on there, and it's the lowest one. You'll know if you've got the wrong one as when you start it up again it will just dump coolant off the old hose. re: bloating, it's just old. And the bloating has caused the rip in the line. That hose is going to be hard as leather around the hard pipe, so your probably going to need to hit it with a stanley knife to get it off. Last tip would be to use some water based lubricant on the inside of the hose to slide it on, it can be awkward in there. The term bastard hose isn't affectionate.
Dont drive it at all. You've managed to notice a very soon to be failing hose BEFORE a potentially catastrophic result. Tempting fate can be very costly.
thanks for tips. ill get a cab to work and back till its fixed then its meant to rain all week though, thats no fun :/ hows this sound: buy the 45 degree pliers from bunnings tmro. ive got straight long needle nose ones already. ill rip the hose off, let the coolant pour out onto the road to its settled level, stick the length of hose on with a new worm hose clamp? or should I just use the same clamp? this will all be done from below. then ill move some wires etc away from the back of the engine, try get to this heater bit, weave the hose up throguh there somewhere and also clamp with a new worm clamp? would doing a plenum pull make my job 10 times easier? im comfortable taking it off in 20 odd minutes..
you wont be able to get screw driver onto worm clamp . Just re-use the compression clamp , will be easier to use the pliers on it .
Agreed. Feed the hose "down" the back of the block first, start with like 4ft and then cut to the right length when you working from the top. Just takes a bit of patience.
