basically I turn the engine off when i get to work and suddenly steam is billowing from the passenger side and coolant pissing out from underneath. does anyone know what could of possibly happened, it was running fine and what i can do at work to locate the problem/fix it..
That 'bastard hose' is the LH turbo coolant hose down behind engine against firewall that's a real bastard to change out ...
so correct me if im wrong but im gonna need :45deg 16" long nose pliers, a decent length of 8mm heater hose and from what i understand a skin graft by the end of it...
:rofl: pretty well sums it up,,,,,, unless of course you can find one very skinny midget and toss them under the car and into the engine bay and let them do all the work.
so some genius has used a worm clamp on the hose that connects to the top of the turbo bu has got it facing inwards to the car and i can barely get my hands in there let alone any screwdrivers... anyone have any ideas on how im gonna get it of opr do i jst get it towed to a mechanic and have them fix the issue?
To be genuinely honest..... I would pull the engine not only for the ease of this particular hose but also to check all the other compenents I would not be surprised to find out you need new welch plugs and other coolant related conmponents.
I did this last year, took me half a day. I had to use side cutter pliers to cut the old hose off from the tube. Dropped the new hose down from the top of the engine bay and trimmed it to fit. Yes it is a B*stard
The reason I say what I have said is because I also had this issue, and did the job engine in, a little over a year latter I was pulling the engine out to replace a leaking welch plug, I also found 3 others almost gone, if you have an engine that has had poor coolant in it then there is a whole engine to consider not 1 pipe. Remember it may not be you at fault as it could have started before you got the car.
My battery is in the boot, but you can gain a similar amount of access if you remove yours (obviously you'll still have the battery tray, mine has been removed)... I have no idea what the specs of the pliers I bought are, but I bought one gigantic pair of straight needle nosed pliers and one gigantic pair of kinked needle nosed pliers from supercheap. There are 2 sections of rubber hose and a stupid hard pipe in the middle, get a decent length hose and bypass the hard line. You said that someone has used a worm drive on the hard pipe coming out of the turbo, consider yourself lucky they used it there and didn't put one on the higher up part of the engine if they ever had the engine out, not sure if the top hard line is coming out of the manifold or the head, can't remember... Either way, you'd pretty much have to pull the engine if the work drive was on the top part and it wasn't facing upwards.... Anyway, if you get under the car you should be able to get your arm up to the hard pipe coming off the turbo to get to that worm clamp, if worse comes to worse, just cut and mangle the hose and rip it out, the clamp should be loose around the hard pipe then and you can piss it off. Move as much of the loom out of the way as you can and get your pliers onto the top clamp line, push it back toward the passenger side of the car. You may need to get your right hand in there (force it between the firewall and the hard pipe, it's like giving birth but once your hand is past there, you've got a bit of movement) and pull a bit while you're pushing with the pliers. You'll also be able to help locate the pliers onto the clamp much easier of you've got a hand in there. When you get the hose off, it's time to put the new one on. I found it easiest to get my right arm and slide it behind the engine and between a big hard pipe and the firewall (after about 50 goes at sliding my hand past, it felt like it had been smashed with a brick, lol... Use water to help your hand slip by). Once your hand is in there and you've located the top hard pipe, use your other hand to pass yourself the new hose, make sure the clamp is already on it but down the hose a few inches so you can get the hose started on the hard pipe. Once it's started, hold the hose and everything in place with your right hand and feed the pliers down with your left, use your left hand to get the ends of the pliers onto the clamp and be as careful as you can to open it up and pull it on properly. Once you've done that, you can basically grab the turbo hard line with your right hand easily if you're standing beside the car, just feed the silicone line onto it with the clamp back a few inches, then get under the car with the pliers, grab the clamp and pull it down onto the hard pipe. Notes, I have small arms and no battery tray and I still had a hand that was swollen for about a week due to pushing it between the firewall and the big hard pipe, lol. It may be much harder for you. I also couldn't fathom doing it with two people. Virtually impossible, there were a few times that I was crouching on top of my plenum to get a look at stuff. That's how little room there is and how difficult it is with one set of arms and one body. I had a mate lend a hand and having two people messing around was more of a hindrance than a help.... It's definitely doable, though. It's a right of passage for a zed owner, get excited (don't get excited, you're going to want to burn your car.. )
Thanks for the input guys. i have everything off except that turbo hose.. i'll have to give it a go when the rain stops.. @kawasakirider i was actually using a write up you had previously posted
still dripping so i finally got the offending clamp off, hooked everything else up with new 3 ply silicone hose, topped up her coolant, started her up but she is still leaking coolant from the same general area... any help or ideas will be greatly appreciated
If you have done a plenum pull and bypass yet, good time to do it and the bastard hose is no longer, well, a bastard
