Coolant Leak

[Ducked]

Slow drip from where the pipe joins the elbow on the block. I think the pipe would be difficult to remove. Don't know how the joint is formed. Might be threaded or brazed. Not much loss of coolant yet but its a fair bet that it won't get any better.



I suspect y'all will consider it your patriotic duty to recommend JB Weld, so I'll say it up-front :

You cant get JB WELD here

though you can get various 2-part goops with Chinese writing on them that are probably quick setting epoxies.

In the UK I'd probably try my twin-carbon arc brazing torch on it, though I never actually used it for that and I doubt you can get those here, or indeed anywhere these days.

So I'd ideally need a solder or braze that'll work with a fairly low temperature gas torch and minimal operator skill. Maybe silver solder, which I might be able to score from a jewellry workshop.

The coolant is fairly fresh, but I dunno what's in it. Its green (container on the lower shelf on the left)



Heres what else is readily available. One of them looks like PEAK (what a coincidence) but isn't, though I have seen apparently genuine PEAK stuff here in the past.

 

[andyd]

If the drip is manageable with coolant top offs. Can you buy something like Bars leak? It is basically a fine cellulose that swells up in water and dries when exposed to air. Sorta like blood clotting. Pure hearsay follows. Pepper or dried ginger is pretty much the same stuff.

 

[mk378]

Where does the other end of the pipe go?

It could be an o-ring seal like the pipe across the back of a Honda engine. That design requires the pipe to be trapped in place, since if it were loose, the end of the pipe with o-ring could just pull out.

If it is an o-ring you would pull it apart, clean up the corroded metal and install a new o-ring.

There's nothing magic about JB Weld. It's epoxy.

 

[Linctex]

Originally Posted By: Ducked
You cant get JB WELD here


Surely some type of epoxy exists that will work.

JB Weld is nothing but epoxy and grey talcum powder mixed together.

 

[andyd]

Ducked, I applaud your bodges. Have you searched the interweb for an enthusiast site for the vintage what ever it is you are trying to keep running? I mention stop leak because it has the least chance of creating something that will prevent you from driving.

 

[Ducked]

Originally Posted By: andyd
Ducked, I applaud your bodges. Have you searched the interweb for an enthusiast site for the vintage what ever it is you are trying to keep running? I mention stop leak because it has the least chance of creating something that will prevent you from driving.


Hmm...Is it the fact that I suggested them that makes epoxy or brazing bodges (however worthy of applause), and the fact that you suggested it that makes bunging dried ginger in it not a bodge?

I could take that personally, but I have heard of the Stop Leak/ginger thing and might try it. IIRC its a GM (or GM approved) product?

Probably not available here, but GF's in the Yook at the moment so I might be able to get her to bring some back. Slightly concerned it'll screw up the cooling system though. Gets pretty hot here in the summer.

Disassembly as someone suggested above seems like the "proper" course of action but it isn't covered in my manual so I'd approach it with a bit of trepidation. Might try it though.

This is a Taiwan-only car, and there are no enthusiasts for keeping anything running here. They are enthusiasts for throwing things away and buying new ones, even more than everywhere else.

There is a site for Charade Mk1 (G10) which is quite similar, but this bit appears to be somewhat different (though there is support for the O ring idea) and it is mostly German/Austrian, not culturally predisposed to bodging so much as bare-metal up restoration. Not sure I dare mention Stop Leak on there.

There was an Australian Charade site but I got banned, (though not for mentioning Stop Leak) and then it went dark.

 

[Silk]

Find out what the 2 bits are made of, you'll only be able to braze it if they are something that can be brazed. I suspect it's an O ring in there...but if you pull it out the steel tube will be corroded. Goop time.

My GTti was always springing a leak somewhere. It was originally white.



How it ended up, with a bus in the passenger door, written off. My daughter used it for a courier car.

 

[Lubener]

I don't see anything but a little dried crust, I would leave it alone.

 

[Ducked]

Originally Posted By: Silk
Find out what the 2 bits are made of, you'll only be able to braze it if they are something that can be brazed. I suspect it's an O ring in there...but if you pull it out the steel tube will be corroded. Goop time.

My GTti was always springing a leak somewhere. It was originally white.



How it ended up, with a bus in the passenger door, written off. My daughter used it for a courier car.





Doesn't look too bad.

Think the tube is steel and the elbow is aluminium. Pretty sure there's an 0 ring in there too now I've had a look at a few manuals (not for this car, but for similar Charades) so brazing is out.

 

[JMJNet]

I suspect mk378 is correct.

Have you tried to take out those bolt and see how it is constructed?
Once you removed the bolt, then you can pull those part apart and replace the o-ring.
It is a type of quick connect for easy factory assembly.

By the way, there are a lot of Charade in Indonesia.
They are made in the same factory as the Toyota.
Marketed as a lower price Toyota with basic feature there.