Houston, we have a problem - coolant leak from hose

[froghandler]

Hello All

Well after nearly a year of trouble free motoring we have hit our first hiccup. We set off for a day out and a couple of miles down the road I noticed that the temp guage wasn't doing what it normally does ie it started going past 11 o'clock. We immediately pulled over and lifted the bonnet. The coolant level seemed normal but as I walked around the vehicle I noticed water dripping from the sill just behind the drivers door. The temp guage had returned to 'normal' so we limped home.

At home we looked again - the coolant level had definitely dropped and once we allowed time for the underside of the vehicle to dry off a bit it became apparent that we have a leak from one of the hoses. I can't quite tell if it is from the hose itself or whether it is from the join where it disappears up to wherever it goes.

Unfortunately my camera is refusing to talk to my computer at the mo so I can't post a picture. The hose is one that starts from under the drivers door and is attached by a clip to a metal pip that goes off in two directions. It then moves back along the vehicle to just behind the drivers door and disappears 'up'.

From looking at the schematic diagram on the fact sheet I think that it may be 61-211A the drivers side heater supply pipe to heater pipe? Does this sound about right? I know it's difficult without a picture.

How hard a job is this to replace assuming we can source the right bits? At the mo I think our best bet is to trailer it to a garage to let them have a proper look tho this is likely to cost a small fortune, hence is it something we could do ourselves following the bleeding directions for when it's fitted? Our breakdown cover only recovers us to local garage, which isn't the one I want to take it too, so that's not an option.

Feeling very demoralised

[Northern Bongolow]

sounds like your on top of the job . you do right not to drive the motor,as air has certainly entered the system.
try to find eactly which bit has gone, then drain,replace,refill,and bleed.
maybe an idea to do the stat also.
you can order the parts from the shop,or mazda dirrect.

[froghandler]

Cheers for the quick reply.

Having been out and had another look at it I think there is also a small leak on the hose next to it as well but I can't for the life of me figure out which it is from the schematics. It looks same diameter but is a bit shorter and also eventually disappears 'up' just past the drivers door. Anyone know which this is likely to be?

There's also a short tube a bit further past where these two pipes go up. It is about half an inch long and I can't quite tell whether it's dripping or not - any idea what it is?

I'll try and get pictures sorted.

Cheers

[widdowson2008]

Hello All

From looking at the schematic diagram on the fact sheet I think that it may be 61-211A the drivers side heater supply pipe to heater pipe? Does this sound about right? I know it's difficult without a picture.
:

Diagramatic of heater hoses - Far side

[froghandler]

ok, so I've got my camera to talk to my computer, set up a photobucket account and watched the tutorial on uploading pics. So hopefully this will work!!

Apologies in advance if it doesn't.



The picture is taken upside down from just behind the drivers door. The hose that you can see is wet with coolant is nearest the front (photo upside down remember) and is the one I believe to be pn 61-211A. The second one is the one that disappears 'up' just behind it and is the one that I have no idea what it is.

Any ideas - it doesn't look like 61-213 tho that's the only other one listed that seems to be in the same area.

Cheers for your help

[Northern Bongolow]

dry everything off, and establish if its a pipe thats gone, or the matrix above/inside the van.these are regular failures. if its the matrix you can do a temp bypass,by looping the 2 pipes together.

[widdowson2008]

ok, so I've got my camera to talk to my computer, set up a photobucket account and watched the tutorial on uploading pics. So hopefully this will work!!

Apologies in advance if it doesn't.



The picture is taken upside down from just behind the drivers door. The hose that you can see is wet with coolant is nearest the front (photo upside down remember) and is the one I believe to be pn 61-211A. The second one is the one that disappears 'up' just behind it and is the one that I have no idea what it is.

Any ideas - it doesn't look like 61-213 tho that's the only other one listed that seems to be in the same area.

Cheers for your help

Both rear heater hoses? I think 2nd one is 61-213C

[Dave.]

ok, so I've got my camera to talk to my computer, set up a photobucket account and watched the tutorial on uploading pics. So hopefully this will work!!

Apologies in advance if it doesn't.



The picture is taken upside down from just behind the drivers door. The hose that you can see is wet with coolant is nearest the front (photo upside down remember) and is the one I believe to be pn 61-211A. The second one is the one that disappears 'up' just behind it and is the one that I have no idea what it is.

Any ideas - it doesn't look like 61-213 tho that's the only other one listed that seems to be in the same area.

Cheers for your help

Both rear heater hoses? I think 2nd one is 61-213C

looking at those pics id say its the small matrix radiator above the pipes that is leaking down onto them check this before shelling out on pipes

[froghandler]

Ah - Northern Bongolow and Dave I think you may be onto something here.

Now that I have been brave and given the hoses a good wipe down (I was a bit worried before in case I made them totally disintegrate) and got rid of all the crud and whatever else has been sprayed on them they acutally look in quite good condition.

I've dried them off and the leak is definitely coming from where both of them disappear up into - so I presume this is the rear heater matrix.

Having not searched the topic of rear heater matrix yet I am envisaging that this is a bigger job than replacing a couple of hoses - in the meantime to bypass the matrix do I disconnect the hoses from the joins you can see in the picture and reconnect them together? Would this be sufficient to get me somewhere that can fix/replace the matrix?

In the meantime I shall do a bit of research on the matrix.

Thanks again for your help so far

[steveyd]

HI,

Mine was doing EXACTLY this - I thought it was the pipes so I got some good ones from BongoBits - fitted them to find the problem remained, so I bypassed the matrix by using a short section to go between the 2 metal pipes. Bleeding the system is a lot quicker I found with this bypass in. I do intend to replace my matrix, but I dont think you can get it out of the housing without taking the whole lot out - which also means breaking open the aircon system (I need a new evaporator matrix too), so may replace the whole lot...

cheers,

Steve

[froghandler]

Hi Steve

Yep - tomorrows job is now bypassing the heater matrix.

I am so glad I came on and asked a few q's before forking out £100 plus to trailer the bongo to the garage we use!!

I've found an old thread with some pics that Ron Miel put up with his bypass using bendy copper piping. So it's off to get me some of that and some clips and coolant then if the weather is fine I shall be attempting my first ever bypass (no, not heart surgery!) and coolant bleed! Oo err! Little bit nervous.

Is it worth the effort/expense of replacing the rear heater matrix? It would appear that it is connected to the rear air con and is not a particularly easy unit to get out. It's not something I would likely be confident in doing myself so wouldn't be cheap. Ours is a 2003 2.5 with a full side conversion so it's not like we ever have passengers in the back who would appreciate the heating/cooling? Is it ok to leave it permanently bypassed? Any thoughts on this please?

Thanks again for all your replies - so far it looks like you've saved me money already!!

[dunslair]

No problem doing a permenent bypass if you don't need the rear heater / aircon. Kirsty (Missfixit) did this in a more permenent way that just the short link from memory. have a hunt back for her posts We lost our original rear heater matrix in the -20 temps last winter, and it was a bit of a faff to replace. Had to remove the whole unit and re-gas aircon as well as removing internal panels. The actual matrix is compatible with older models, but not the whole unit from memory. (ours is a 2003 model as well)

[froghandler]

Hi Dunslair

Thought as much but just wanted to check with those who had experience of such things. Have had a read through of some of your posts regarding your matrix. Not sure what has caused mine to go - I've used the bongo since the really cold weather without any problems - maybe it had weakened it and today was just the day it finally went. I found Kirsty's posts re taking out the whole unit - way too complicated a job for me to do!! In the short term I'll do the bypass and if funds ever present themselves available I'll get the whole unit replaced, tho the way things are I'm not sure that that will ever happen!

Got myself the copper piping and clips just the coolant to get tomorrow when a decent motor factors is open that won't charge the earth!!

Thanks everyone - I'll update with how the bypass goes. Though I've no doubt I'll be back on with another thread with some question or other about coolant bleeding!!

[Ian]

I'm being a bit lazy here, but can someone point me in the direction of the lushprojects page and part number for the rear heater matrix? I want to see if I can get some cheap from Japan.......

[teenmal]

I'm being a bit lazy here, but can someone point me in the direction of the lushprojects page and part number for the rear heater matrix? I want to see if I can get some cheap from Japan.......

I wish you the Best Of British.