Coolant Leak

[rubdub]

Hey folks and Happy New Year and all that!

Over the Christmas break and after taking the car for a couple of drives, a few hours upon returning I noticed patches of coolant under the passenger side of the front of the car, and that the expansion tank had maybe dropped halfway.

Going to hopefully check it out today, but my question to you good folk is where on that side should I be looking?

Seeing as it's on the passenger side am I right in thinking the only hose on that side is the return pipe at the top of the radiator? Anywhere else I should look around there. If that is the only hose I'm a little worried it could be cracked radiator...

Thanks all!

[rubdub]

So had a little look to try and see where the leak was coming from. Seems to be coming from the plastic endcaps from the radiator and where the cables for the fan connect to the plastic shroud. I've put some leak stopper in for the moment, but if it is definitely is the radiator I'll probably look to replace in the not to distant future.

Question is should I replace with OEM or upgrade to an all alloy rad? Haven't really decided what I'm going to do with the car long term. I mean I plan to keep it, but debating whether to map it and upgrade other parts. If I was to get an alloy rad is there any that folk would recommend?

[Octoparrot]

Mine went the same as yours on the passenger side as well. I replaced mine with an Hella rad, I think Valeo are the OEM manufacturer.  Got mine from eurocarparts.com.  for around £90 I think. You have to remove the entire front panel to replace it if your thinking of doing the job yourself.

[rubdub]

Cheers, thanks Octoparrot!

Yeah looking at Hella or a Nissens rad I think, was also looking at a Mishimoto cause they look sexy as hell!  but defo overkill for the moment!

Going to give it a bash at swapping out myself.. looks fairly straightforward apart from being a pain in the ass...

[Octoparrot]

Yes it's not difficult by any means, I changed mine on my own, but an extra pair of hands would have been helpful at times.

[frankoprifti]

I've been losing coolant like in a month I'm going from max line to min line. Tonight just found a place that has coolant around. It's a place just under the battery. My Golf is a Golf mk5 1.4 16v. Can you guys give me an idea what is this part that is leaking the coolant? If you check the images attached you can see that there is some water and some pink residue.


Images
https://photos.app.goo.gl/VeB9Z5bf58QxDiGaA
https://photos.app.goo.gl/niozpWAe1g9q7wtk9

[Clarkj93]

I've been losing coolant like in a month I'm going from max line to min line. Tonight just found a place that has coolant around. It's a place just under the battery. My Golf is a Golf mk5 1.4 16v. Can you guys give me an idea what is this part that is leaking the coolant? If you check the images attached you can see that there is some water and some pink residue.


Images
https://photos.app.goo.gl/VeB9Z5bf58QxDiGaA
https://photos.app.goo.gl/niozpWAe1g9q7wtk9

Hard to tell really, you could get an inspection mirror and see if you can find any hoses that have residue on them. But here's my setup which makes it easier to see because they're blue silicone for the coolant hoses, giving you an idea which ones to check and inspect for residue leaks.

[frankoprifti]

I think it might be the coolant flange that found out is known to fail and its around the same area. But will visit a mechanic today or tomorrow to find out what it really is. Thank you for your picture

[frankoprifti]

Found out by hand it was leaking at a place that looked like a thermostat housing

[frankoprifti]

I dont know what this is called but this is which is broken on mine. Its leaking from the bottom