OH DEAR Radiator Fin - Pics..

[GirlRacer]

Got my boyfriend out of bed early (bless) to look at car this morning.
Put water in & after a few seconds it started dripping out of the front
radiator. Didnt dare start the car.

Any help on where i can source one cheap, as its xmas.
My bloke insists he can repair it with "chemical metal" temporarily.

Have ran a local radiator place in stoke, but they didnt know what one it is.
Now waiting on Audi parts ringing me back.

Here's the pics

[Jas11n]

Got my boyfriend out of bed early (bless) to look at car this morning.
Put water in & after a few seconds it started dripping out of the front
radiator. Didnt dare start the car.

Any help on where i can source one cheap, as its xmas.
My bloke insists he can repair it with "chemical metal" temporarily.

Have ran a local radiator place in stoke, but they didnt know what one it is.
Now waiting on Audi parts ringing me back.

Here's the pics

Is that the small aux rad in front of the engine? As a temporary fix you can just remove it and bung the pipes up. Get it recored at a suitable place as a new one is more expensive than the main radiator.
Some guys on here run around without them, but I'll not recommend that as you've said you spend a huge amount of time sitting in very slow moving traffic.

Jas

[GirlRacer]

Audi want £300 plus, depending on part number
dont know if i should risk sitting in the traffic, as it is bad everyday.

on the hunt for a breakers...... needle in a hay stack !!

[dan_b]

Hi GR - as Jas says above, is that the smaller radiator at the front? If so, don't panic! I, like a lot of people here, have had that rad leak - due to its location it gets exposed to a whole heap of flying attack drones (ie stones, insects etc) that smash in to the front of your car at high speed and damage the rad.

How much water is leaking out? When did you last check the levels? How much did you have to put in this time? I think most people who have aux rads have them weeping at some point, if you're careful and keep a regular eye on it you'll be ok for a bit. Remember to put anti-freeze in there !

Fortunately, the rad is easily removed, and also fortunately it's completely possible to run the S2 without it, especially in the UK and even if you do a lot of urban driving. Even guys with big power have got rid of it, the main rad is pretty efficient, even with aircon.

You can replace it of course, but the aux rad is rather expensive - it's about double the cost of replacing the main rad - about £250 IIRC. If you take it out, you'll need to cut and bung up the two hoses that go in to the rad. Do some searching round the forum for tips as plenty of people have posted on this, including me!

You can buy things like "Barrs Radleak" from Halfrauds as a temporary limp-you-home, but I personally wouldn't want to do that in my S2.

[Jas11n]

A lot of B3/B4 5 cylinder 90's and coupes used the aux rad. You could try allaudi in bristol.
Getting one recored is way way cheaper than buying new. There's a company local to me in Darlington that does a cracking job on them.
It cost me £60 to get one recored on my old coupe quattro 20v.
£300 is just obscence and just before xmas too

[rotoryboy]

Just take it to a radiator place and they will do a full re-core for between £40-£60 then it will be as good as new. I'll let you know as mine is going for this soon

[GirlRacer]

Had a problem before, if i went round corners/roundabouts to fast it would come
on & bleep. Since doing the anti-freeze, ive had not problems at all.
Fan always kicked in as normal. Infact done 1500 miles & its been fine.
Maybe try the liquid metal on the outside, just to get me thru the xmas,
been hunting on ebay for the one that someone is breaking (3B)

An idea of traffic i sit in mon-fri for work, comp average was 9 MPH.
No wonder it drinks like a fish!!

[newsh]

You can deffinately run without the small rad, I've been running without mine for about a couple of years now, trackdays, traffic Nurbergring, all ok. Just take it out and plug the pipes, a couple of plumbing fittings, 22mm tube blanking caps will do. If you're worried you can always replace it before the warm weather comes.

[dan_b]

Yep, as Newsh says, the S2 will run totally fine without the Aux rad. I also have taken mine out, been running for about 18months now without it and that includes track days and the hideous urban grind of the South Circular every few days. I also have aircon, which of course dumps extra heat through the main radiator and makes the system have to work harder and even with that it's still fine in summer.

[S2 Ant]

Just get rid of the small thing, mine was leaking and i kept topping mine up until i took it out.

You can cut the hoses back or you can just bung them where they are.

I personally bought the bottom hose from a car that didnt have that rad fitted so no need to cut anything, hose was about £17 and bung the top hose, much cheaper, much easier and will save you having to fork out for more repairs when it gets damaged again by a lucky stone hit.

You dont even need to take the rad out, could just bung the hoses and leave it fitted (i done this for about a week as i was too lazy to take it out)

[Ross]

I'm minus the Aux radiator, and must admit the temp does pick up in traffic but fortunately I don't have to sit in it too often... the fan does a good job of keeping temps below 90 though on a hot summer day (yeah I'm dreaming) I imagine it could be a bit of a problem... personally its the uber-heavy clutch this pisses me off in traffic!

Ross.

[pastures16]

im without aswell
werent they put in for the hotter countries

[Billman]

I have temp fixed mine with some soldering iron!

Also Epoxy resins are good for relative small periods of time! That held on the plastik parts of the Big Radiator (before i change it) for about 4 months in Heavy Traffic in Athens!

[rotoryboy]

I prefer to keep mine as it protects the engine bay from all the grime getting through. I like to keep it blingy not mingin

[pastures16]

FACT: All polar bears are left handed

i had to ask why