Water leak (in engine bay)

[Nacks]

Hi all,

Have a problem with my VP, normally I would just take it to a mechanic (as I'm not really mechanically minded) but I'm trying to save some money as I want to upgrade soon (well a slight upgrade anyway) :P.

Anyway my car has sprung a leak which is spraying a fine mist of water.

I have attached a picture of an engine I grabbed off the net. the water is coming from near the small rubber hose (not the big main one coming from the radiator) where I have placed an arrow it seems to be coming from a small metal bit where 2 hoses are attached.

Can anyone give me some advice as to what needs doing, I cant really drive it at the moment as it spits out water everywhere and starts overheating almost straight away.

Thanks
Nacks

[m62vpute]

That looks like a heater hose, You need to have a closer look to see where the leak/mist is coming from. If it is just a pin hole in the hose then just slap another hose in there. If it is coming from the junction (Heater tap) which is a bit lower then you will need to replace that. Roughly from memory I think the heater taps are under $30 so should be a cheap fix eaither way

[pow3rslave]

if it's the heater tap, take the old part in with you to ricerbarn or whatever, cos from memory there are two types, and the 15 year old at the counter might not know.

[vps231]

Also its very easy to do.

[dinnzyvrv8]

heater hose looks to long as it comes out of where the thermostat is you can cut the hoses to make them shorter so it doesnt kink in the middle its so easy to fix undo the clamps from the hose at both ends take it in to supercheap auto or auto barn or something like that and they will lead you in the right direction to buy another if it kinks when you put it on at the bend then cut the end where the thermostat is or better still sit the hose over the top of the two open ends and see if it sits right if not then cut hope this helps.

[Nacks]

Hey All,

Looks like its the heater tap - I pulled the hoses off, and the ends of the tap going into them just crumbled! the hoses themselves look ok - as soon as I can find my socket wrench (I know someone has borrowed it) I can pull out the heater tap and put a new one in. I had a look at supercheap auto and it seems to be the same as the one listed as for the v8 (even though mines a v6...?) anyway thanks for the help... BTW out of curiosity is the car ok to drive if I just clamp the hoses?

[wortus]

The heater tap has 4 hoses going into it. to bypass it and drive the car you would need to join the hoses that come from the engine so there is proper coolant flow at all times. You can probably join it with a section of copper water pipe and 2 hose clamps.

[Nacks]

Mine is the one that has 2 hoses (well plus the 1 very small tube), but I think I will just get the part anyway and not try to drive it around...