This probably isn't 'news' as such - I think it's been mentioned here before - but here is a reminder anyway.
Our 500, 2008 1.4 Dualogic, had a slight coolant leak requiring a fortnightly top-up of perhaps 250mL - nothing to worry about? Also had a slight clutch judder that seemed to come and go.
Well, after a few weeks, I was changing the oil and performing a general service - and while I was under the car, a few red drips landed on me. Inspection revealed the drips were leaving the exhaust pipe, leaving a pink residue on the oxygen sensor, leading up the front of the gearbox to the culprit - a pipe on the thermostat.
I knew this hadn't been disturbed and so it was unlikely that a hose clip was loose (etc.) so I decided not to touch it until I had a replacement thermostat and a few replacement hose clamps on hand. This turned out to be the right decision.
I removed the undertray and disconnected the lower radiator hose to drain the cooling system. I removed the air box, the plugs from the ignition coils and various other plugs/earth lead connection, so that the wiring bracket could be unfastened from the cylinder head (three nuts) and moved aside.
The thermostat is then easy to reach - no need to remove the battery or the ECU - and as I removed the hose clip from the heater hose, the black plastic hose tail simply fell off the thermostat it was obviously getting ready to pop - the engine would have been cooked.
As a bonus, the clutch judder is clearing up nicely now that there isn't a continual trickle of oily red coolant going in through the clutch release lever.
The replacement thermostat (Facet brand) has steel hose tails; a much better idea.
I guess the moral of this is to carefully check any coolant leaks, no matter how small. The fix is easy, but needs to be caught in time!
-Alex
Our 500, 2008 1.4 Dualogic, had a slight coolant leak requiring a fortnightly top-up of perhaps 250mL - nothing to worry about? Also had a slight clutch judder that seemed to come and go.
Well, after a few weeks, I was changing the oil and performing a general service - and while I was under the car, a few red drips landed on me. Inspection revealed the drips were leaving the exhaust pipe, leaving a pink residue on the oxygen sensor, leading up the front of the gearbox to the culprit - a pipe on the thermostat.
I knew this hadn't been disturbed and so it was unlikely that a hose clip was loose (etc.) so I decided not to touch it until I had a replacement thermostat and a few replacement hose clamps on hand. This turned out to be the right decision.
I removed the undertray and disconnected the lower radiator hose to drain the cooling system. I removed the air box, the plugs from the ignition coils and various other plugs/earth lead connection, so that the wiring bracket could be unfastened from the cylinder head (three nuts) and moved aside.
The thermostat is then easy to reach - no need to remove the battery or the ECU - and as I removed the hose clip from the heater hose, the black plastic hose tail simply fell off the thermostat it was obviously getting ready to pop - the engine would have been cooked.
As a bonus, the clutch judder is clearing up nicely now that there isn't a continual trickle of oily red coolant going in through the clutch release lever.
The replacement thermostat (Facet brand) has steel hose tails; a much better idea.
I guess the moral of this is to carefully check any coolant leaks, no matter how small. The fix is easy, but needs to be caught in time!
-Alex
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