Coolant Pipes Epoxy Fix

[ukkid35]

The coolant pipes are not as expensive as the water rails, but it's still £400 to replace them

The originals appear to have a manufacturing fault the reveals itself as a weak seam that eventually fails

I used epoxy resin to flow in to the pipes to seal them, and so far it's worked well

I did a similar repair about ten years ago to fix a hole and it's not leaked since so I'm optimistic that the new fix will work as well

[Luckyone]

Top tip!
I’ve got an old Scooby here I spent 4 days trying to weld up a small hole in a coolant pipe on. I kept thinking I’d got it that time but came out the next day & found I’d just moved the leak. I’ll dig out the epoxy when the black Cerb is finished.

[Rufus Roughcut]

Hmmm I'm not so sure about putting resin on the inside of the pipe, that could bite you in the ass after a couple of heat cycles.

My ones had corroded as per yours and I suspect many others are in the same predicament.

I can't weld for toffee on thin walled metal so I asked a local fabricator, I think it came to less than 50 quid for the ends to be cut off and new ones welded on.

[ukkid35]

Your water rail fix looks great, I will definitely copy your approach when they fail

But I reckon the pipes will be OK for now, the car has done a few hundred miles over several days without issue, although no track days so far

[ukkid35]

Rufus Roughcut said:

Hmmm I'm not so sure about putting resin on the inside of the pipe, that could bite you in the ass after a couple of heat cycles.

That was certainly a prescient warning

Yesterday I parked up in the corner of Dunkirk Carrefour car park, in order to swap out the thermostat with a used spare that I carry with me

The thermostat had stuck partially open, meaning I was cold and miserable, and the fuel consumption on the way to Dover was so bad that 140 miles cost €90

Epoxy is supposed to be stable in water, and good for up to 120C continuous

However, when I took the thermostat out, although there was no debris at all, there were signs that it was gummed up

It wasn't difficult to free it up, but I fitted the spare anyway

So my advice is - Don't be cheap like me, you might end up regretting it

Edited by ukkid35 on Sunday 28th April 15:29

[FarmyardPants]

The metal pipe expands and contracts more than the expoxy, breaking the bond between them, the water gets in between and then the epoxy will detach and float downstream. I have had good results with self-amalgamating tape - I did a temp bodge with that once and it lasted years.

[ukkid35]

FarmyardPants said:

The metal pipe expands and contracts more than the expoxy, breaking the bond between them, the water gets in between and then the epoxy will detach and float downstream. I have had good results with self-amalgamating tape - I did a temp bodge with that once and it lasted years.

And yet epoxy lined hot water tanks are a thing

[FarmyardPants]

ukkid35 said:

And yet epoxy lined hot water tanks are a thing

Oh, didn’t know that

[catfishdb]

What about J-B Weld?

Still an epoxy based product but specifically designed for metal surfaces.

[phillpot]

I think Rufus had the right idea, fix it don't bodge it

[ukkid35]

The car has just survived a track day without any thermostat issues (or any other issues for that matter)

I will keep updating this thread, as I'm still not ready to sink £400 on a set of new pipes