Coolant leak - engine bay panel removal

[Chris]

I have a coolant leak on my 97 4.2 (first TVR, thoroughly smitten). I am trying to remove the panel in the engine bay (in front of the radiator) so I can have a better look at where the leak is.

Before I go removing air boxes and anything else, does anybody know what the bare minimum is that I have to remove before being able to get the panel out (without damaging it!).

Many thanks.

[lesp]

Hi Chris. Assuming my 96 4.2 is the same setup as yours, you just need to remove the large flexible hoses that join the air filter box at the front of the engine bay to the air boxes on the inlet manifolds. Remove the 6 bolts that hold the panel on, then it's just a question of carefully lifting / twisting the panel to remove it. Easiest to lift the o/s first, I seem to remember. The only tricky bit to refitting is getting the panel round the water hose on the n/s.

[Chris]

Many thanks for your help - from your descrption it sounds like our two cars are exactly the same - I'll give it a try tomorrow!

[Chris]

I've got the panel off - thanks for your help Les! I can also see the source of the coolant leak (one of the hoses leading to a junction on the passenger side where 3 hoses come together).

Unfortunately, it doesn't look like tightening the hose clips is going to do any good - they already look too tight(squashing the hose wall against the fitting much more than some of the other fittings- maybe this is what has caused the leak in the first place?). So I suspect a new hose is required.

To do this, though, will clearly require the system to be drained and then refilled with coolant. Is this a big job on the Cerbera - how do you do it - or should I leave it to someone who really knows what they're doing?

Many thanks for your help.

[dannylt]

That's the thermostat. Are the hoses perished, or why are they leaking otherwise?

[lesp]

Having drained my cooling system when I changed the water temp gauge, I wouldn't say it was any more difficult than on any other car although it would appear that some cars do have trouble getting all the air out again afterwards. I agree with Danny though, it would be best to try and identify eactly where the leak is coming from rather than drain it and then just throw new bits at it.

Joolz posted a descrption of how to best bleed the system a while back which can be found here

www.pistonheads.net/gassing/topic.asp?t=20856&f=6&h=0

[Chris]

Thanks for the advice.

The leak is coming from the seal (or lack of it) between one of the hoses and the manifold/junction/thermostat (not sure what best to call it) to which it is attached (using a hose clip).

The hose itself isn't visibly perished, other than potentially being damaged by overtightening of the hose clip. The manifold/junction/thermostat itself is quite badly corroded - maybe this is the cause of the leak, in that the hose cannot form a watertight seal because of the corroded surface to which it is joining - on removal I plan to clean it up anyway.

Any comments would be welcome.

[Chris]

Just read the Joolz post - thanks for this- he talks about initially filling with 5ish litres of neat antifreeze then topping up. Sorry if this is obvious (don't want to get it wrong) but presumably, you would top up with water (given the coolant capacity of 12 litres according to the manual).

Also, on draining the system, is there a valve to do this?

Thanks again in advance - Merry Xmas!