Hope it is a bit cheaper than this one!! http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/ORIGINAL-...-Wasserschlauch-650596-/171678150955?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_77&hash=item27f8d0b12b

 

Hi mate have changed a few of these that is about the price I'm afraid

 

Nothing wrong with that price , especially for a genuine part , in fact that's very reasonable , if all my parts had been that cheap in the past I'd be a good deal better off.

 

EEEEkkkkkk!
First thing that has failed.
Just have to go raid my piggy bank then.

 

When I built my kit car years ago I used to use stainless steel spirals inside ordinary hose to make shaped hoses like that, works out a lot cheaper.
Still can't believe that a hose that is only about 2 inches long can be sold at that price.

 

You'll be on bread & jam all next week now then ? Lol ....

 

I think they just make the prices up as the go along mate

 

Cold baths and just a candle too!

 

£11.70 poorer now

To be fair I have never bought parts from the stealership with the exception of a few gaskets and the odd plastic clip. I always use the local motor factors which is in walking distance, or eBay for parts.

Got to go sell a kidney now to pay for the OAT antifreeze as well.

Was spoiled by my old Corsa, never had to go near the dealer for anything on that.

 

$11.70 poorer now
(No pound symbol on my phone).

To be fair I have never bought parts from the stealership with the exception of a few gaskets and the odd plastic clip. I always use the local motor factors which is in walking distance, or eBay for parts.

Got to go sell a kidney now to pay for the OAT antifreeze as well.

No Walls Pork Sausage's for you then for a month ! Lol ....

 

Is this alright to use?
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/400619875...ru=http://www.ebay.co.uk/sch/i.html?_from=R40&_sacat=0&_nkw=400619875461&_rdc=1
Not seen purple anti-freeze before but it states it is the OAT type and is the extended life type too.
I had the light pink type in there before, which is only two years old because I had the water pump changed.

 

Anyone know how much the system holds on the Meriva?
My handbook tells me everything else but not the coolant capacity.

 

If its totally empty then 7.1 litres.

 

Got it up on ramps today and opened the radiator drain valve to see how much would drain out and when I refilled it it took just over 3 and a half litres of water so if I drain it again in the week and fill it with pure antiifreeze it will mix itself up to the right concentration. There is a really good flow back into the header tank so it will mix quite quickly.
Funnily enough I actually expected the water to come out of the drain valve end and got caught out as it ran down my arm from the radiator itself! Just as well it was a nice warm day here in sunny Welsh Wales.
The water that came out was super clean which is a very good sign too.

 

Thank you.
Any thoughts on the purple anti freeze?

 

Decided to go for this:
www.eurocarparts.com/ecp/c/Vauxhall_Meriva_1.7_2006/p/car-parts/car-service-parts/regular-service/anti-freeze/?523770482&1&e0591216718c9657ddbec265057b4779e91c3080&000397

That seems to have a "12" designation and the purple one has a "13" designation so I am guessing the purple is a later updated specification.

I am sure that price is an error because it works out cheaper than the ready mixed version. Costing me £11.70 for 4 litres of red concentrate with OAT additive which seems like a good price when Halfrauds are charging £15 for 2 litres.

 

That's the Jam gone then ! Lol .....

 

4 bottles of red concentrate sat in my car now waiting to be poured in.
Apparently they reckon the purple stuff is used on newer Volkswagens.

 

VW use either G13 or G12 , it's usually stamped on the expansion bottle which type , the purple stuff as a different chemical make up from the traditional antifreezes. Did you consider putting in that "Purple Ice" into your cooling system ?

 

I was going to go for the purple stuff but nobody commented so I played safe and have gone for red.
Our Touran could do with changing sometime, my father tells me there is a bit of brown sludge appearing in the header tank.

One tip for anyone, DO NOT lick the ends of any pipes to make it easier to get the hoses back on! They put Bitrex in all modern anti freeze, which is the bitterest taste known to man. I could taste the stuff the next day and even two cans of Pepsi couldn't get rid of the taste and normally that strips most tastes away.

 

For anyone else this is where the little beastie sits:

I took the photos and have only just looked at them and can see the other pipe is quite swolen at the end too. Might be worth seeing how much that is before I put the new anti-freeze in.

 

Turns out the other pipe was on the point of failing too.
I wasn't happy with that photo so took the expansion tank back out and took some more close up photos and I could see a few holes in the outer rubber layer.
Having forgone Walls sausages for a few months I have saved up for a replacement which is now fitted. The hose was absolutely rotten and I could pull it apart in my fingers. I am amazed that it was holding pressure but would have been the next one to fail. All the others in that area look good with no swelling, just got to check one from underneath and one on the back and I will be happy.

Real pain to get at and wasted ages trying to do it by feel. Ended up taking the battery out, fuel filter and crash can out of the way then take the battery tray out to give more room. Still can't see the end under the thermostat but got it in and checked it with a mirror.

May as well back flush the heater matrix next!

 

By the time you've got all the pipes sorted , the walls sausages will probably be on special offer , 10 sausage for the price of 8 , now that's something to look forward to ! Lol ....

 

Does anyone know where the metal pipe that those two hoses go onto goes to? It vanishes downwards and I need to find what is on the other end. There is just one other pipe that comes out of the oil cooler that I need to check, I can see where it goes onto the cooler but not where it connects to, I'm guessing it either goes into the inlet manifold or back into the block? It's not the one that goes from the thermostat housing to the cooler, it is the other one.

 

Think its the EGR cooler back to the metal pipe union which then has a rubber pipe back to the underside of the thermostat housing

Ignore - reread your post!

The main front coolant pipe on the front of the block (above the alt) has a tee joint so it must be that?

 

I would check all the hoses. I have had to replace 3 of mine in the past few months on my petrol Astra H. When I was in the dealers getting mine the parts guy was saying they keep all the hoses for the diesel engines as they swell etc on a regular basis so they sell loads.

To add to that, I took my car for its taxi and MOT test last week and whilst talking to the Council test guy he was saying he has had several Vauxhall diesel engine hoses actually go whilst he has been doing the emissions test. So its worthwhile checking them on a regular basis.
.

 

I'll have to get it up on the ramps to take a look to be sure. The EGR cooler pipe runs down over the end of the engine at the front above the gearbox where it is joined by the elbow shaped rubber pipe to the metal pipe. The metal pipe has two connections, one goes via the second rubber hose I have just replaced to a hose stub behind the thermostat housing. The metal pipe goes downwards towards the bottom of the gearbox.
I have checked all the other hoses and they are fine, it was just those two hoses that are located next to each other that had gone rotten. Just glad I heard the radiator fan running when I got out of the car otherwise I would have had no idea the first hose had failed.

 

It's not just Vauxhall hoses that fail , bear in mind that hoses do deteriorate over time , my old Skoda A4 Octavia had 2 hoses fail after 6 years of being in use .

 

Never had to change any on my old Corsa diesel and that had done well over 113K miles when I sold it on. The radiator and heater matrix both blocked up but the hoses were made out of good stuff in those days.