So i had a ghetto mechanic change my water pump, and i warned him about the plastic AST splitting under high pressure, and he says "i know i know." Clearly he did not know because when i brought the car home, the AST was split.

So i changed the AST to aluminum one from Petitt and everything is cool. One thing i did not do was burp the system. Instead i just kept topping it off and driving it etc etc. After a couple of rounds, the buzzer never came on (when it came on the first time it was only for a few seconds.) I dont know if you call that burping but apparently it was not a good method.

A few weeks later my upper radiator hose sprung a tiny leak and now i find myself replacing both the upper AND lower hoses, the hoses in and out of the AST, and the turbo coolant hoses (which i still cannot find... any help?)

My main question to you guys is: what could cause these coolant problems and is there a chance that my pressure is too high?

 

I seriously doubt your method of "burping" caused your hoses to spring leaks. Sounds like old hoses.

 

I strongly suspect hoses.

When changing out the old ones, make sure that the clamps get put on just as they were, and that you removed the lime deposits on the hard pipes.

Run a search on 'turbo coolant hose' and you'll find plenty of info on how to change them. You need to remove the air pump (and belt), intercooler, and airbox to get enough access to them.

Dave

 

It is wise to consider replacing all of the coolant hoses at one time. I made the mistake of replacing some, but not all only to soon find another leak. 12 year old rubber will leak only because it is 12 years old and subjected to excessive temps in the FD.

 

Look at the good side. It's only hoses and not o-rings leaking...

 

i had to replace 2 hoses on my car a while back. i found that the hoses had formed a leak and split at the point where the screw type hose clamps were. the ruptures in my hoses were caused over time from the screw clamps being on too tight. if you check out the mazda type clamps, they work on spring pressure. i hypothesize the screw type ones tend to get overtightened and eventually rupture.

 

i second that, alberto. I'm not replacing the mazda clamps.. i think they were designed for a purpose. By the way, my hose did crack where the screw clamp meets the thermostat housing, just like one of you guys said.

today i took out the airbox, drained the coolant (found a ton of gunk in the hoses), and took off the upper hose. No big deal. Tomorrow, take out air pump, replace turbo hoses, replace upper and lower hoses, and replace ast hoses. I can take pictures of this if anyone is interested.

chris