Smart or Stupid? Any ideas why this was done?

Good Evening lovely people!

I'm a little confused and hoping for some wisdom.

I've not long had my little 993 (Lucy) and she's been running great. All of a sudden last week, she's overheating (don't stop reading yet, I've done my reading and seen all the bleeding, fill methods, airlocks etc.)

So I pull over and see coolant all over the front bumper and think the worst. But its seems I've just sprung a leak... the confusing bit is what I've noticed is leaking.

It seems the previous owner has done something strange and I can't figure out if I should undo it or leave it. The pipe that comes out from the engine bay from the back of the heater matrix to the top of the rad is just blocked off (see pictures - sorry for the dirty state of the van!). My assumption is this is meant to go into the top of the rad but the previous owner has bought a rad without the top inlet and so just blocked it off with jubilee clips and a screw.

Until now I hadn't even noticed and everything seemed to be running fine so whatever they've done has worked. I wondered if anyone knows if it may have been done to remove the highpoint in the coolant system in an attempt to avoid the common airlock problem (at the sacrifice of the heating efficiency)

Now I have to either... replace the bit pipe and hope for the best(?!), replace the rad with one with a top pipe and hopefully fill without airlocks.

Any help or comments would be appreciated!

Thank you

My guess is this bodge would not have done anything to improve the issue of bleeding all the air out.

The 993cc doesn't have a bleed pipe from the Heater Matrix to the top of the Radiator. The Radiators weren't made with the little return pipe.

The pipe coming out of the Bulkhead just had a Rubber or Neoprene Top Hat Cover over the end of the pipe which was held in place with one of those spring clamps that you remove and replace with a pair of long nose pliers - and that's it.

So to bleed your system take the lower cap off under the seat. Fill your System Slowly FROM THE RADIATOR. Just trickle the Coolant in whilst watching through the windscreen or better still get someone else to slowly pour the water into the radiator while you watch the engine filling slowly with Coolant. You want to have the water going slowly into the engine and allowing the air to come out.

Once you are happy that ALL of the air is out of the engine and the Coolant is overflowing - put the Nice New Shiny Lower Cap on. If you as you say you have read all the filling instructions then you will know that inside the filler neck the Seating MUST be clean and level to ensure that you get a proper seal of the Radcap. The 993cc filler pipe is VERY prone to rusting. It is different metal and thicker than the 1300 setup -that I Christened "The Strangled Octopus". Make sure that you have cleaned the radiator neck up in the same way as you still have the original metal Radiator. Obviously it is not a problem with the Replacement Radiators as they have plastic headers on them.
That's the first half of the job done.

Go back to the Radiator and continue to fill the Radiator slowly until the Coolant starts to overflow from the neck of the Radiator. This is when you need to have the Bulkhead Bleeder Pipe open. Here is where the Watering Can with a length of hose with Electrical Tape wound around the hose to make an airtight seal in the neck of the Radiator.
Lift the Watering Can up above the level of the bottom of the Windscreen. Once you have just Coolant coming out of the Bulkhead Bleeder Pipe replace the THE PROPER RUBBER CAP and clip onto the pipe.

Have your Nice New Radiator Cap ready to replace onto the Radiator Neck. Pull the hose pipe out but keep pouring Coolant onto the neck as you very quickly put the cap back onto the Radiator. It is the best way to eliminate any chance of Coolant getting ANY air back into the Radiator.

That hopefully should sort your problem out - unless you have other issues with the whole Cooling System.

Can’t agree more with the new rad caps and seat in good condition. Looks like yours are in need of replacement.

Thank you very much Woodie! Awesome help and great knowledge. I didn't realise this is the original radiator. But yes, I've got a week off work next week so I'm going to go hard on the cleaning and get her looking nice again. New caps and all! I'll update with pictures once done

Thanks all!

Trying to source a proper rubber cap for the bulkhead bleeder pipe but no idea what it would be called. (proving difficult to find something I don't know how to describe!)

Drop me your address to : thehijetmaniow@gmail.com and I will put one with a clip, in the post to you.

That's very kind of you thank you.