CLIO 1.5 DCI Pre-heater housing leak

[italiastar]

Since having the cambelt / waterpump changed a few months ago, my sons 1991 Clio has lost coolant. The dealer has checked it and said that it is not the water pump, but the leak is coming from the Pre-Heater housing. They tried to fix it yesterday, but said that it needs a new housing costing £90 + fitting, which my son can't afford.

Can someone please tell me where this is located so we can see if we can either fix the leak or replace it ourselves - Any advice would be appreciated.

Thank you

[italiastar]

Sorry - I meant 2001 not 1991

[scatz]

Hi,

Maybe I'll be no help but I'm not sure what they mean by pre heater housing? Are they referring to the heater matrix? How much coolant loss are we talking about?

[italiastar]

Scatz, thank you for your reply. Unfortunately I wasn't there and all they did was write down that it needed this part. It's in the engine bay and they said only on diesels - looking at the net, I couldn't find much, only that it appears to be something that uses the hot "coolant" to pre-heat the diesel fuel.

They tested the system by pressurising it and found the leak - they then changed a clip on it (I presume Jubilee clip) and thought they'd fixed it, but after running it for 20mins it started leaking again.

They topped it to max and after a 20mile trip down an A road it was just below min. I'm puzzeled as to what it wrong - could it need a new gasket, new hose, clip or it it cracked, hence why I'd like to get to it. I've looked for the new clip, but can't find it.

Thank you,

[scatz]

Ah, I see, well the principle makes sense to me although my limited knowledge can't offer any useful advice.

I've found this on fleaBay which although isn't a clio one may look similar to the unit in your engine bay, perhaps that can help you locate the thing at the very least