Symbol, pipes through offside inner sill?

Hi,

Picked up our Y reg Symbol last week and we are going through it bit by bit. It mostly looks very good. However, there's some corrosion in the sills. On the offside sill, the corrosion is where two pipes go through holes in the inner sill. Before I get this welded up, I would like to know what the pipes are for, and if they would be easy to remove first. The corrosion is so local, that I think there has been some leakage from one or other pipe into the sill.

Any knowledge/experience of any of this?

Thanks in advance

Mike

Is one a large corrugated pipe and one smaller hose that goes to nowhere?
Those are the only two in mine that pass through the sill. They are from the water filler cap. One goes to the water tank and one is just an overflow pipe.
The easiest way of getting them out and back in is to remove the water heater. You can then see exactly what you are doing, as they also pass through holes in metal work within the side panel.

My 99 needs some welding at the rear of each sill. One has holed and the other is going the same way, so is booked in for the end of the month. My van had a leaky water heater when we got it, so that no doubt didn't help.

Many thanks for the response. Yes, one large corrugated pipe and one small blue pipe that just ends. I will do as you suggest and take the water heater out and see if I can get the two pipes out. The info that both pipes are from the filler is just what I wanted to know.

Mine is booked in to the local garage for welding next week. Then the complete underside will be wire brushed, then all box sections waxoiled and the underside sealed. I'm determined not to let the tin-worm get a hold.

Mike

mikebro wrote: Then the complete underside will be wire brushed, then all box sections waxoiled and the underside sealed. I'm determined not to let the tin-worm get a hold.

Mike

Tell them to pay particular attention to the chassis sections and outriggers behind the rear wheels. Also the front jacking points. The front crossmember under the radiator is known for rotting but this is a bolt-on job, you can drop it off, wire brush & paint it. Mines a '95 and these are the only places where mine has gone.
I've also had the sills repaired in a couple of places due to water leaking inside them, one from the Carver heater and the other from the expansion tank overflow (now re-routed). My MOT guy told me that the sills are not structural and I could have repaired them with filler.

Frank

Whilst they are underneath get them to check the brake pipes and the pipes into the steering rack, my garage who specialise in motorhomes say these are main failure points on the boxer.
If the pipes into the rack corrode then its a whole new rack apparently.

Thanks to Boxerman and Andrewjohn for your helpful points to look at. The crossmember looks brand new and I suspect has been recently replaced. Luckily there was no corrosion in any of the other places you noted other than the sills. Everything has now been cleaned up, wax-oiled and undersealed and the sills welded with new metal. The water filler and overflow pipes were replaced as well.

Others with similar Boxer based conversions may be interested in a couple of things we found whilst doing the above:-

- Offside sill rot was on the outer sill only, and exactly where the main water filler pipe was touching the outer sill. I suspect water runs down the outside of the filler when it overflows during filling. I will check what seal if any there is between the aperture in the van side for the filler, and the pipe itself.

- When draining the Carver water heater, we noticed that, due to an imperfect seal between the end of the drain pipe and the removeable plastic outer cover, that (only during draining) water leaks onto the base of the Carver heater. It then sits there and seeps out of the ((also imperfect) seal between the heater body and the van side. Consequently, I suspect water may have been getting into the sill from this place, as well as down the filler pipe. I will attend to these issues once the snow has cleared (again!!).

Rgds

Mike B

Thanks Mike B for your invaluable information, whilst mine looks fine I will check these points out when the weather (if) finally improves.

Best regards Mike G

mikebro wrote:
- When draining the Carver water heater, we noticed that, due to an imperfect seal between the end of the drain pipe and the removeable plastic outer cover, that (only during draining) water leaks onto the base of the Carver heater.

I'm a bit confused here Mike, my carver doesn't have a drain pipe, just a spigot / boss that the drain plug screws into, I thought they were all like that?
Where does this pipe go to?

Frank

Sorry for the confusion Frank. I meant the spigot/boss. Mine relies on a poor bit of foam around the inside of the hole in the plastic heater cover (where the spigot/boss comes through) to stop any draining water going behind the cover and onto the heater base. To me it's a poor design - I would have made the spigot/boss longer so it protruded properly through to the outside of the cover. It also needs a better seal inside the hole in the plastic cover. With the heater being so slow to drain, the stream is quite slow, and tends to try and run back. Hope that's clearer??!!javascript:emoticonp(':scratch%20head:')

Rgds

Mike B

mikebro wrote:Sorry for the confusion Frank. I meant the spigot/boss.

Right Mike - that's cleared that up

Mine relies on a poor bit of foam around the inside of the hole in the plastic heater cover (where the spigot/boss comes through) to stop any draining water going behind the cover and onto the heater base.

Mine doesn't have anything at all, so I don't know whether mine has been lost in the mists of time or yours is a mod by a previous owner. Perhaps someone can chip in to say which is correct?
Is the cover plastic? I thought it was some kind of alloy?

To me it's a poor design - I would have made the spigot/boss longer so it protruded properly through to the outside of the cover. It also needs a better seal inside the hole in the plastic cover. With the heater being so slow to drain, the stream is quite slow, and tends to try and run back. Hope that's clearer??!!javascript:emoticonp(':scratch%20head:')
Rgds
Mike B

Did you open the pressure relief/ bleed valve when you drained it? that speeds thing up a bit. Perhaps you could fabricate an extension to the boss if it concerns you? although to be honest, for the amount of times you need to drain it down, it shouldn't be an issue.

Frank

Frank - yes the cover on mine is plastic. And yes I did turn the relief valve through 90deg. We were hovering around freezing when I drained the heater so it was maybe slower than normal. But I did read it can take several minutes. I am hoping I caught the freeze in time to stop any damage to the heater. Until the weather improves I can't fill it up to find out. The joys of NE Scotland this time of the year!!

Thanks

Mike

mikebro wrote: The joys of NE Scotland this time of the year!!
Mike

I know one of my daughters lives just outside Aberdeen.

Frank

boxerman wrote:
Mine doesn't have anything at all, so I don't know whether mine has been lost in the mists of time or yours is a mod by a previous owner. Perhaps someone can chip in to say which is correct?
Is the cover plastic? I thought it was some kind of alloy?

Mine had the original rather pathetic bit of foam in place to stop water running back, though it was never very effective. I try to take the van for a run after draining the Carver to get rid of the "pool" and also get out as much water as possible on corners and hills.

Mine too is plastic - a composite with what seem to be short fibres. They don't seem at all good at resisting UV, and go very patchy looking. Last time I looked you could get new replacements for around £30 but I couldn't justify that for something that's purely cosmetic.