Repair or Replace? 13 year old combi boiler

NeverEnough

We have an Ideal Mini combi boiler which we had installed around 13 years ago - its had a pump replaced and other bits over the years but has generally been reliable although the boiler engineers have said its a pig to work on. Currently, I went to go and turn on the central heating again with the cold snap and noted it won't hold pressure-when I refill and increase the pressure I come back to discover its leaked all over under the boiler, not from the filling pipes but elsewhere in the boiler.

Hot water is unaffected and still working and the boiler doesn't leak when just supplying the hot water - the leak all happens when the boiler is pressurised and the central heating is on. The radiators do try to heat up but only while there is still a bit of pressure -the pressure levels out at around 0.5bar and doesn't drop any lower, it drops from 1.3 bar to 0.5 bar overnight and decants loads of water under the boiler.

We were badly ripped off with the installation of this boiler so am anxious not to be burned twice - before calling in any air-through-teeth sucking boiler engineers I wondered what others thought - is this boiler nearing the end of its useful life at 13 years old, given its not a particularly good model anyway? Should I look to replace or repair and if replacing what would you recommend?

We have a 4 bed old victorian house with 11 rads -they are all in good condition, not looking to replace them, just the boiler really.

Anyway, interested to hear what people think.......

What sort of price should I be looking at for an installation of a decent make of boiler and any ideas of boilers which are recommended?

Ectophile

You would have to know what's gone wrong inside. It could be a simple joint that needs tightening. On the other hand, I had a boiler that was condemned as beyond economic repair after it started leaking deep inside the boiler, leaving the insides full of water for an unknown time.

NeverEnough

I suppose that's one of the issues - a boiler engineer could say anything was wrong and I would!'t be in a position to know if they were blagging or not - just not wanting to throw money at a lousy quality ancient boiler !