Hello again everyone,

On a trip out last week the radiator decided to empty itself over the engine, windscreen and myself!

It looks as if a small hole has appeared to the radiator about ¾ of the way up. I am looking to remove the existing radiator for repair/replacement.

The removal of the radiator appears quite straightforward, but, does anyone have any handy hints or things to be aware of for such a job.

Thanks again

Nathan

Hi Nathan,

if the hole is small you can try sealing it with a small amount of Radweld and see if it cures the leak, reapiring the old core can be difficult. I know it doesn't cure the problem for the long term but may well hold for longer than you might expect, try it and see.

Cheers

Ruairidh

Hi Ruairidh,

Thanks for the information, the leak is more of a trickle than a drip so I think it may be past the radweld solution. First things first I will take it to a radiator specialist to see if they can do anything and then take it from there.

Nathan

The radiator will probably have all sorts of deposits inside so you may decide to give it a clean, if only a preliminary one, before seeking a repair. If you do decide to do this,having removed the rad from the car, dish washer powder in a hot very strong solution, is a pretty powerful agent. Refit rubber hoses, pour in the solution and rock it around! Then get busy with the garden hose!
If you know of any chemical cleaning people, inhibitted sulphamic acid is good for shifting calcium deposits.
Ron

Thanks for that Ron,

I managed to remove it yesterday evening and found quite a lot of sediment above the drain plug. I gave it an initial wash through to get rid of the worst of it.

If its able to be repaired I will get them to give it a good clean and flush through as well.

Nathan

For what it's worth I have a similar problem and my local A7 friendly rad repairer said that the leak was around the brass fold around the base of the header tank which trickles it's way down the core confusing the original source of the leak in the process.

The rad also had a fair amount of silt etc in it but what he did warn me about was DONT try clearing the rad by flushing with acid. On an old rad you will cause more problems than you solve.

Norman makes a good point re the acid, so I'll emphasise, it must be a proprietory item with an inhibitter in it so that when the acid "sees" bare copper, it will not attack the metal. However, if the deposits are covering and blinding existing holes, then they will start to leak during the process. So maybe after an initial (non acid) clean up you may wish to give it a try and see if it's now good enough.
If you still suffer overheating and think the radiator is the main culprit you will need to do something fairly agressive or go for a new core. You pays your money or you takes your chance!
Ron

Well have just heard from the radiator man and the original core is a goner .

I have opted to have the core remade to match the original instead of a modern core, all I have to do now is wait 3 weeks for him to make it...... .

At lest it will give me time to fit the indicators and get her cleaned up.

Will keep you posted on developments

Nathan

Nathan, Out of interest how much is the new core going to cost? I was quoted £450 plus vat for original style which was a bit of a shock, or £150 for a modern style of core.

Hi Nathan,

be sure to tell the man who is re-maiking the rad. core to make sure it is exactly the same thickness as the one he is taking out.

Some 'modern' cores are thinner, this reduces the capacity of the system and can lead to overheating problems.

Hope this helps,

cheers

Ruairidh

Norman,

I was quoted £180 + VAT for a modern core and £320 + VAT for a core to match the existing, having had a look around online I was aware that it was going to hit my wallet fairly hard.

The frustration is having to wait 3 weeks for it to be made up, I have only had her for a few weeks and have not really had the chance to really enjoy driving her.

Nathan

Nathan I think the price you were quoted is probably reasonable in the circumstances. Radiators are things that can become frighteningly costly. Whereabouts in the country is he? I might use him myself!!

Funnily enough, the rad man asked if my rad was for competition use, as he said the modern type of core allowed a faster throughput of coolant through the matrix. Maybe that makes up for the smaller capacity?

Norman,

He is near Odiham in Hampshire, I will let you know what the finished radiator is like upon its completion.

Nathan

Thanks Nathan