New radiator?

[dvs_dave]

Radiator sprung a leak this evening whilst at the Ace cafe.

Fortunately spotted in time by some eagle eyed fellow PH's so no harm done. Topped her up with a bit of Coolant (cheers Spikey!) and nursed her the 4 miles or so home with the heating on full blast to let me know how the level was. ie. If it went cold, the coolant was too low to continue.

So, time for a new rad. It looks like a pretty simple job, however before I steam in (excuse the pun) and order a new rad and do it myself, are there any hints or tips I need to be aware of before going down that road?

I gather bleeding it can be quite a challenge? Is an alloy rad worth the 100% premium over a reconditioned standard rad? Which lasts the longest? Is there anything else to check/change whilst I'm there? My car has AC if that makes any difference?

Edited by dvs_dave on Monday 13th September 23:59

[G20RG B]

dave, I haven't changed the radiator but I know a few guys that have had the radiator re-cored and have worked fine since it was done. Cost about £130 which is a good bit cheaper than a £400 alloy one. I don't think the alloy one improves the cooling just less chance of corrosion. Might be worth looking into.

[kingofhearts1961]

i had my rad reconditioned for £130 all works fine, not a difficult job to do either. just a thougt re alloy rad. since fitting my new rad i use distilled water with anifreeze to help cut down on corrosion.

[justyr]

Have not performed the task myself but HHC picked up a funny on my rad during last service: some numpty had previously sheared the rad air bleed screw, luckily repairable. I guess a tip is to be careful with 'em! J

[Basil Brush]

When my original all alloy rad split last year I tried to get an alloy one, but as I was in a rush, I ended up with a new copper and brass replacement from a place in Leeds. To be honest it's not that much heavier and was 250 quid instead of 400 plus for the alloy ones. No problems with cooling, even last summer in France and Spain with high 30 temps.

Fairly easy job once the service bonnet is off. The only bit I had to mess about with was the alignment of the screw holes in the fan shroud.

[Hot Tuscan]

Just in the process of replacing mine.

Reconditioned item from Racing Green £290 if memory serves, (so that’s including vat. but excluding the surcharge).

No problems so far except the rubber supports near the front end. Mine was the replacement of the original 10 year old rad and the studs on the support had corroded, so they separated in the rubber rather than unscrewing. As the other end (in the body) had also corroded the bottom half of the supports were a bu***r to get out.

Strongly recommend soaking the supports in WD40 over night before attempting to undo them, just in case.

Steve

[dvs_dave]

Got a re-con rad from Racing Green for £198 and swapped it over last night. Only faff was the AC condenser had a bracket attaching it to the main rad. As my service bonnet bolts had decided to sieze and I didn't fancy breaking them, this screw attaching the bracket to the rad was nigh on impossible to get to, let alone turn. Eventually managed to undo it by twisting the rad around 90deg in relation to the condenser and unscrewing the bracket from the condenser.

A couple of the fan cowl mounting bolts didn't want to come undone but eventually did after some liberal WD40 usage. After that, it was a simple reversal of the removal, and several warm-up/cool down cycles to finally get about 12 litres of coolant in.

Happy days....