Mk1 MR2 radiator problem
Discussion
Hey folks,
Friend of mine has a Mk1 MR2 that's just had a radiator failure. Apparently, in her own words :
http://www.facebook.com/l.php?u=http%3A%2F%2Fcgi.e...
Will sort her out.
Any thoughts?
Friend of mine has a Mk1 MR2 that's just had a radiator failure. Apparently, in her own words :
MR2 owner said:
the whole system needs flushed and refilled
since it all pished all over the car and the road, including me through the sunroof
I know SFA about Toyotas, but she wanted to check if this : since it all pished all over the car and the road, including me through the sunroof
http://www.facebook.com/l.php?u=http%3A%2F%2Fcgi.e...
Will sort her out.
Any thoughts?
Looks abit rusty in the top pipe?
Any 2nd hand radiator could have a long or short lifespan, a new one should have a good few years left.
If she is going to use official coolant which if its the same as the mk2 is expensive (11 litres on the mk2 £100ish iirc as you need 3 containers to have enough) then is it worth all the hassle of having it replaced and refilled then it going again as the procedure to remove air takes a while (if its the same as the mk2, make sure you flow coolant through the heater or you might bleed the system then find when you turn on the system its now a few litres short if it previously drained out, not good) MR2 specialists will sell new pattern part radiators.
Might be worth checking MR2OC and IMOC incase they list somewhere to get a new one cheaply.
Any 2nd hand radiator could have a long or short lifespan, a new one should have a good few years left.
If she is going to use official coolant which if its the same as the mk2 is expensive (11 litres on the mk2 £100ish iirc as you need 3 containers to have enough) then is it worth all the hassle of having it replaced and refilled then it going again as the procedure to remove air takes a while (if its the same as the mk2, make sure you flow coolant through the heater or you might bleed the system then find when you turn on the system its now a few litres short if it previously drained out, not good) MR2 specialists will sell new pattern part radiators.
Might be worth checking MR2OC and IMOC incase they list somewhere to get a new one cheaply.
She's out of work at the mo, so it has to be secondhand.
What's the rough length of time to fit one? She can't really afford the garage either, so we're going to have a crack at it ourselves. Any particular gotchas?
They are different to MkIIs unfortunately, and MR2OC has been scoured etc.
What's the rough length of time to fit one? She can't really afford the garage either, so we're going to have a crack at it ourselves. Any particular gotchas?
They are different to MkIIs unfortunately, and MR2OC has been scoured etc.
Edited by Famous Graham on Wednesday 16th September 12:12
Actually replacing the radiator shouldn't be too tricky, but refilling the cooling system is a little bit involved. Not hard, but you do have to be careful to avoid airlocks.
I think it goes like this, but I'm not sure as I haven't done it for ages...
Raise the back of the car as high as you can and set the heater to fully hot. Open the bleed valve near the thermostat in the engine bay. Open both bleed valves in the frunk (one on the rad, one on the bulkhead above the spare wheel for the heater matrix). These are all plastic and can all be a pita to get open if they've not been used.
Attach clear plastic tubing (should be in the frunk, but almost certainly won't be) to both the frunk bleed valves and raise them up nice and high (attach them to the bonnet / stay or something).
Start filling the system from the pressure cap. Eventually coolant will start flowing out of the thermostat bleed valve. Close this
You should see coolant (and air) rising up the plastic pipes attached to the front bleed valves after a while. Once the coolant level in those pipes is higher than the point you're filling from, you can shut those too.
When you can't get any more in via the pressure cap, put some coolant into the expansion tank (just a bit, DONT fill it all the way up!). You can try 'burping' the coolant pipes you can reach too to expel more air and refill at the pressure cap again.
Once you've done all that start the car with the pressure cap off and run for a minute or two. It'll probably expel more air and you'll need to top up some more.
Put pressure cap on and run it up to temperature. Let it cool and bleed again with the pipes at the front. Hopefully now you'll get coolant straight away rather than more air
Water rushing noises from behind the dashboard normally mean you haven't got all the air out of the heater matrix, this can be a bit of a pita.
I think it goes like this, but I'm not sure as I haven't done it for ages...
Raise the back of the car as high as you can and set the heater to fully hot. Open the bleed valve near the thermostat in the engine bay. Open both bleed valves in the frunk (one on the rad, one on the bulkhead above the spare wheel for the heater matrix). These are all plastic and can all be a pita to get open if they've not been used.
Attach clear plastic tubing (should be in the frunk, but almost certainly won't be) to both the frunk bleed valves and raise them up nice and high (attach them to the bonnet / stay or something).
Start filling the system from the pressure cap. Eventually coolant will start flowing out of the thermostat bleed valve. Close this
You should see coolant (and air) rising up the plastic pipes attached to the front bleed valves after a while. Once the coolant level in those pipes is higher than the point you're filling from, you can shut those too.When you can't get any more in via the pressure cap, put some coolant into the expansion tank (just a bit, DONT fill it all the way up!). You can try 'burping' the coolant pipes you can reach too to expel more air and refill at the pressure cap again.
Once you've done all that start the car with the pressure cap off and run for a minute or two. It'll probably expel more air and you'll need to top up some more.
Put pressure cap on and run it up to temperature. Let it cool and bleed again with the pipes at the front. Hopefully now you'll get coolant straight away rather than more air
Water rushing noises from behind the dashboard normally mean you haven't got all the air out of the heater matrix, this can be a bit of a pita.
Just saying that you should check with them that that price does include bleeding.
If they say no, or suggest that they do not normaly need bleeding then alarm bells should start ringing. Hopefully they will say "yes, it can be a pain in the a*s*, but we have done a few of these and normaly get the air out without too much bother.
You dont want is to collect the car and be charged 90 quid because it took ages to bleed and they werent expecting that. Or collect the car, and have loads of overheating issues because they either did not do it properly, or, didnt do it at all.
If they say no, or suggest that they do not normaly need bleeding then alarm bells should start ringing. Hopefully they will say "yes, it can be a pain in the a*s*, but we have done a few of these and normaly get the air out without too much bother.
You dont want is to collect the car and be charged 90 quid because it took ages to bleed and they werent expecting that. Or collect the car, and have loads of overheating issues because they either did not do it properly, or, didnt do it at all.
Tayou can get a new rad from halfords for £90, or try www.mr2mk1club.com/forum for sourcing secondhand
careful when you remove the rad, as the rad fans are pretty heavy and attached so ends up wieghing in a bit heavy. easy job to do, and leave the fans off when you refit as you never need them.
check the hoses at the attachment points, esp the lower one as they often let go, or crack as you remove them.
ask the garage if you decide to use them, if they have bled a mid engined rad system b4, as they often get done poorly.
also get them to change the bleed nipple and lower rad emptying screw rubber seals, as they will be shot from the heat/age and are not worth risking using again
careful when you remove the rad, as the rad fans are pretty heavy and attached so ends up wieghing in a bit heavy. easy job to do, and leave the fans off when you refit as you never need them.
check the hoses at the attachment points, esp the lower one as they often let go, or crack as you remove them.
ask the garage if you decide to use them, if they have bled a mid engined rad system b4, as they often get done poorly.
also get them to change the bleed nipple and lower rad emptying screw rubber seals, as they will be shot from the heat/age and are not worth risking using again
I'd offer to help bleed it if I wasn't at the wrong end of the UK...
Here is my guide in case it is more useful than the other one.
Put the car on a hill so the noise points down.
Consume at least one beer. All car repairs work better with beer.
Heater on full,
Undo the white plastic wingnut thing on top of the gearbox but don't take it right out,
Get the plastic cover above the spare wheel well out from the front, as well as the one on top of the rad.
If there are no plastic pipes coiled up under the master cylinders then get some from b&q, put them back when you finish.
Put one pipe on the valve behind the plastic cover and hook the other end over the washer jet pipe,
Put the other one on the valve at the top of the rad.
Undo both valves at the front - the one on the bulkhead that needs a big screwdriver to undo is a pain in the arse.
Take the pressure cap off at the back and very slowly fill it with coolant, the slower the better.
When it is full put the pressure cap on. You can skip this but it spashes coolant everywhere when you aren't looking.
The clear plastic pipes should be half full of coolant. Grab the big fat rad hose and squeeze it repeatedly until air bubbles stop coming up the clear plastic ones.
Do all the valves up, dont forget the wingnut thing on the gearbox.
Run the car. get it warmish and start moving the heater control from hot to cold to hot a few times. When the temp gauge starts going bats
t because hot air/steam is bubbling past the sensor turn the car off, wait for it to cool a bit, open the pressure cap, top up and bleed the valves at the front again. Repeat until it stops doing this.
It should now be done. Consume another beer.
Here is my guide in case it is more useful than the other one.
Put the car on a hill so the noise points down.
Consume at least one beer. All car repairs work better with beer.
Heater on full,
Undo the white plastic wingnut thing on top of the gearbox but don't take it right out,
Get the plastic cover above the spare wheel well out from the front, as well as the one on top of the rad.
If there are no plastic pipes coiled up under the master cylinders then get some from b&q, put them back when you finish.
Put one pipe on the valve behind the plastic cover and hook the other end over the washer jet pipe,
Put the other one on the valve at the top of the rad.
Undo both valves at the front - the one on the bulkhead that needs a big screwdriver to undo is a pain in the arse.
Take the pressure cap off at the back and very slowly fill it with coolant, the slower the better.
When it is full put the pressure cap on. You can skip this but it spashes coolant everywhere when you aren't looking.
The clear plastic pipes should be half full of coolant. Grab the big fat rad hose and squeeze it repeatedly until air bubbles stop coming up the clear plastic ones.
Do all the valves up, dont forget the wingnut thing on the gearbox.
Run the car. get it warmish and start moving the heater control from hot to cold to hot a few times. When the temp gauge starts going bats
t because hot air/steam is bubbling past the sensor turn the car off, wait for it to cool a bit, open the pressure cap, top up and bleed the valves at the front again. Repeat until it stops doing this.It should now be done. Consume another beer.
mr2mk1chick said:
OlberJ said:
I'd be wary about leaving the fans off, you never know how much traffic Graham's friend is gonna be sitting in.
nopewhen i had fans they never came on, even whem sat in queues on the m-way for hours
For the weight disadvantage, i'd rather have some protection on my engine thanks.
Yup, sounds like they've balls'd it up. Unless there's a leak somewhere and that's where the air is getting into the system.
If you got time to run over to Hamilton at some point this week then i can sort it for you no problems.
Or i could possibly come and sort it out later in the week.
If you got time to run over to Hamilton at some point this week then i can sort it for you no problems.
Or i could possibly come and sort it out later in the week.
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