Radiator problem.

[Electric Clutch]

Just found leak in re-cored & uprated rad which was done 2 yrs ago on a mid 1997 4.0 Ltr.
Same place as original rad leak - bottom R.H. corner when viewed from front of the car. Coincidence or common failure ? Any one else experienced same. Is there a cure ?

[harrow_chim]

Mine leaked in the opposite bottom corner after re-coring it was a crack in the soldering due to the rad flexing in the car. Chap re-did the soldering and added some cross bracing from top to bottom to make it more rigid.

[.Mark]

Possibly TADTS!

Mine always seem to go there, not sure if its a weakness or not, the last rad I had was brand new and still leaks there a little.

[GreenV8S]

Sure it is the rad and not just a weeping hose? If a new rad leaked I would send it back, they don't all do that sir.

[.Mark]

GreenV8S said:

Sure it is the rad and not just a weeping hose? If a new rad leaked I would send it back, they don't all do that sir.

Yes I've checked the hoses Pete. It didn't leak right at the begining, but after about a year. Hell it would have been back otherwise!

[Electric Clutch]

Thanks harrow chim. interesting about the bracing. Will discuss this with my rad man if I have to re-visit him.
Pont taken Green V8S - too dark last night when we got back to positvely say. Lost all coolant in the Blue Capped tank in some 125 miles. From the water laying along the Channel u'neath the rad it looked like same as last time. Leaving office early tonight to roll car out and make positive. I.D.
Thanks for all comments.

[GreenV8S]

Is there any torsional preload in the radiator? It's held in four places, and if there are not exactly in line it will stress the radiator and greatly reduce its life.

[Big Brin]

Sounds to me like the soldering has gone. The raidator is not bolted down at the bottom, it sits in grommets. The radiator is only bolted at the top. When I replaced mine with a recore I put a few 1/4" (I think) washers between the bolts and the radiator to account for a little flex. You might consider doing this when your 're-recore' goes back in.

Rgds, Brin

[GreenV8S]

On the V8S the grommets at the bottom just provide a little vibration isolation, and they locate the bottom of the rad pretty solidly with no free play sideways or fore/aft. I would guess that the Griff/Chim ones are similar, in which case it would be possible to stress the radiator if the four mounts were not lined up properly.