Thread: New Radiator - Leaking !

Faulty part, it is unlikely that zippy ties would cause it. However a garage that uses afore said to attach an electric fan should at the very least be whipped with brambles! and then banished from your list of preferred repairers! Doing it 1 self is bad enough without "pros" larking around .. Radiator removal is pretty self explanatory and straight forward..
Cheers Scott

Yeah the garage that put it on was in UK. They were rushed for an export date. I'll forgive them, the priority was getting everything on the car so I could ship it. I should have sorted it out since.

I've drained all the coolant but there's the oil cooler lines which I'm unsure about - is a oil drain the only way to get them off without making a mess?

I plan to take the radiator to a rad shop for inspection. I'm curious to know what they make of it.

Draining the oil will not stop the cooler lines leasking. There should only be a small amount in them, use rags under as you remove unions then elevate and plug ends. tie . Ah oki yeah so not a local job!
Cheers Scott

Just a suggestion but check all the screws and bolts as if they take so little care on the visible parts, the unseen ones could be worse. Be prepared to drill and re-tap the holes if they have either done it up to tight or worn the bolts and screws out. I had a reco 186 once that had oil leaking from the rocker cover , when I went to undo it 6 of the bolts had been done up so tight the heads snapped off when both myself or my mechanic tried to undo them. They had obviously used a powered shifter and done them up so the heads where 3/4 broken off the shaft!
I tend to agree that the fins are probably not designed to carry any weight and the fan should be attached to the frame otherwise the shock loading of a few speed humps will cause fractures over a short time.

Thanks for all the input so far. I managed to remove the radiator and yes Scott it was self explanatory - 10 minute job once all the coolant is out . I didn't drain the oil, it only weeps from the radiator when disconnected.

Anyway after it was completely empty and I had dried it off I placed the radiator level on it face and filled it with water to try and identify where the leak was coming from.

Amazing, under no pressure the coolant drops out of the core almost instantly. And not just in one spot, the whole lower center area of the core appears to be leaking.


That there was pretty rapid fire dripage. A large area of the core got visibly wet pretty much instantly as soon as water was poured into the rad. First drip was a couple of rows from a zip tie.

I cannot see any damage to the rails. How does a radiator suddenly fail like this? There were no leaks, one trip around the block and then this.

Looks like I will have to order in another new one.

Matt.

take it to radiator specialist and see what he has to say......it might be worth repairing.........and cheaper than a new one.......

Originally Posted by DEFENDERZOOK

take it to radiator specialist and see what he has to say......it might be worth repairing.........and cheaper than a new one.......

Hi Mat ,I agree with DEFENDERZOOK ,There are loads of rad repair workshops , in Melbourne get a few quotes just to see what your up for , then make a decision !!.

Stray current will eat through an aluminium core quicker than you can say 'pinhole', we've lost two Nissan patrol rads to stray current now.

All you need is a poor earth somewhere and your coolant path becomes conductive, aluminium is very reactive and so very quickly it eats out from the inside.

You've taken the rad out, but the easiest way to check for stray current is to use an old analogue meter with one probe in the coolant and the other on the earth terminal of the battery (a little hard in a Deefer, you need to extend the probe lead ) start the engine and watch the meter.
Can't recall what is acceptable and what's scary in terms of +ve, but it doesn't take much.