Thread: radiator/aircon?

Originally Posted by DMO71

Sorry for another 'female' Q!!


Sorry I know these are probably dumb questions,

There are plenty of dumb blokes asking dumb questions on here so dont worry about that

There is no such thing as stupid questions
there are only stupid answers

Originally Posted by DMO71

Sorry for another 'female' Q!!

Would a stuffed radiator affect the load on the engine when running the aircon?

I'm happy to say that I've no more coughs, splutters or stallings (to date!) since fixing the coil connection, but the 'running hot' issue turned into a $1000 expedition to the radiator shop. The small leak was coming from the connection to the oil cooling system and the radiator itself was more than 70% blocked. So a whole new one has had to go in. I pick it up on Thursday.

So really 2 things I'm wondering:

1) Would a car yard asking the mechanic to put in a 'stop leak' additive to the radiator have possibily contributed to the major blockage of the radiator?

and

2) Previously the car would start running hotter than normal and the engine would strain when running the aircon, so I just didn't run it. Could that be attributed to the blocked radiator and maybe now it will be a bit better with the new radiator in?

Sorry I know these are probably dumb questions, but thanks in advance to those willing to teach me about this stuff!!

Sometimes when the engine gets hot the spark plugs run too hot and break down. It might mean you should be running spark plugs rated one heat range colder. This is common when on LPG as gas burns slowly, causes more heat, therefore needs colder plugs to operate correctly under heaviest load.

It is common when the radiator is getting blocked that running the AC will cause it to over heat(mine did). It puts more load on the engine and the heat transfer from the AC radiator cause it to run hotter. Getting a new radiator should sort your heating problem out. May also want to check the Visous fan and thermo fans are operating as well.

Cheers, David.

Check to see your 2 thermo fans are operating when the airconditioning is on and the vehicle is running. Get some one to turn on the A/c whilst you stand in front of your vehicle. You should here them engage.
Stop leaks can block the radiator cores. When I had mine rodded recently they said they had a hard time as the cores were blocked up with stop leak.
The car yard asking for stop leak to be added, well that's a temp fix and cheap for them to avoid fixing the problem correctly in the 1st place.
Hard to prove though.

yep, blockedish radiator with aircon on puts more heatload into the engine from 2 methods.

1. more power draw from the engine because the compressor is running
2. higher ambient temps at the radiator because the condensor is heating up the air.

adding a stop leak like chemi weld doesnt help things especially if you have a leaking radiator cap thats allowing the system to "breathe"

Thanks so much everyone. I got it back this morning and in some ways is like driving a different car. Sounds different and feels less strained. Fingers crossed that'll be the worst of it for a while now!

Oh and on the way home it looks like we bought another one. A 93, auto, 7 seats is all I can remember off the top of my head, that and it is green. I think we are picking it up in the next 2 days.

Oh well at least if something fails in mine again I'll have a spare while it is being fixed!!

if only I could convince my wife to think that way....

If you wife was pulling $70 a day out of her wallet just to get the kids to school and herself to work each day in the last week while having no car..........well lets just say I don't begrudge the $3500 for this new one......a spare is a spare is a spare!!!