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        General >> Problems >> Blown Rad
        
(Message started by: Matt on Dec 14^th, 2006, 6:51pm)

Title: Blown Rad
Post by Matt on Dec 14^th, 2006, 6:51pm

Hi all

well on the tipical evening journey home from work to day my rad has gone :'( :'(

smelt coolant about 3 miles from home, no change on my temp guage so i carried on home, but took it steady just incase, got home and got out the car, and the hissing noise coming from the bonet broke my heart. opened up the bonet and saw a fine spray of water coming out the middle of the rad, covering the main pully.

it's to dark to see just how bad it is or wether or not it's balloned. there doesnt appear to be any oil/water contamination but what damage could the engine of occured? (does it crack the heads like the 2.3's do?)

also what could of caused the rad to go, leval was normal and there was no issues of high pressure before hand?

matt

p.s. any body got a cossie rad? ;D

Title: Re: Blown Rad
Post by Highlander on Dec 14^th, 2006, 7:12pm

Should be ok as there was still water in it.
Might have been damaged at some point or just corroded with age.

I think Ford want about £350 for a new one :-/

Title: Re: Blown Rad
Post by bootiful-scorpios on Dec 14^th, 2006, 9:05pm

our rad balooned last winter got a new one from rad express £215.

Title: Re: Blown Rad
Post by Tobbe on Dec 14^th, 2006, 9:13pm

How many of us are there out there? Seems to be lots of balloned rads.

Title: Re: Blown Rad
Post by bootiful-scorpios on Dec 14^th, 2006, 9:36pm

loads lol baz had a few on his car

Title: Re: Blown Rad
Post by Baz on Dec 15^th, 2006, 1:21am

I've changed about 8 radiators on two cars since 2002!

Title: Re: Blown Rad
Post by Tobbe on Dec 15^th, 2006, 7:56am

Baz, connect a guager to the vent hose from the rad, make a reading while reving up the engine, and then take the belt of the pump and rev the engine up again, you will get a very interesting reading.

Title: Re: Blown Rad
Post by ColinE on Dec 15^th, 2006, 9:44am

Hi you could try Terry, at tezpil@ntlworld.com, he is breaking a cossie.

ColinE

Title: Re: Blown Rad
Post by Matt on Dec 15^th, 2006, 5:14pm

hey

anybody used these guys before http://www.radiatorsonline.co.uk

cossie rad £260 odd delivered

Title: Re: Blown Rad
Post by harry.m1byt on Dec 15^th, 2006, 5:39pm

I bought a rad from them around 12 years ago (obviously not online) for a Granada. I had no problems with it at all and it was my second or third purchase from them. Prior to that I bought one for a Celica and I think a Princess. They have been around since at least the 60's. Recommended and also the cheapest source I could find each time I needed a rad.

Title: Re: Blown Rad
Post by harry.m1byt on Dec 15^th, 2006, 5:53pm

on 12/14/06 at 21:05:25, bootiful-scorpios wrote:

our rad balooned last winter got a new one from rad express £215.

Is the ballooning simlar to what used to happen on the Granada? Memory is bit vague, but I think the lower edge used to bow down. I just wondered if a reinforcing strap around the middle might help provide it with bit of additional support, enough to resist the pressure?

Title: Re: Blown Rad
Post by TiberiuS on Dec 15^th, 2006, 6:49pm

I doubt it mate, I saw one Cosworth for sale with a blown system, that one had burst open one of the hoses, must have been weaker than the rad. I liked my Scorpio but I'm steering clear now, too many woes ;)

Good luck Matt, hope you get it sorted mate :)

Regards, Bruce.

Title: Re: Blown Rad
Post by Baz on Dec 15^th, 2006, 9:34pm

Harry,

i tried the extra straps on my earlier car once. I used a proper bandit tool with stainless 12mm strap. It stopped the rad from balooning alright; it just blew the sides off it instead!! ;D

Title: Re: Blown Rad
Post by Dave on Dec 15^th, 2006, 11:15pm

Oh dear, might have to add me to the list of radiator casualties :-/

Title: Re: Blown Rad
Post by VSBlue on Dec 16^th, 2006, 1:00am

my rad went on me :( i had a new core fitted used the old tanks on the sides only cost me £95

Title: Re: Blown Rad
Post by TiberiuS on Dec 16^th, 2006, 1:42am

Could you get the rad modified and get a pressure cap fitted or am I off beam?

I loved my 2.3 but I ended up living in constant fear of either the autobox dying as I pulled out on a roundabout or to overtake or the head cracking on the A12 in rush hour (I know, all this is doing me no favours in finding a buyer for it either, seriously considering laying it up till the summer ::))...

And then I think of getting a lovely 24v and there's the blown rad problem on one of the first I see. If it wasn't for these problems the Scorp would be perfect...

It all reminds me of the problems we had with the Capri, for some reason one summer it started blowing the pipes from the expansion tank...would be fine then for no reason it'd go all steam train. Got it checked for airlocks, had it flushed more than once, fitted a new pressure cap etc etc. Still kept doing it, nothing wrong with the head/gaskets either (I should know, it's still in the garage). And then it used to start overheating in traffic, always when it was full of luggage, never on the trip to the supermarket. I remember once we had to leave the bonnet open for an hour just to get the temp to come off the red...

Rant over, can't sleep tonight ;)

Regards, Bruce.

Title: Re: Blown Rad
Post by Matt on Dec 16^th, 2006, 2:47pm

hey all

thanks for all the support,

got the rad off today and it looks as if it's an old injury thats finaly gone, weired thats its the fan side though. The rad is the perfect apart from that little bit, it's not balloned at all

http://i12.tinypic.com/2hzsjkl.jpg

the red ring is the part it's gone, not very clear but the 2 horizontal piped have gone and the fins are torn, the green ring is the only other sign of damage on the rad :o

Title: Re: Blown Rad
Post by TiberiuS on Dec 16^th, 2006, 3:08pm

Blimey Matt, is that all it is? The front of the rad on my Scorp (and many others I guess) is littered with bent fins where insects and stones have hit over the years, strange it chose to go there...

Any chance of a repair or are you shooting for a new one?

Best of luck mate.

Regards, Bruce.

Title: Re: Blown Rad
Post by scorpio_man on Dec 16^th, 2006, 3:55pm

hi there

remember the 'front' radiator is the condensor for the a/c.

hth

Title: Re: Blown Rad
Post by petehull on Dec 16^th, 2006, 7:29pm

Back in the good old 70's I worked as a radiator repairer fro seven years, in them days rads were made of copper and brass, the core of the rad is much the same nowadays, it has a brass plate at each end with narrow brass tubes which hav a seam aong the length of them, very delicate cos the material has to be very thin to allow the transfere of heat. The tubes, or waterways are through the end plates and are dipped in solder to make them water and pressure tight. They have also got what are known as Fins or Gills which are made from very thin copper folded into zig zag shaped elements, these fit between the tubes and are also soldered (by machine) onto the tubes again these are very delicate and do corrode after a time. The whole core is what we used to call the radiator block, this is the thing we used to renew by melting the solder from the top and bottom tanks, the tanks were then cleaned up with Hydrochloric acid before being tinned with solder, then the rad was re-assembled and soldered up onto the new block, the frame was re-fitted and the inlets and outlets soldered in, the whole thing was then tested by fixing rubber bungs in the pipe connections and the rad was then pressurised with compressed air to double the working pressure, usually 30 psi, the rad was then emersed in a tank of water, iany air bubbles indicated a leak which could then be repaired beford being dried out and painted.
Nowadays the core of the rad is mostely of the same build design although they tend to mount the rad sideways, this is ok and alows the front of the car to be lower but it has introduced a springing effect on the rad core, ( ok when new and strong but not so good as the rad gets older) In those days rads could be repaired by various means such as, a leaky tube could be cut out at the top and bottom plate and with a very fine flame you could solder up the hole which was left. You can't do that on these modern chuck aways cos the tanks are made of plastic with a rubber seal (Economica????) give me the old way anyday....
Hope you find this of interest....
Pete

Title: Re: Blown Rad
Post by TiberiuS on Dec 16^th, 2006, 8:32pm

on 12/16/06 at 15:55:11, scorpio_man wrote:

hi there

remember the 'front' radiator is the condensor for the a/c.

hth

How stupid of me...I remember from before :-[

Cheers Andrew ;)

Title: Re: Blown Rad
Post by harry.m1byt on Dec 16^th, 2006, 8:59pm

on 12/16/06 at 19:29:48, petehull wrote:

You can't do that on these modern chuck aways cos the tanks are made of plastic with a rubber seal (Economica????) give me the old way anyday....
Hope you find this of interest....
Pete

Just a thought on this...

Might it be possible to cut the leaking section out?

Cut the tube at either side of the leak, clean up the inside of the two tube ends - butter it inside with some Araldite then fold it over a a couple of times to seal it.

Title: Re: Blown Rad
Post by scorpio_man on Dec 16^th, 2006, 10:39pm

hi there

copied from the mailing list..........

for the sake of #20 or so, several owners have changed the
expansion tank and cap, with positive results.
>
> WRT to hose 6, I believe the rad you have been given is the 12v
version, which is available from motor factors [and a lot cheaper].
>
> I also went down this path, and couldn't see a need for the hose 6,
[top hose is mounted higher] so just ordered an expansion tank for the
12v [cologne possibly?]. This has the single hose connector.
>
> This mod survived on mine for about 3 years

hth

Title: Re: Blown Rad
Post by Penguin on Dec 17^th, 2006, 2:10am

Mine went in February but fortunately that was within the car's warranty period. :D

Cheers

Penguin

Title: Re: Blown Rad
Post by Matt on Dec 17^th, 2006, 12:24pm

hey

did some phoning round yesterday and found a place quite local, they'll strip the 2 plastic ends off and fit a brand new matrix to them, guranteed for 12months (thats the matrix and the seals, not the orignal plastic bits) £150 with a 2 day turn arround.

i had a look at the cap on the expansion tank, the rubber o ring seals look good but the center part turns sepperatly to the outer bit. is that normal?

Title: Re: Blown Rad
Post by Matt on Dec 24^th, 2006, 3:06pm

Hey all,

a little update, had the rad referbished, and it's a cracking referb to :D http://i10.tinypic.com/2iayf4o.jpg

it's back in the car and working as it should, just in time for xmas woo!