Cost me $200NZD (about $130USD) for a mechanic to tell me that I had a cracked radiator top tank...Great.

Anyone else had similar experiences with the plastic top tank crapping out? Not the aluminium core part but the black plastic part that the cap screws into.

 

phats, off to the junkyard you go scouting out more parts. how about that project you working on, what you need comes with it. code name: Kaizen

 

Located a cheap junkyard radiator...$100 cash...not bad

Kaizen is rizin...hehehe...

14-second barrier - you're going down!!

 

i got a new radiator for liek 100 off of ebay brand new very nice qaulity actualy. i dont remember who the seller was but it works great i had the same problem i figured it out when i saw some coolant that was leaking out after i warmed the car up. sucks it costs you that much just to find the problem.

 

with my leak its weird, it appears i have a small leak out of the drivers side corner of the raditor on top. every few days i will see green fluid on the battery box, but when i check the level its still where it should be. is there a quick fix for a very minor leak or does the whole radiator need to be replaced, and further more as usual, is there a possible upgrade versus replacing the stock one, lol !

 

that actauly happend to me it was collecting in the where the metal and plastic part meet. the little lip around the radiator on the battery side. then one day i just saw the crack in the top plastic part. i took my radiator out and it basicaly fell apart. i would probably just get a whole new radiator if i were you.

 

have you tried jb weld?

 

Caes, I used a mouldable epxoy resin putty I picked up from Repco, moulded it and pushed it in along the crack (it's a good 10cms long) and have left it on overnight just as a stop-gap measure. I'm going to pick up the wreckers one tomorrow.

PS. they might have an even cheaper Kaizen than the guys I normally use...you want me to look for u 2?

 

phat siez your car is pretty tight.. got any high res shots of it?

 

Sure bro - PM me your email address and I'll send you the hi-res versions. You sure do get around online mate .

 

Lol man you should have found that leak yourself if it was on the top i know i had the same crack same place and i found out when i rev my engine and i could see leaking come out, but yeah a brand new radiator would have ran you for nearly the same amount u bought the used one for. I would have prefered going new on a radiator.

 

is there such a thing as an radiator upgrade ? lol if there is i want one, instead of the same old stock one.

 

Griffin makes a bigger fully aluminum one. It is higher capacity so it will hold more coolant and weight more. That of course is not good for you, but it will never have any problem keeping your engine cool as hell. Honesty you don't need it, but I guess if you really want it you can. I would just buy a used on from a junkyard down there. You might be able to patch it will JB weld or something.

 

Not here in NZ mate though unfortunately. Brand new OEM radiator is pretty expensive - always go to the auto dismantlers for spares in Auckland.

I guess I should have seen it but there was no evidence to make me look in the first place - no coolant spray in the engine bay etc...

Caes - you can get aftermarket aluminium and stainless solid-piece radiators but they're heavy and if you damage them you have to replace the lot - bottom tank / core / top tank rather than the interchangeable OEM ones.

 

when theres a leak in the system, there isn't enough vacuum to pull coolant from the reservoir, so it seems like the proper level.

 

Spent about 3 hours on Saturday just been replacing me radiator - weather was great (considering it's winter) and we had some mates pop round so they hung out on the deck and we chatted while I disconnected the old one, plugged all the appropriate pipes (didn't realise the oil got piped through the bottom tank to cool it as well...). So I spent $100 on the wreckers radiator - $50 on a 2-tonne hydraulic jack and a pair of 2-tonne vehicle stands as well as 3 hours of my own time. Saved myself a lot of money that the mechanics were trying to charge me. A mate pressure tested my radiator on Sunday to see if there were any leaks in the system but no...fits like a glove...