big headache over easter

[mattb]

Thursday night on the way home from work looking forward to the weekend out an about( my first days off since xmas), i got stuck in traffic 3mile tail back.thne Pufffffffffff! omg radiator let go in a cloud of steam i had no warning whatsoever temp was reading the normal 90, iam gutted truely.
as its easter weekend all the indi garages ar shut, i recieved a daft quote from kwickr+b sorry( you know who) 320 to 360£.
ive searched around the net an i can grab a new rad for 139£....
what are they like to replace, ive been told its a 30min job, it looks kinda simple to do, but iam no mechanic, i have pritty decent diy know how i work with machinery at work taking compressors apart etc....
i just cant seem to find any follow through how to's on the job any info i will be greatly thankful...
second best iam in rochdale so if anybody knows somebody they could have some money coming there way for a 30min job
its a c180 auto 1996 no aircon( i think its the header tank has burst its seals from the rad).....
thanks matt

 

[Will]

Hi Matt,

Sorry to hear of your woes. Usually radiators are quick and easy to replace - thinking from the top of my head, usually you have two metal clips that hold the plastic fan shroud in place (if fitted), and there's two hoses held on with jubilee clips (one top, one bottom).

Remove the fan shroud and disconnect the hoses. As yours is an auto you might have a couple of pipes at the bottom running to and from the autobox - they'll need to come off as well. Be prepared for a small amount of ATF loss.

You'll then have two more metal clips holding the radiator in place - possibly a few small plastic clips too around the sides. It should then be quite self-explanatory - radiator lifts up and out, refit the new one in the same way as it came out

1/2 hour is probably about right. Good idea to drain and flush the rest of the coolant system too IMHO. Usually a drain plug on the block if you have time

Good luck,

Will

 

[Shelaghb]

Prestige Car Spares - 01706 849892 (Royton) maybe open today

 

[grober]

Worth also checking your viscous cooling fan is kicking in since if it was defective it might have contributed to the radiator failure in the traffic jam?

 

[mattb]

thankyou oh so much for swift replies, exactly just what i wanted to hear Will thanks mate, ive just rang Prestige seems there also shut this weekend....looking like a long weekend indoors for me


ill let you know how i get on with the replacement next week,
and i think i might aswell swap the fan over also just to be on the safe side,last time i checked 2weeks ago fan was ok, but theres a hell of alot of speed bumps and pot-holes from thursday between 2weeks ago, thats probably killed it
thanks once again matt

 

[arkamelis]

hi matt sorry to hear of your easter prob, hope you get it sorted out. very intresting point from grober, i had my viscous fan go on my 190 once which lead to overheating.

 

[growlygrowler]

You could also try Dronsfields in Oldham. they're a specialist scrapyard and may have one second-hand and cheap. It's a really simple job to replace a rad, especially if you have no aircon.

Places like Euro Car Parts and German, Swedish & French will probably do a Behr replacement part.

Any idea what caused the failure? It could be that the pressure built up in traffic and caused a corroded spot to fail. The pressure and presence of anti-freeze keep the water from boiling well above 100 degrees, but as soon as the pressure is removed via a small hole, the water boils and the steam opens the hole wider as it escapes - a sort of sytstemic catastrophic failure. Aluminium radiators don't last forever.

If your viscous coupling is knackered, you should see the temperature go way up every time you stop. If you distrust the viscous coupling, then replace it whilst you've got the rad out, it's far easier that way. Again, someone like Dronsfields will probably have a used one - or look on fleabay