Wednesday, June 19, 2013

Not All Fun and Games - Radiator Repair




As much as I want my life to be full of fun and games, there is always something that has to fit in between all the fun. Today it was replacing the damaged radiator in my car. A few days ago I developed a hole in my radiator and it had to be replaced. As much as it is not an exciting job to do, I really enjoyed it. I got to use my hands, I got to use my tools, and I fixed something. What more could I want.



Why did the Radiator Fail?

I found that years of wear due to a poor Radiator/Cooling Fan design caused a hole in radiator.  The fan shroud assembly when installed, would rub against the radiator. After years of vibration and wear, it finally wore a hole in the radiator.
On the way home a few days ago the car temperature gauge pegged on high and I had to pull over and address the problem. This is when I found the hole. I was still about 8 miles from home, and no water in my radiator. I had one bottle of drinking water that I poured in the radiator. I also had some luck that we had a bad thunderstorm the day before and there was a very large pond of water in the drainage ditch. It was clean and there was enough to fill the radiator and get home.




Temporary Fix

Once I got home I pulled the radiator out of the car and did a quick aluminum weld and plugged the hole. I was able to locate a new radiator the next day which was a Saturday. By the time I got home to put the new radiator in, I found upon inspection before installation  the radiator that has a bad crack in it. Knowing this was not going to work, I put the plugged radiator back in the car so I would have my car to get around. The part repair shop had already closed for the day.




Final Fix

Fortunately the shop I deal with is a great place, honest and run with integrity. They replaced the radiator, and I was able to get the new one back into the car tonight and all is well.I did have to make a modification to keep the problem from occurring again. I used a small piece plumbers rubber gasket as a spacer between the fan shroud and radiator. Something that should have been part of the design.









Points to Remember

Do not forget that there are proper ways to dispose of old antifreeze. First off you should never reused old antifreeze back into your new clean radiator. You should always fill the radiator with new antifreeze.

Most all cities have a free hazard material disposal process. My county was one every third Saturday a month. This is where I disposal of mine. I put the old antifreeze back in the empty bottle the new antifreeze came in. This way I know what is in the bottle.
You show never leave exposed antifreeze in a drain pan. You need to keep this out of reach of children and animals. Safety first.

Now that this is done, I can get back to having some real fun.











2 comments:

  1. Good thing you were able to see the defect of the replacement radiator, Rob. The shop you went to is certainly trustworthy and showcased a very impressive after sales service. Internal radiator problems are a burden since they would only be known after showing some effects on your car. Thanks for sharing this and I hope you never encounter the same mishap on the road.

    Mose Larabee @ Radiator

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks Mose, I was very thankful. I have been doing business with this shop for many years on and off when needed. It's good when you find a place you can trust.

      Delete

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Thanks Rob