Question: Radiator woes

[English Guy]

Hi all, yesterday I had what I thought was a split hose as the engine coolant blew out so fast, lots of steam etc. The leak was fast flowing out from drivers side at top of radiator from somewhere behind where the hose connects(the hose was fine and well attached with proper clip). Is this a weak point on 89c4 rads? I am hoping someone could advise me on repairing the rad as a new replacement is out of the question at the moment due to me being laid off recently:confused.Any advice would be very helpful, many thanks in advance.

 

[boomdriver]

Hi all, yesterday I had what I thought was a split hose as the engine coolant blew out so fast, lots of steam etc. The leak was fast flowing out from drivers side at top of radiator from somewhere behind where the hose connects(the hose was fine and well attached with proper clip). Is this a weak point on 89c4 rads? I am hoping someone could advise me on repairing the rad as a new replacement is out of the question at the moment due to me being laid off recently:confused.Any advice would be very helpful, many thanks in advance.

Hmm Bummer.

You're going to have to take it out and see exactly where and what the damage is.

These plastic tanks are glued to the aluminum cores with some metal clips folded over to help hold them. They can be repaired but they are so fragile that its a tough job to seperate a tank if thats the problem. A leak in a vein edge can be repaired with a radiator type epoxie and following the proper proceedure. From what I have seen the cost of having a shop do the repair is just as much as a replacement in many cases.

Find the damage and go from there.

 

[English Guy]

That's a good idea about e bay, will be checking that out tonight. As for a repair I have a friend who is into classic car restoring taking me up to a very good radiator repair shop he's been using for 40 years. They will take a look and give me a price so I can work out the best option and go from there. I will get it sorted out, it's just a pain in the a##e with all the shows coming up lol. Thanks fer the advice Boom.

 

[Hib Halverson]

All C4 radiators are aluminum cores with plastic tanks. The tanks are not glued or bonded in any way to the cores.

There is a rubber gasket between the tank and the core. When the tabs on the core are folded over the tank edges then that compresses the gasket and forms the seal between the core and tanks.

If the tank(s) are broken or cracked, they are not generally repairable. You could try epoxy but don't count on that being a durable repair.

If the core is bad, a radiator shop skilled with repairs to aluminum cores can, in some situations, repair it, but typically, with a car that old, the core is rotted/corroded and not worth repairing.

The Rock Auto web site, RockAuto Auto Parts, sells Spectra Premium radiators which are OE replacements and are priced very reasonably...so reasonable that a new unit may be cheaper than trying to fix the existing unit.

 

[fairlesstj]

Have exact same leak on my 93 thought it was my hose at first but then found it to be the radiator same spot upper drivers side behind hose. Removing the radiator seems like quite a task. I have been working on other problems first putting off taking the beauty out. I did price em though and did not seem too high like under 200 if i remember right.

added 5 minutes later
OK i just checked ebay alot of different ones from 90 to 160 even free shipping ac delco was $170. let me know how the removal and replacement goes.

 

[boomdriver]

All C4 radiators are aluminum cores with plastic tanks. The tanks are not glued or bonded in any way to the cores.

There is a rubber gasket between the tank and the core. When the tabs on the core are folded over the tank edges then that compresses the gasket and forms the seal between the core and tanks.

If the tank(s) are broken or cracked, they are not generally repairable. You could try epoxy but don't count on that being a durable repair.

If the core is bad, a radiator shop skilled with repairs to aluminum cores can, in some situations, repair it, but typically, with a car that old, the core is rotted/corroded and not worth repairing.

The Rock Auto web site, RockAuto Auto Parts, sells Spectra Premium radiators which are OE replacements and are priced very reasonably...so reasonable that a new unit may be cheaper than trying to fix the existing unit.

Huh....

That was probably a repaired radiator that I saw glue in/on. Either way, these stock radiators are pretty much disposable.

I remember reading about how the tanks were pressed against the cores then the tabs were folded over to secure them. I had seen glue in one before but it was most likely a repair since it failed again and the radiator shop said it was'nt worth trying to fix. My over sized double row all aluminum (no more plastic) was only $209 and came with everything. Those are still for sale on FleaBay.
That hunk of aluminum was so pretty I damn near hung it on the wall in the living room...

 

[JohnGrawcock]

That hunk of aluminum was so pretty I damn near hung it on the wall in the living room...

Be sure to let us know how well that goes over with the wife. :L

 

[Hib Halverson]

Huh....

That was probably a repaired radiator that I saw glue in/on. Either way, these stock radiators are pretty much disposable.

I remember reading about how the tanks were pressed against the cores then the tabs were folded over to secure them. I had seen glue in one before but it was most likely a repair since it failed again and the radiator shop said it was'nt worth trying to fix. My over sized double row all aluminum (no more plastic) was only $209 and came with everything. Those are still for sale on FleaBay.
That hunk of aluminum was so pretty I damn near hung it on the wall in the living room...

If you saw "glue" between the core and the tank, that was some hack-job repair. OE C4 radiators are not assembled with any adhesive between the tank and the core, only a molded rubber seal.

Actually, OE radiators are pretty damn durable as long as the coolant is change once in a while. The problem with them is they don't cool enough because the cores are so skinny. A lot of the Spectra Premium radiators that Rock Auto sells have thicker cores for a cooling upgrade but use OE tanks making them a drop in fit.

While I put Fluidynes or Griffins in my Vettes because they offer huge cooling, I've ran a Spectra Premium in my Camaro for a while which had a 3/8" thicker core which offered a significant improvement in cooling. It had a stock looking core and stock tanks on it. At RockAuto, it cost less than a replacement ACDelco radiator for that car.

 

[roger longman]

Hi Boom, I remember you saying how impressed you were with the radiator when you got it. Was it a Chompion 2 row ?.....Roger.

 

[boomdriver]

Hi Boom, I remember you saying how impressed you were with the radiator when you got it. Was it a Chompion 2 row ?.....Roger.

I forget the name on the rad, although I purchaed it thru EZAcessory on FleaBay....and it was a 2 row with two 1" rows that had a small gap between. It was twice as thick as the stock and the fit was tight in the shrouds. I did have to trim some rubber off of the mounting blocks so that it seated down in the blocks and sat in there as it should.
My ONLY regret is that I wish I had polished the tanks before installing...That would have been easy when it was new virgin aluminum.

For the money, I have yet to see a better deal or better performing product. Today it hit 103 AGAIN in this gulf coast tropical dessert (if that makes any sense) and sitting in some traffic I was running 210-215 with a/c idling. It would drop to under 200 on the freeway.

 

[English Guy]

I forget the name on the rad, although I purchaed it thru EZAcessory on FleaBay....and it was a 2 row with two 1" rows that had a small gap between. It was twice as thick as the stock and the fit was tight in the shrouds. I did have to trim some rubber off of the mounting blocks so that it seated down in the blocks and sat in there as it should.
My ONLY regret is that I wish I had polished the tanks before installing...That would have been easy when it was new virgin aluminum.

For the money, I have yet to see a better deal or better performing product. Today it hit 103 AGAIN in this gulf coast tropical dessert (if that makes any sense) and sitting in some traffic I was running 210-215 with a/c idling. It would drop to under 200 on the freeway.

I have found a good price on a radiator, £150 delivered to uk from Rwi America. Have any of you guys used them before? Thanks