Installing a new radiator

T

Tezz

My radiator is the original one that came factory installed in the car (2001 1.0 Y plate). The bottom tank is rotten (see photo below...)
radiator.png
..so I need to swap it out with a new one. Are there any fitting guides here? It looks like I have to remove the slam panel which has 2 bolts on either side and it looks like the right side of the slam has some sealer on it for some reason, I guess I'll have to re-apply that when I've finished. There's two round bolts or studs through the slam with rubber grommets around them holding the radiator in? I'm not sure what they are or how to get them off? other than that there's the electrical connector for the fan and water pipes at the top and bottom held on with jubilee clips and a pipe going to the filler cap held on with some sort of twist on connector. Is that about all?
 
you take the 4 x 10mm bolts out the top and 2 x 12mm from the brace in the middle and then just lift the slam panel off tezz :)
(and the black heat shield if it has,nt been binned :wasntme: )
 
frank said:
you take the 4 x 10mm bolts out the top and 2 x 12mm from the brace in the middle and then just lift the slam panel off tezz :)
(and the black heat shield if it has,nt been binned :wasntme: )
Click to expand...
great thanks, forgive my ignorance... the brace is the vertical support seen in the photo bolted onto the bonnet catch? I take it the catch mechanism will come out too attached to the slam?
Are those bolts through the slam that hold the tank in place perm attached to the slam and just sit through holes in the top of the tank when the slam is refitted?
 
Take the rubber surrounds out at the top, it'll make it easier to remove the radiator (it's not actually bolted in at the top at all)
 
I did the rad change today which all went well. I just took my time with it and was straight forward as suggested. Thanks for the advice with that (Y)

The new rad had two copper connectors on the bottom tank which weren't on the original one? I suppose they are for an a/c or something? The connectors seem to have a hole through the center so I thought maybe they had sent the wrong type and the coolant would just pour straight out so I put some tap water in the rad before I installed it to test and it only came out of the bottom drain hole on the tank where it should do although I didn't fill it much to test it so I'm still a bit unsure that it'll be ok.. I wanted to get the change done quickly as it looked likely to rain again today which it didn't in the end. I've not filled the coolant yet now that it's all installed in the car because I need to order some new in the morning. I hopefully won't get a wet driveway again when I fill it tomorrow.
 
I should have taken a photo before I installed it really. I've tried to do a quick mock picture to illustrate it instead. Hopefully I've draw it on the correct side of the radiator!
It's basically two brass coloured connectors sticking out of the bottom tank.. Apologies for the crude drawing :grinning:
rad.png
 
On the Auto micra i looked at before there was a seperate chamber attached to the bottom (iirc) of the rad, with smaller connectors. Seems to be used as an oil cooler.

Possible you've got a similar radiator setup? :)

Not sure if the chamber was a small as you've marked it though...but then you're not using any measurements :D
 
solarice said:
On the Auto micra i looked at before there was a seperate chamber attached to the bottom (iirc) of the rad, with smaller connectors. Seems to be used as an oil cooler.

Possible you've got a similar radiator setup? :)

Not sure if the chamber was a small as you've marked it though...but then you're not using any measurements :D
Click to expand...
Great thanks for that, my other thought was possibly an attachment for an oil cooler. I had an Astra van a while back an the oil cooler was inside the front bumper.
 
I forgot to ask.. when I was making sure my old rad was definitely leaking I filled it up with 4 ltrs of antifreeze (50/50 with previously boiled water) I had the antifreeze in storage so I just went ahead and filled it without thinking but I've just realised that it was the red type and the car is supposed to take the blue type. I know that it isn't meant to ever be mixed but the old rad had all leaked out. I've only left the car standing on my driveway, it's not been driven since apart from running the car for 20 minutes or so with the expansion bottle open to get rid of the air. After a couple of days the driveway was wet and the expansion bottle was empty so that confirmed 100% the the rad was shot.

What I wanted to ask was I am ok now to fill my new radiator now that I've drained the system? I was worried that there might be some of the red type left in the system after running the engine. I've just bought the correct blue type of coolant so I'm going to mix it up 50/50 again. Will that be ok? I'm not going to contaminate it with old stuff mixing in with it. The guy at the automotive place said that mixing the two can cause cracks in the head gasket which I didn't know.

Thanks!
 
I've always used 50/50 cos that's what it says on the bottle. What ratio do you use Frank?
 
Tezz said:
:eek: what ratio of water and coolant should I be using?
.. I think what he actually said was small holes can form in the head gasket
Click to expand...

a 50% mix is for arctic conditions tezz -40 ish :eek: and i think he is BS-ing you personally
edit 1ltr max guy personally
 
frank said:
a 50% mix is for arctic conditions tezz -40 ish :eek: and i think he is BS-ing you personally
edit 1ltr max guy personally
Click to expand...
ah ok, so 3 ltrs of water to 1 ltr coolant.

..and it'll be ok just to refill the new rad after running the red stuff through previously?
 
Roughly what temperature (on the gauge) should the fan kick in? I filled the coolant in the new rad today and after finishing my full service at the same time I left the engine running on the drive for 15 minutes or so with the heater on full in the car and the expansion bottle open. the temp only went half way but I'm getting low on fuel and it's not street legal yet so I had to shut it off.

I'm wondering if my fan is actually working? I only checked that it wasn't seized or anything when I swapped it over during the rad install and gave it a clean. Does the fan kick in at a much higher temperature than half way? How can I check that it's working?

Thanks.
 
I think it takes a while for the fan to kick in, I think the only time mine has ever kicked in is when I've left her idling for 5 minutes or so
 
frank said:
i doubt if the fan will kick in if you have the heater running tezz, and probably 3/4 on the gauge
Click to expand...
Thanks Frank, I was hoping it'd be around the 3/4 mark. Is it nessasry to have the heater blowers on when you're expelling the air out the expansion bottle? I've never done this previously but I saw it mentioned a few times recently so made sure that I did.
 
Tezz said:
Thanks Frank, I was hoping it'd be around the 3/4 mark. Is it nessasry to have the heater blowers on when you're expelling the air out the expansion bottle? I've never done this previously but I saw it mentioned a few times recently so made sure that I did.
Click to expand...

you need the whole system open when bleeding out any airlocks yeh, i usually go for a 2 mile run then let it cool down, then topup
 
Daniel said:
I think it takes a while for the fan to kick in, I think the only time mine has ever kicked in is when I've left her idling for 5 minutes or so
Click to expand...
Cheers Dan, I'll give it a proper test again in the morning and leave it idling for a while longer (with the blowers off now :grinning:)
 
frank said:
you need the whole system open when bleeding out any airlocks yeh, i usually go for a 2 mile run then let it cool down, then topup
Click to expand...
thanks again, I'll bring some coolant with me on the run down to the mot to top it up, that'll be the first time that I can legally go for a run before it's taxed and mot'd again.
 
Tezz said:
I forgot to ask.. when I was making sure my old rad was definitely leaking I filled it up with 4 ltrs of antifreeze (50/50 with previously boiled water) I had the antifreeze in storage so I just went ahead and filled it without thinking but I've just realised that it was the red type and the car is supposed to take the blue type. I know that it isn't meant to ever be mixed but the old rad had all leaked out. I've only left the car standing on my driveway, it's not been driven since apart from running the car for 20 minutes or so with the expansion bottle open to get rid of the air. After a couple of days the driveway was wet and the expansion bottle was empty so that confirmed 100% the the rad was shot.

What I wanted to ask was I am ok now to fill my new radiator now that I've drained the system? I was worried that there might be some of the red type left in the system after running the engine. I've just bought the correct blue type of coolant so I'm going to mix it up 50/50 again. Will that be ok? I'm not going to contaminate it with old stuff mixing in with it. The guy at the automotive place said that mixing the two can cause cracks in the head gasket which I didn't know.

Thanks!
Click to expand...
:cool: The red antifreeze/coolant is suitable for any petrol or diesel engines (even Nissan Micra engines) although it's not a good idea to mix it with other coloured antifreeze/coolants. The red colour tells you that the antifreeze/coolant is good for up to 5 years protection in your cooling system, provided you keep it topped up correctly. The red colour also signifies that the antifreeze/coolant is of the SuperOat (organic acid technolgy) with pure ethylene glycol and is methanol, alcohol, nitrate, amine phosphate, silicate and borate free. SuperOat red antifreeze/coolant should exceed BS 6580:1992.
 

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