| Toyota
Camry. The result of mixing different
brands of inhibitors - Oil didn't mix tough when headgasket check out - this is inhibitor
only
Datsun 200B
Mixed inhibitors - Yuck!
And you thought it was filled out of a dam. DO NOT MIX INHIBITORS!!!!
Ford Telstar
Something not often seen in aluminium cores - fin corrosion.
Fin corrosion and areas accelerated when tubes started weeping. When fins corrode
the strength of the core decreases which speeds the break down of the fins.
RESULTS OF STRAY CURRENT
Toyota landcruiser HZJ75
The scourge of the nineties cooling system.
STRAY CURRENT!!
In this case the inhibitor brand was mixed too. We're talking a truck just under 3yr
old. We've seen a Barina radiator go within 7 weeks!!
From another angle. Note that the core usually goes
close to the inlet pipe, where the water flow is generally fastest (or highest volume of
water flow per tube).
Holden CommodoreVR
STRAY CURRENT again. GM inhibitor had
been used since new, but unfortunately NO inhibitor can stop the effects of stray
current although we have noticed A few of the major brands definitely cut down on the
voltage readings.
R C Grieve had this 3rd owner Jaguar XJ140 in with water in the
transmission. The radiator had been recored previously (not by them) with a
copper/brass core, but the stray current cause was not fixed -- BIG MISTAKE. mucho dollars
now for a trans. We could weld the oil cooler good though, saving some money.
PROBLEMS WITH NEW PRODUCTS
Blow hole in cast tank - brand spankers
Ground holes out to fill with TIG weld. Repair
like this makes that area better than new.
Casting slag in tank - brand spankers. next stop when this broke off
would've been into the engine!! We double check everything,
RESULTS OF JAMMED THERMOSTATS
Mazda Econovan had a thermostat jam shut. when the engine boiled &
the thermostat finally opened, the pressure behind it had built up that much, it created a
pressure wave that did this damage. The rubber seal on the radiator cap had also swollen
& this stopped the cap from releasing in time when the wave traveled down the top hose
& into the tank. Periodic maintenance would've prevented this!! If the cap is sticking
after you've turn it & try to lift it, have a look at rubber seal washer & if it
looks swollen, replace it.
Here's a Toyota Hi Ace van with the same problem,but less catastrophic results.
In the lower picture, notice how the header plate has bowed up a bit like a football. It
takes some pressure to do this. It also weakens the tube to header plate joint, shortening
the life of the radiator considerably, after we repair it. The only way to do a proper
repair is to sweat (I did put knock but though it didn't sound professional) the header
plate off & do a rebuild on the top of the core, which involves soldering around every
tube. Allot of work & in most cases a core is getting too corroded to be worth the
expense of a rebuild.
Toyota Corolla really popped it's lid. Once again, the washer under the
radiator cap was swollen.
results of mixing
inhibitors
Ford Corsair (Nissan Pintara) with a blown headgasket. We didn't
even have to put the pressure tester on to get this to happen. Driven until it ground to a
halt - on the freeway - 110KPH.
Toyota Corolla with a blown headgasket. I'm sure the blocked radiator
caused the headgasket to go. This is from mixed inhibitors over the years.
Peugeot 504 radiator. Lady came in complaining it took her 4 hrs. to travel
down the coast (80k's) & 6 hrs. home. No wonder!
Close up of blocked tubes. Caused by both mixing inhibitors & going
for a while with no inhibitor. Sludge type build up from mixing inhibitors, chunks of
alloy from no or weak inhibitor mix (or different brands conflicting to nullify
protection).
Holden Commodore VH 6cyl. air conditioned. This is purely the result of
mixing brands of inhibitor, in this case giving a dry build up (not oily). Looks like it's
been filled from a farm dam a few times eh!
If you own a pre VN Commodore & it's air conditioned, you should
have a 3 row radiator (3 rows of tubes thick) like this, as they came from the factory. If
you only have a 2 row core (from new) then the dealer fitted the air conditioning, not
bothering to fit the proper radiator - this is why it was often cheaper than the factory
option.
Mitsubishi L300 Express that had it's inhibitors mixed over the years
The deposits built up in the radiator, lead to the demise of the headgasket from constant
overheating. Once the engine has a little boil, this accelerates the build up as it scours
the scale & sludge in the engine.
Ford Falcon EL 6 cyl. This is predominately mixed inhibitors, but
also casting sand from out of the block. Very bad in the EA, common in the EB, &
still not fixed in the EL model,Some companies are so slow to react to a problem. It gave
us allot of work though - upset allot of high mileage drivers who had problems every 60 to
90,000 klm's.
Mazda 323 that mixed inhibitors.
Late model Toyota Landcruiser HZJ 75. Came in leaking due to Stray
Current, but also typical early stages buildup of grass,seed,bur & feathers, normally
found on vehicles doing off road country work.
A gauze mesh behind the grille & wrapping under the radiator is a
good prevention of this. The radiator / air condenser / oil cooler - s / intercooler,
should be blown & cleaned out periodically.
Remember that gauges in modern cars are slowed down & do not react
as quick as the temperature can build up under load.
This is what our floor can look like after we've machine power flushed
the engine / heater assy's of the above cars. Remember that at least 80% of the sediment
gets washed into our drain & so into the catch sump, so this is less than 20% of what
came out of the engine!
Another car, same story. We see this at least every fortnight, &
we're only a small shop!
Close up of Scale & deposits out of engine!
Yet another blocked core. This one is mostly from long periods without
inhibitor & when it was fitted, probably with a different brand
Close up of above pic. Dramatic eh!
This is the floor after we had reversed machine power flushed the
engine & heater of the above radiator.
Closer pic of the above & a little different angle.
Closer again, the lumps of scale are really visible now
This is one of our OPPOSITION'S intercoolers. He couldn't afford for
us to make the tanks in the first place, but after picking the unit up, came back to us to
make the mounts & bead the pipes.
No matter how cheap you get an intercooler made, There is ABSOLUTELY no
excuse for not BEADING the PIPE ENDS. None at all. Even at a low
pressure, the hose will compact under the force of the clamp,& with time, becomes
loose, allowing the pipe to BLOW OFF. Give a company like this a miss, because if
they make the basic of basic mistakes, what else do they stuff up??
The tanks being sharp rectangular box shape,hurts the charge
distribution through the core, especially at low boost - no boost, which means that light
throttle driveability suffers noticeably. At high boost it is much less a problem, but
I've never seen any Indy, IMSCA, GTP etc. cars with intercooler tanks shaped like
this!!
Welding like this is probably more a cosmetic problem, it
may
never crack / leak, but it also tells you the business hasn't any TALENT or PRIDE.
to let this sort of a product out the door!
Here's a different OPPOSITION shops work. $3000.00 was
paid for this Intercooler / radiator assy. (not fitted). It is in an AE80 corolla /
3tgue turbo fwd. - awesome.
Once again, it probably won't leak / crack, but it shows that businesses
complete lack of KNOWLEDGE, TALENT , PRIDE & ETHICS to let products
like these out the door!!! They really shit me!! Please have a look & give some
thought to the products previously made by a shop, before laying your money down.
There are a number of shops doing good work & a few doing great
work, so choose carefully & it will definitely pay off.
This has been a nightmare job for us. I made a small mistake ordering the core
initially, we made another small mistake fitting the bottom tank to the header plate
(tapped it on a bit too far & didn't notice we dented the outside 7 -8 tubes). We also
made the cutout for the spring hanger a little to small & had to enlarge it.
When the radiator was tested the outside tube leaked, the next two tubes
weeped.
I always strive to sell a product that I want to buy myself - as close to
perfection as possible. That radiator was SCRAPPED & now will be used for
display only. 3 solid days & nights work & a $600.00 (at cost) core down the
shute.
Too top it off, it's not keeping the rod cool enough. The engine
has one or more internal problems (one of which I 'm sure is high static
compression - I since found out the engine was built for atmo tunnel ram), opening the 160
deg, thermostat within a minute idling. The pulley ratio has been changed as well.
13deg. difference. between 2400 revs 2nd. & 1900 revs. 3rd gears, both on light
throttle.
This Radiator is at least 70% more efficient than what was in the car before,
but even though it's heaps better, it's still not able to do the job under these
circumstances. We'll post the engine results when we get them.
Unfortunately, occasionally, Shit happens!! |
