Quick radiator groaner

[Galileo]

Is there a foolproof way to tell the difference between an 1850 radiator and a Sprint one, core depth?

Reason for asking is that I've put a more powerful electric fan on my Sprint over the weekend, and it still can't seem to bring the temperature down enough for my liking. After a bit of stop start traffic today both top and bottom rad hoses were equally hot. This is with the new fan creating gale force 8 under the bonnet and sucking in debris and small children through the front grill, so guess that's working. I'm squinting at the rad suspiciously, go check my 1850 one, back to the Sprint, buggered if I can tell the difference, either they are both Sprint or 1850 ones.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iaJE-yyO4qo

[soe8m]

A sprint one has more tubes in it but when it was recored once the identification will be harder. When you see an original new sprint radiator you cannot see through and has a fine maze. You wouldn't be able to put an electric fan on it the easy way by sticking pins trhough the core. When your's looks like a modern one looking at the core it's probably not a sprint one. When you have seen a few radiators you really think at looking at a genuine sprint one that they really did try to improve cooling. So unnatural fine maze and many tubes.

Hope that helps.

Jeroen

[Galileo]

Thanks Jeroen it does help, a quick check and one of those plastic fan pins goes straight through the same on the Sprint and 1850 radiator. Hmm...

[Carledo]

Stick a Saab rad and Volvo header tank on it mate! Fit and forget!

Steve

[dollyman]

I was stuck in very slow moving traffic at the weekend As a quick fix to to bring the temp down.... I just popped the bonnet.... The hot air escaping through the gaps was incredible and the temperature returned to normal Not ideal, but how much hot weather do we get.
Steve's fix is the best though.

Tony

[sprint95m]

If you only are to do one thing, fit a proper header tank (plumbed into the bottom hose).


Ian.

[Galileo]

Have a VW expansion tank that I'm toying with using for just that Ian/Steve, but I'd like to get it working as intended and then improve rather than mask a fault, if you know what I mean?

Tony, definitely been thankful for the front hinged bonnet for just that reason, together with putting the heater on it's instant extra cooling!

Measured the cores, both the same thickness, 38mm, taken a picture of both and Jeroen's description of a true Sprint radiator do not match either. Starting to look like the previous owner has fitted an 1850 radiator, probably unwittingly so. The car has always ran a bit warm in the summer ever since I got it, okay when moving but there is next to no reserve if stopped in traffic as the fan always cuts straight in, fan also comes on when at motorway speeds when it's very hot outside in some plaintive attempt to cool things down.





Can you guess which is the 1850 radiator?!

[Carledo]

Tony's quick fix of popping the bonnet in heavy traffic has been my go to solution for several years now, especially since they started putting ethanol in fuel which makes carbed cars super susceptible to rough running from fuel evaporation caused by high underbonnet temps. One of my customers has a Rover powered Stag which is especially prone to this, it's absolutely fine on the move, but 5 mins in stationary traffic has it coughing and spluttering like an asthmatic hippo, despite the electric fan. And my customer flatly refuses my permanent cure of some nice louvres in the bonnet!

One of the very first Sprints I worked on back in the early days had symptoms very similar to yours and I moved mountains trying to cure it, did all the usual stuff, changed the stat, flushed out the rad (twice, coolant was crystal clear) even changed the water pump. Eventually, in desperation, I changed out the rad and hey presto, the problem disappeared. It turned out that nearly a quarter of the tubes were blocked solid, despite there being no other evidence of muck or corrosion in the system.

My suggestion of the Saab rad is driven by cost considerations primarily, the Saab rad is about half the price of a recored Sprint stocker and 20% of the price of the flashy Alicool alternative. And everyone knows what a weak point the stock expansion tank is, fitting a proper header bottle is a no brainer (the Saab rad also necessitates one of these)

Steve

[barry55]

Just lift the standard expansion tank up 1 inch ,easy fix.

[xvivalve]

The Sprint rad has only one extra fin per inch, 16 to 17, or 17 to 18, I forget which. It doesn’t sound much, but it is enough to make a difference visually.

Having run my daily driver back in the day with an 1850 rad from economic necessity, I can say that in s system with no other issues, it was adequate.

[sprint95m]

Have a VW expansion tank that I'm toying with using for just that Ian/Steve, but I'd like to get it working as intended and then improve rather than mask a fault, if you know what I mean?

I tried the VW header tank,
it is not the best choice.
(I wrote an article for Dolly Mixture comparing VW, Rover and Volvo tanks.)

The shape means the "max" level only clears an 1850 engine,
a leak will mean the level will have dropped in the engine before the low level warning is triggered.




Ian.

[cleverusername]

Stick a Saab rad and Volvo header tank on it mate! Fit and forget!

Steve

The one problem I found with the Saab rad is it barely fits, the standard rad must be tiny.

[Carledo]

Stick a Saab rad and Volvo header tank on it mate! Fit and forget!

Steve

The one problem I found with the Saab rad is it barely fits, the standard rad must be tiny.

The stock rad isn't very big, it comes of having a shell originally designed for a 1300 engine, though the GT6 is far worse off in this respect!
The Saab rad fits MUCH easier when shorn of some unnecessary plasic on the sides.

Steve