Suspect Radiator

[The Toad]

My Sprint seems to be running warmer that it ought to? Call it a little OCD but the needle sit just over the half way point and during a spirited drive sits plum between 1/2 and 3/4 and I am not really happy with this.

I have changes the voltage regulator and gauge but there is no change. However when showing warm I can produce a step change by putting the heater on in the car, usual trick or just switching it to hot but I am not happy doing it. This is leading me to believe that the radiator is not performing at its best.

So I am looking for a replacement, any pointers besides Rimmers?

[xvivalve]

GAT Radiators in Brierley Hill will recore your rad with the correct matrix.

[mahony]

You can use a saab 9-3 rad also viewtopic.php?f=4&t=29870&hilit=SAAB+RADIATOR

[AlanH]

I bought an exchange radiator for my 1850 from Rimmers and it has been excellent. The needle is just under half in all conditions.

I also read somewhere that Tony Hart can do a supergill recore. Not sure if that is the case but it may be worth checking.

Have you tried a good flush (including the drain under the exhaust).

[Toledo Man]

When was the last time your coolant was changed? You should change it every 3 years and use a glycol based antifreeze. I'm not sure if OAT antifreeze can be used in the slant 4 engine. That needs to be changed every 5 years. I'd go along with Alan's suggestion of trying a flush before you condemn the rad. Always try the simple stuff first.

[Triumph1300]

DON'T use oat antifreeze in our cars, only glycol based.

Not sure of all the reasons, but there is a chance of it causing blockages, as it can attack things like copper rad cores etc

[Toledo Man]

Bruce I know they're definitely a big fat no-no in the OHV engines. I use glycol in the 1850 so no problems there.

[matienzo]

You don't say whether the temperature behaviour has changed. if so then maybe you need some maintenance.

Our Sprint is fitted with a capillary temperature gauge.
The cooling system is standard excepting a 6 vane impeller instead of a 12 vane.
At A or B road driving speeds the temperature sits at or just below 1/2 point.
On the Motorway back from Santa Pod this weekend it sat at between 1/2 and 3/4 at speeds between 70 and 75 mph in warm conditions.
In 2010 when driving to Le Mans on the peage in temperatures in excess of 35°C the gauge got to 3/4.
At idle in a traffic jam I've never seen the temperature get as far as 3/4.
I too stick the heater on if the car has been running at high speed and then joins a traffic jam. It makes sense to me to do this regardless of any concerns.

Does that help put it into some sort of perspective?

We have a 50/50 coolant / glycol mix which has been changed twice over 8 years of ownership.
At each change I have flushed out the radiator using a hosepipe...purely because I might as well and not through any real need.

Steve

[Jon Tilson]

This clearly needs saying again....
For a bluecol style antifreeze its completely pointless and actually counter productive going much above 25% solution. This will protect down to about -10 and I cant remember the last time we had a frost that hard in recent years in the south of England.

Even so 33% gives you adequate protection even in Aberdeenshire if you needed it.

The higher the concentration the more your heat capacity is reduced. That is the amount of heat energy it needs to raise the temperature of your coolant goes down. So your 50/50 coolant has to circulate more to loose the heat....of course it cant do more than the pump and stat allow, so the temperature of your engine and oil will go up.

I'd try reducing to 20% in summer to keep the inhibitors in place and see how much lower your gauge reads.

I also used to be a great believer in the additional cooling capacity of the heater, but this weekend I tried not using it and low and behold the waxtstats didnt lean out so much and the car idled better. I reckon the heater pipes heat the waxtstats too much on a hot day.

I'd suspect quite a few cars are running around on iffy rads... I reckon that's why mine runs a tad warmer than I'd really like.

Jonners

[matienzo]

I'm not sure it needs to be "clearly" stated again John! We all have our opinions and experience with this. I have run various vehicles with no anti freeze temporarily and have used lower (20%) summer AF concentrations and have noticed absolutely no difference whatsoever in the coolant or oil temperatures generated in any season. In terms of overheating the efficiency of the overall cooling system is a far greater issue ultimately, so ensuring that the system is free of sludge etc is more important than the actual anti-freeze proportions, other than minimum requirements for a region.

Surely in this case to help the OP we need to understand whether the indicated temperature has suddenly changed to hotter running? That is currently not clear from the original post, in my opinion.

[soe8m]

In my dolomite with caravan to Italy holidays on the brenner pass with 35 degrees outside temp I couldn't even see the needle in the gauge anymore. Heater on, windows down and the kids in swimsuits on the backseat. Too much fuss about temp gauges lately.

Jeroen

[Karlos]

I wonder why coolant products are often branded with "Anti-freeze and Summer coolant", if they make your engine run hotter?

A tin of pilchards has to say "contains fish" on the packaging. Likewise a hot drink has to say 'caution contents may be hot'. Please don't mention peanuts...dammit just did

I'm going to check the packaging of my 'summer coolant' to see if it also has some statement along the lines of 'can cause overheating'.

[Galileo]

In my dolomite with caravan to Italy holidays on the brenner pass with 35 degrees outside temp I couldn't even see the needle in the gauge anymore. Heater on, windows down and the kids in swimsuits on the backseat. Too much fuss about temp gauges lately.

Jeroen

Jeroen, nails it!


Karlos, it's also called summer coolant because it has a surfactant added (like detergent) so that in theory it can transfer more heat into the water.

Edit: Just read Jon's comment and the science is clearly on his side, Ethylene Glycol is not the best substance at transferring heat, so the stronger the mixture the poorer the heat transfer capability. If you don't mind swapping coolant summer to winter, then you're better off draining the antifreeze and using a water wetter with anti-corrosive instead.