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Ebay Alloy Radiator Vs New "original" Radiator

Gemini

By Gemini,
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Gemini Contributor

Gemini

Posted
Posted

Hey guys, got my sisters r33 here with a stuffed radiator. Some info on when the problem started.

Her car has been sitting in my backyard for the past year and a half because it was un registered and clutch was stuffed. Got new clutch in and got it registered again. The car has always had an odd problem where you had to keep the rad cap slightly opened otherwise the car will overheat and the overflow bottle will start to bubble. The other week, the heater core gave way and hot coolant went everywhere and fogged up all the windows.

She brought the car over so I bypassed the core because she doesn't use the heater anyways. I topped up the coolant, bled it, all was good. Then a couple days later, the car overheated and overflow bottle bubbled up again. Took the car to natrad and the guy sold us a new rad cap as the seal on the old one was buggered. He told us to bring it back if it does it again.

Car did it again, so I pulled the rad out (funds are a little low so cant afford to get natrad to fix it) and as I was pulling the hose off, the spot where it slips onto snapped off. I stuck a hose in the rad and all this brown shit came out. Ive been flushing it out for the past 3 days and the gunk wont stop. Black chunks are also coming out so I think its safe to assume the radiator was blocked and corroded to death. I removed the thermostat and put it in a jar of boiling water and it opened fully. I tried looking for a thermometer to check if its opening at the correct temp (I think its meant to be 75 degrees?) but cant find a thermometer that goes above 50 :D I was just going to buy one just incase but they arent very cheap. I also flushed the engine with the hose and luckily it was clean and not a spec of gunk in it.

Now some questions.

1. Ebay china intercoolers. I found this one on ebay for $125 + 80 for shipping. Are these rads any good? or should I buy a new original type from somewhere?

2. The thermostat. If its opening fully from water straight from the kettle, is it safe to assume that its working correctly? If I dont have to buy one, it would save me some money to buy new hoses instead. Im guessing they are the original ones as the clamps have dug into them pretty badly and I dont think they will survive another clamping.

3. Whats the chances of the water galleries in the engine been blocked? there was no gunk in it and the flow was nice and steady.

I apologize for the wall of text lol. My sister hasn't had the car for so long and she misses it. She has my 300zx to keep her company though lol

tridentt150v Grand Master

tridentt150v

Posted
Posted

One step at a time, firstly, take your radiator to a radiator shop/guy and get him to clean and pressure test it

Then buy your hoses and set the radiator up with proper coolant again. It sounds like your thermostat is working OK, may not be the right one but you'll have to work with it for now and see - the radiator guy may be able to help. If your sister is a bit of a looker have her 'help' you drop the stuff off, you might get a slightly better deal????

Ebay radiators are probably Ok for a 'Get out of Jail Free' card, but don't be surprised if they don't fit as well as your std one - also phone up Just Jap or go to their Trader section in the For Sale section of SAU on here and send them a PM, they have chinese alloy radiators and although the quality might not be Greddy spec, they would be OK and at least will fit plus you'd get some warranty and/or support.

I'd doubt that the water galleries in the motor would be blocked, it would take a fair bit for that to happen.

The only other part of this equation is your water pump? And you can pick one up on ebay for under $80 [last i looked] and they work.

Gemini Contributor

Gemini

Posted
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Posted

I think the water pump is ok because when I would rev the car with the radiator cap off, the water would get sucked in and then come back up when it idles. I might check out justjap and see how much their alloy rads are. Id rather not waste my time with the old rad because its broken and plus a constant flow of crap comes out.

iplen Mentor

iplen

Posted
Posted

A good mate who is a well renowned mechanic has a cheap china radiator in his 180, which is running 260+rwkw, and he swears by it, bought it as a "get out of Jail" and fitted perfectly, inc original shroud etc, and has not had 1 prob with it.. With that much trouble though I would be worried the issues go further than the radiator...

Gemini Contributor

Gemini

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Im thinking the same but as trident said only other thing could be water pump but to me it looks like its working fine. Im going to end up buying the ebay one (actually found a 52mm for around the same price) I added some cash into my canvas card and wating for it to clear.

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