Coolant leak

[maydharm]

Hi All,

I took the Esprit out for a run today, nothing hard, about 70 miles of gentle cruising, parked up to move some bits out of the way in the garage, when I went to put the car away it dumped a load of coolant over the drive. When I looked the car there was a stream of coolant that appeared to be coming from the near side of the rad. My question is, how hard is it to remove the radiator and who to go to for a new one if that's what's needed? 

Cheers Jon.

[Barrykearley]

The hardest bit will be every single mounting bolt which will be siezed solid.

sheer them off and drop the rad tray out. Avoid touching anything you do not need to - that will be siezed solid and cost money to sort if you get a spanner on them. 

You can have the rad recored for about the £200 mark - or £250 ish if you upgrade the core.

good luck !!

[maydharm]

Thanks for the quick reply, sound like I've got a fun filled  dirty weekend ahead, has anyone fitted a radiator from radtec?  

[Barrykearley]

This thread is worth a look 

@ian29gte   He's done an amazing job on his cooling system - it's only a measly and lowly 4pot     but it's all much of a muchness. I'm hoping he will cross to the dark side one day - then I can buy his !!!

 

[stugilmour]

Jon, I would also recommend checking out getting your stock rad pack re-cored, depending on what you find for issues after removal. I think they typically re-core to four row rather than the stock three row.

I tried with two different alloy aftermarket rads and had issues with cracking.  If you do opt for an aluminium unit, pay particular attention to how you mount it. My understanding is they must be mounted in some sort of flexible rubber mounts to prevent body flex causing them to crack.  YMMV.  Just my experience. Both of mine were from North American suppliers; no direct experience with Radtec.

Recognize others have definitely used aluminium units with success, and my second aluminium unit did provide more cooling than my presently installed re-cored unit. The issue was that  cracking at the welds is pretty much impossible to repair; we took a shot but could not get a reliable seal.  It may have worked OK with a better mounting system, but after two kicks at the can I went back to conventional stock material.  I am still using the larger aftermarket fan package though, so that might be something you want to consider.

I had my local shop do the work.  My understanding it is pretty difficult without a lift, but the thread Barry linked to is encouraging for sure.

Have you thoroughly checked all of the hoses and stuff first, particularly around the diverter valve and heater hoses?

I had an overheating issue at idle caused by one of the three fan fuses going out, so definitely check all three fans are working.

Stu

[Chillidoggy]

Seeing as Barry has now put me on the spot.............................thanks, mate.

If your rad is leaking, then the only option is rad-pack removal, you won't fix it in situ. It can of course be done by anyone, but don't underestimate the job. The rad-pack in the GRP duct is heavy, and potentially awkward to lower and to lift up unless you have a scissor lift like I do. There are other methods to raise am lower though, I think Travis used a ratchet strap, and I've seen another using long pieces of studding.

Unless your car has lived its life in warm climates, then every last nut and bolt will probably be seized solid. Mine were. Be prepared to angle-grind and hacksaw. I don't know if you have to remove the oil coolers to remove the pack (different on the V8 to the 4-pot), but if you do, plan on buying new ones, and read up on gyno procedures, and buy a shedload of caustic soda.

You are fortunate in as much as there's no charge-cooler rad, but you will probably want to consider replacing the air-con condensers (there's another thread running here about doing just that). Remember that once the thing is back in, access to anything is non-existent! You may have to do a little GRP repair work on the duct flanges if they're damaged, but it's an easy fix.

I had my original coolant rad re-cored as I had heard stories of alloy ones cracking, and there's no way on God's green earth I wanted to be doing this job twice. Serck built me the new rad, and new steel framework, plus fitted the new Spal fans for £300 (fans extra). The cost of an alloy rad is more than that. I do believe that if the standard S4s Esprit cooling system is in good order, it is more than capable of doing what it has to do, indeed I suspect that on the 4-pot at least there may be a bit of redundancy in there, as it's the same rad as the V8. Running the engine with the car in the garage yesterday, I couldn't get it hot enough for the fans to kick in, so I guess the new rad has made a difference.

There are a few threads around on this subject, so it'll be worth doing some forum legwork beforehand. If you have any other questions, then post here; I'm sure the members will be only too pleased to assist if they can.

[maydharm]

Hi All,

Just a quick update, Firstly can I thank you all for the invaluable advice, the rad is out, I spent the last 4 evenings under the car with a lead light, not the best way of working but there you go. I think I've been lucky, I've owned the car for 10 years so I know the rad has not been touched in that time, I only sheared 2 bolts, the remains of which came out with a little heat and some mole grips. The new red should be with me on Saturday, ( thank you SJ's). Lets hope it fits back together with as few problems.

Cheers Jon.