Have I Stuffed a Perfectly Good Radiator?

Roadrunner · Postby **Roadrunner** » Wed Dec 03, 2014 8:01 pm

Replaced my SE radiator with the recommended Koyo.
I installed yesterday and burbed the system but got late so left all as it was.
Got home today and theres a steady consistant drip from under the car!!!

As it turns out when I dropped the new unit in its dragged along a screw sticking out on the condensor and bent the fins :evil:

even more annoying is as far as I can see these screws on the condensor arent even used for anything!

As soon as I saw the core I saw the issue:
Its leaking steadily from here:

Is this stuffed? Is it fixable?

I feel sick

Roadrunner · Postby **Roadrunner** » Wed Dec 03, 2014 8:07 pm

The offending screw:

bruce · Postby **bruce** » Wed Dec 03, 2014 8:32 pm

Just straighten the fins yourself.
A radiator place should be able to put a blob of solder in that in that broken bit.

Roadrunner · Postby **Roadrunner** » Wed Dec 03, 2014 8:58 pm

Iv been googling radiator repairs, but in reality how will this hold up in the long run? With the odd track day be ok or is this just a temp few month fix?

Mr Morlock · Postby **Mr Morlock** » Wed Dec 03, 2014 9:11 pm

the advice is correct- take it to a local or convenient radiator specialist and ask them for advice. If you don't repair it then you buy another radiator.

Nevyn72 · Postby **Nevyn72** » Wed Dec 03, 2014 9:14 pm

Bummer dude, I know what I would do but you're not going to like the answer.......

Take it into a radiator repair shop and see what they say, they will have a better idea of what's possible and how durable it will be.
Balance the cost of the repair with the cost of replacement and a 'peace of mind' factor.

Must admit, as soon as I saw your image I dashed down to the garage and peered around the foam baffles on my radiator to make sure I didn't do the same sort of damage when installing my Koyo!
Mercifully mine is all good......

The American · Postby **The American** » Thu Dec 04, 2014 8:29 am

From past experience, they will take out that one fin, top and bottom. Makes a durable repair, and it's a very small fraction of the overall device.

speed · Postby **speed** » Thu Dec 04, 2014 8:35 am

Man that sucks. The repair will probably be stronger so I wouldn't worry about durability.

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Roadrunner · Postby **Roadrunner** » Thu Dec 04, 2014 2:15 pm

Dropped it off this morning at a local radiator place.

The guy was pretty genuine, said he straightens everything out, uses a weld that goes hard as and he uses a vacuum system thing that sucks the weld inside the hole too so its a really good bond.
Pressure tests everything as well and said while it won't look pretty, it will last longer than the radiator.

$40 all up im stocked if its as good as he says!