Radiator Cleaning

dmcsweeney

Active Member
Hi all,

I'm thinking of swapping out the rad on my white 3500s for a spare, but wondered how best to clean it internally before I fit it. The last time I drove the car in heavy traffic it went above mid way in the green dispite running the electric fan. Normally when it hits here it pushes water out the over flow when I shut it down. This time it pushed it out through one of the 'Kevlar' heater hoses. I'm about to order a full set of replacement hoses but I'm wondering what to do with the rad. My red car used to also runs hot from time to time, but I think I'll fit an uprated rad to that.

Any advice?
Thanks,
Dave
 
Anywhere in the green is fine. It'll push water out of a full radiator because it has no expansion tank when the water heats up. (fit one and you get the top 2" of the rad back). If you get EXCESSIVE water loss it's because you have trapped air somewhere which expands at a far greater rate than the liquid. You need to point the nose up a steep hill and bleed it out.

The mid-point of the gauge is nominally 85 degrees. The 82 degree stat STARTS to open at that temperature but isn't fully open until around 90 degrees. The thermostat of your fan should be somewhat above this fully open point say on at 95 and off at 89 being common. So it WILL operate above the mid point unless you are moving. Nothing wrong with that. Remember the RECOMMENDED stat is 89 degrees, the most commonly used one being the 82 degree summer rated stat.

At 15 PSI with 50:50 glycol boiling point is around 124 degrees C.
 
Anywhere in the green is fine. It'll push water out of a full radiator because it has no expansion tank when the water heats up. (fit one and you get the top 2" of the rad back). If you get EXCESSIVE water loss it's because you have trapped air somewhere which expands at a far greater rate than the liquid. You need to point the nose up a steep hill and bleed it out.

The mid-point of the gauge is nominally 85 degrees. The 82 degree stat STARTS to open at that temperature but isn't fully open until around 90 degrees. The thermostat of your fan should be somewhat above this fully open point say on at 95 and off at 89 being common. So it WILL operate above the mid point unless you are moving. Nothing wrong with that. Remember the RECOMMENDED stat is 89 degrees, the most commonly used one being the 82 degree summer rated stat.

At 15 PSI with 50:50 glycol boiling point is around 124 degrees C.

Thanks Peter. I'll order a new stat while I'm getting hoses just to be sure. I usually leave the water 2" below the top. I also have a spare expansion tank knocking about so I'll fit this as well.
Regards,
Dave
 
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