Radiator Burst with some Advice.

[Boddney]

My radiator burst tonight on the way home and luckily I found a place to stop before the temp gauge hit the roof.

Anyway, I got recovered home and removed the radiator and was totally shocked by what I saw. I didn't realise that when you look at the front of it in situ, that you are actually looking at the front of the air con rad.

The reason my rad had burst was the amount of crud stuck between the rad and air con rad had forced the fins to bend. 

Anyone with an old GS may want to tilt their radiator backwards a bit and give it a clean out.

Here's a picture of the offending filth.

[Boddney]

Surely gotta be worth a punt no?

[Boddney]

Well I went for it and it looks perfect. It's a bit thinner than the original so I'm hoping the cooling ability will still be the same. Time will tell but all the bolt on, screw in and pipe fittings are exactly right.

[sorcerer]

Hope it goes well, looks to have been an amazing find if it does

[Farqui]

Bargain of the year that, keep us posted.

[Boddney]

All is well the radiator is in with no snags. In fact as it's a bit thinner there is more room between it and the air con radiator, so no need for those horrible strips of foam between them and maybe better air flow.

It does run a little hotter. As you can see in the picture the needle is just past the half way mark and it used to sit directly on it. Oh well, don't suppose it matters to much.

[Farqui]

Good to know that the rad was a straight swap, especially at such a bargain price.

Where did the foam sit, around the edges? If so, then they help force the air thru the grill and not to take the path of least resistance around it.

Do you have an OBD reader that you can use to get a reading of the coolant temperature? The gauges aren't known for being that accurate and I'm quite surprised that it shows any difference at all. So maybe the gauge is more accurate than most?