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MG MG Y Type - Radiator recore

I have never had this radiator in a car and in use so how can I tell whether or not it needs a recore please?

Thanks

Paul
Paul Barrow

Paul - Any good radiator shop can test the flow rate of your radiator and tell you if it needs a new core. Bring the radiator when you come on the 4th and you can drop it off at Wards Radiator right on your way. He can test the rediator and get a new core for it if it is needed. Good luck - Dave
David DuBois

I've had radiatorflowproblems (and resulting overheating) this year and found that if you pour water into the top of the radiator, the water should stream out quite freely out of the bottom, without astmatic sucking noises when the water runs out at the top.

Being on a tight (hobby)budget I got away with descaling the radiator with vinegar (they sell that here for cleaning purposes, not the cooking type, although that would also work?). I layed the radiator flat on the floor and filled it with two liters of straight vinegar and left it for a few hours to bubble away.
I was rather amazed by the amount of crud that came out of the radiator afterwards and very pleased by the much better flow.

Paul, with your unlimited resources (...) I wouldn't trust an old radiator that has been dry for a long time and have it redone with a heavy duty core.
Willem van der Veer

1) are all the airways clear? They can rust up and swell to block the matrix.
2) Will water flow through it easily? Or does it need flushing?
3) If these two bits are OK, pressure test it full of water, by fitting blanks to the inlet & exit,( and overflow), and a shrader valve to an old cap. Pump it up to about 5psi ( NO MORE). Check for leaks.

If it passes all these tests, clean it up, paint it black and fit it.

Neil.
Neil Cairns

Thanks Neil. It passed 1 and 2 yesterday with flying colours and one of the things I bought from the guy who sold me this house was ... a radiator pressure tester!

Bunging up the big header tank may be a fun thing, but 5lb psi isnt that great so watch this space.

For the record I have no intention of visiting Harborview Hospital again over this one folks so the January 1 update will take place on time ... I trust!

Happy New Year everyone.

Paul
Paul Barrow

Paul: I went the route of recoring as corrosion had damaged the matrix of the radiator by the time I got to it. You'll probably find that if 1 and 2 above are as they should be, and you have all four blades on the fan, that the engine is then overcooled in all but the hottest weather: I find that blanking off the lowest third of the radiator is necessary till about the end of May, and that's running with two blades on the fan. I guess that NW US summers are about as hot as a S English one!

But if you keep the newly clean radiator filled with a proper mix of corrosion inhibitor and antifreeze, you'll never need to do the job again: eight years after reviving my car, the coolant shows no sign of discoloration and the cooling system is fine. Apart from the core plugs, but that's a whole other story....
Tim Griggs

Paul B -
For the header tank, try a plumbing supply, or pool place for their rubber expanding plugs. Many sizes and they just require turning the wingnut.
Paul G
Paul

Good call Paul - forgot about them. So a trip to town and back with the plugs and I run into the workshop full of enthusiasm and ... the pressure tester I have is designed to work on a pressure cap system - not a threaded neck like we have on the Y radiator. So back to square one! Ah well, lets see what Wards radiator can do for me on 4 Jan.

Meanwhile the threads on the bolts on the bottom of the radiator were looking very skanky and nasty. Just so happened that I bought a thread restoring file the other day. Out with the thread gauges and assessed it as 16 tpi, couple of minutes later two nuts going on easy! So not a totally wasted day!

Paul
Paul Barrow

This thread was discussed between 21/12/2005 and 28/12/2005

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