R25 radiator

Rich@rdS

Rich@rdS

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You guys might remember during the forum's "twilight zone" period :roflmao: , I posted a question asking if I should replace the radiator in our 25 or keep it, after I took it out and found out it was damaged by the water pump pully.

Anyway, I took it to a radiator guy to check it out, and after testing it, he said that it should still be OK to put back in. The radiator had been recored in 1996 and was still in reasonable condition. The guy wanted to take the tanks off to do a proper flow test but was worried that the radiator would be permanently damaged if he tried.

So his recommendation was that for the time being, the radiator could be reinstalled and it should be fine, but I should look into sourcing a new radiator and finding out how much they cost.

I spoke with Ken at Caravelle and he has genuine original 25 radiators ex stock for around $280 or so. I might just get one of these and remove any doubt and anxiety about the radiator springing a leak any time soon. :confused:

Richard
 

Damaged, does that mean leaking? if so $280 for an original new radiator would do wonders for your peace of mind. Kens a legend.
Hows the car performing so far for you or was that for your brother?
 
Da sweet smell of success

Ken, da legendary Kin' of parts procuremen' for de Renaul' Car Club of Jamaica. He ships anywhere in da Worl' even to our great little Islan'.

A new radiator sure to banish all dose evil spirits from da luxury R25, to make sure de only smoke dat flows through yo lungs be de sweet smell of Jamaican success
 
GavinS said:
Damaged, does that mean leaking? if so $280 for an original new radiator would do wonders for your peace of mind. Kens a legend.
Hows the car performing so far for you or was that for your brother?
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Yeah mon, Ken's been really helpful, I've bought quite a few things from him over the past few weeks. :cheers:

I'll re-attach the pics showing the "damage". Sometime in the past the radiator came into contact with the water pump pulley and ended up with some of the tubes being damaged. It was patched up with some hard black goo which seems to be doing OK at keeping the coolant in - I haven't noticed any leaks when the engine's been running.

I've been thinking about it again and I might just put the thing back in to get the car running and on the road as soon as possible. It hasn't been driven since we got it home after we bought it, and my brother's been pestering me to hurry up and get it finished so he can drive it. :mallet:

Down the track I might get the new radiator when all the other stuff on the car is sorted out.

Cheers,
Richard
 

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Richard after looking at the photo I'd be reluctant to take it for a drive in the mountains or countryside are some of the water rows blocked? the air flow is certainly restricted. I understand the need to take it for a spin but a RACV extra care policy may be a wise purchase in advance. A/C load may test it.
Good luck.
 
new one would be best, but if cash is strapped, a good Fuego one should be found at a pickapart.
 
Yeah OK, methinks I'll just get a new radiator from Ken and not worry about it anymore.

I asked about re-coring - I was told by the radiator guy that he would have to make a new one up completely because taking apart my old one would probably damage the tanks, so that would bump the cost up around $400 or so. :eek: He recommended that I just get a new or 2ndhand one instead.

A fuego radiator would be good but I don't really like the thought of having to make up brackets and mucking around with the overflow pipe to get it to fit right. There just aren't enough hours in the day :(

Cheers,
Richard
 
silverexec said:
A fuego radiator would be good but I don't really like the thought of having to make up brackets and mucking around with the overflow pipe to get it to fit right. There just aren't enough hours in the day :(

Cheers,
Richard
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I am about to put the as new Fuego rad in my R25, and the bracket took me 10 minutes to make, and the hose adaptor was bought for a couple of dollars from a hardware shop and it doesnt require any modification of the car. easy peasy ;)
 
Hmmm... in that case, I'll give it more consideration. I'll check out Pick-a-part over the next few days and see what they have to offer.

Cheers,
Richard
 
Well, I've had a busy day today. I went out to Pick-a-part Campbellfield today and found 2 Fuegos (as well as an R19, Pug 505 GR and Cit CX 2400, and an R21 for sale - nice to see their range of French cars increasing). Anyway, one of the Fuegos was in relatively good condition and had a recently re-cored new-looking radiator in it. I thought "bewdy, I'll have that" and took it out within an hour.

I brought it home, and proceeded to flush it out by standing the radiator up on its side and having the inlet/outlet pipes on the bottom. I stuck the hose in the inlet side and watched in dismay as the water bypassed the baffle inside the tank and came straight out the outlet side without passing through the radiator. :mad:

Can anything be done about this? Luckily I took the 30 day warranty option when I bought it (cost $75 instead of $65 - yep, prices have gone up) but that means I can only get credit for future purchases - they don't refund cash. :mad: :mad:

I might check out the other radiator in the other Fuego when I get time. It didn't look as good as the one I got, but it might turn out to be better.

Richard
 
pugrambo said:
what was the cit 2400 like ?
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Looked reasonably intact except that something caused a large "depression" in the roof near the windscreen. All the exterior lights have been taken, as has the rear seat base. Interior is tatty, some door plastics have become melted but otherwise, it's mostly complete. I only quickly glanced at the engine but it looked complete.

Oh, and the car's bright orange. If I go back this week, I can have a closer look at anything you might be interested in (keeping in mind I know virtually nothing about Cits...)

Cheers,
Richard
 
David Cavanagh said:
Why are you guys mucking round with S/H Fuego rads, I've got a few excellent R25 rads in wrecks at work, one of them is still clean and shinny.


David.
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sorry dave, completly forgot about you :blush: Silverexec - please ignore previous advice and go see dave :D

I only mentioned the Fuego rad thing 'cos I had a perfect one lying around from my Fuego days and it made sense to use it, which is why I now know they can be used. and pickapart often has fuegos with decent rads for "cheap". But much easier to use the "right" one.
 
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Dave, yeah I'll keep you in mind. Over the past few days, my dad and brother have gone to get the opinions of other radiator specialists and they have all generally said that our old radiator should be fine. They said it's been patched up well and even if some of the tubes are blocked, it's only a small proportion of the total radiator area so efficiency wouldn't be significantly reduced.

I'm going to chuck it back in the car and see how it goes. Since I've put in a new thermostat, I'll see if that fixes up the overheating issue. If not, then I'll look into the radiator thing again.

Cheers,
Richard
 
UPDATE

I put the old radiator back into the car today and started the car up after I'd refilled it and bled it according to the Haynes manual (seemed unnervingly simple...).

Anyway, after idling the car for around 10 mins, the temp gauge had got to the 1st mark above half way before the thermo fans kicked in. They were on for a short time then turned off, maintaining the temp around that 1st mark above half way.

Is this normal? Seems a bit hot for my liking. Those fans seem a bit lethargic as well when they're running, not very powerful.

I'll have to wait until the car is fully road-going before I can do a proper test of it's cooling abilities. :spanner:

Cheers,
Richard
 
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