installing radiator back ..

[WIMPUS]

Hi!

i'm going to re-install within a mont  my old radiator (still in good shape)

what should i do ? It's the first time i'm going to do something like this ( also the spit is my first car)  ;)

How much coolant must i poor in ?  :B

Do i need a new thermostat?  (car last started at September 2011)  :) and don't know when is changed ever..

kind regards Wim

[Rich_s]

Hi Wim,

fitting the radiator is fairly easy, the total amount of coolant required according to the manual is 4.5 litres, at least 30% should be neat anti-freeze and the rest water, i usually put about 50% of each so as i top up throughout the year the mixture wont dilute too much :)

best way to check the thermostat is look on the top bit and it should state a temperature it opens at, should be about 80 degrees, think mine is a 78 degree one and works fine. put it in pan of water on the stove with a thermometer in, when the thermometer says about 80 degrees you should see the thermostat opening up, if it dont open then its no use so get a new one.

rich

[WIMPUS]

932 wrote:

Hi Wim,

fitting the radiator is fairly easy, the total amount of coolant required according to the manual is 4.5 litres, at least 30% should be neat anti-freeze and the rest water, i usually put about 50% of each so as i top up throughout the year the mixture wont dilute too much :)

best way to check the thermostat is look on the top bit and it should state a temperature it opens at, should be about 80 degrees, think mine is a 78 degree one and works fine. put it in pan of water on the stove with a thermometer in, when the thermometer says about 80 degrees you should see the thermostat opening up, if it dont open then its no use so get a new one.

rich

thanks !

I'm going to look at it when the car is back from his paint job  ;)

I hope the thermostat is in good condition but the cooling on my spit has been not serviced in 20years or so .. many parts are still original when i got it !  Sprayed ones over in red and some nice bodge's to find here and there  ;D

Wim

[WIMPUS]

Now i've looked in the haynes manual,
and i've seen that there is a drain plug on the engine block.. do i need to open this up also?  :-/

i've seen that in all the pipes are a little rust color  :-/ .. So i'm going to see for radiator flush.

Car has not been started over a year.. :)
Hope to start her up in the next two weeks  :P

Kind regards Wim

[drofgum]

Wim,
It certainly is a good idea to pull the block drain plug out and flush the block. You may be amazed at the amount of debris that can be removed from the cooling passages. If you have a source for the core plugs removing them also will allow a better job  to be done cleaning things.
                                                                              Cheers,
                                                                              Paul

[WIMPUS]

hi!

i've got some radiator flush but on the bottle it says that you need to add it to your existing cool water .. but my system is dry so  ;D

I'm thinking to use regular water + the rad flush . Good idea ?  :-/ I've already bought 5 liter of coolant ( ready to use).
I don't want to use the new coolant and the flush , then i must get new coolant  :-/

kind regards Wim

[junkuser]

Just water would be fine Wimpus.

[WIMPUS]

junkuser wrote:

Just water would be fine Wimpus.

ok thanks !!  ;)

i just put some water in my rad and let it out again at the botom hose .. and there was some dirt in it  :-/

Will see , the drain plug on he engine was all in order , the water that was coming out of there was not rusted  :)

[junkuser]

Poking  wire around inside the water jacket, through any available orifice, can be revealing and therapeutic Wim.