Garage Storage Organization and Garage Cabinets

kc8cie · ***HELP, Radiator Exploded!***

I was sitting at the coffee shop this morning, being a good doobie and letting the car run in the lot for the turbo, and the radiator literally exploded, and white smoke/steam everywhere.

No engine damage done, but I was wondering if there was a better radiator that would fit right in for stock, if I could get one that had the intercooler in it, then I could like just put tubes to it

Is there another model that would bolt in?

Thanx for your time,
tim

kc8cie · 10-03-2003, 11:18 AM

Also, it a Lancer 2.2l Turbo, TI of course

I need to try to get it fixed today, can't leave my car sitting at the coffee shop

10-03-2003, 11:53 AM

Yeah just get a Lancer or Shelby Daytona Z rad/IC combo, it'll bolt right in

kc8cie · 10-03-2003, 12:17 PM

For what year?

Mine's an '86, the same year?

Thanx a lot!

Tim

**crazymadbastard** · 10-03-2003, 12:58 PM

The one time a radiator blew up, was because the rad fan did not turn on. So check that too.

kc8cie · 10-03-2003, 01:11 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by crazymadbastard
The one time a radiator blew up, was because the rad fan did not turn on. So check that too.

I've looked at that to, I'm not very sure about it, I think the sensor may have failed on that... I know the fan works, I pulled out my trusty Haynes book, and it said to put 12v to it, and it spun right up, but I've had concerns that it simply wasn't coming on all the time...

I may just look to run fused 12v to it, so I can just leave it on all the time...

I'm also going to move to the 180 degree thermostat, I figure if I'm taking it all apart anyways, I might as well do that to.

sergio · 10-04-2003, 12:32 PM

Make sure you replace teh radiator cap too! If the cap was good then it would have let all that pressure out instead of letting it build to explosive levels... instead of a busted rad you'd just be short a pint or two of fluid.

kc8cie · 10-04-2003, 02:41 PM

Did not no that, thanx for the tip!

I'll pick one up this eveing

Tim

10-04-2003, 06:20 PM

Well first off you cannot add an intercooler to the type of intake manifold you have without heavy modification. Second, the rad/IC combo from any 87-89 T2 G body will bolt right up. But, you need to go to your local part store and pick up the shorter lower radiator hose for it. Notice I speak from experience, after I pulled my rad out and installed the other one I had no lower rad hose. So I had to call my brother to come pick me up and take me to Autozone.
Anyway, while the fan may work, the wires to it may not. Try this test-with the ignition on, disconnect the temp sensor(right beside the thermostat) and the fan should turn on not matter what temp your car is at.
I do not believe that the fan not turning on is your problem though. Your engine would have severely overheated before it reached a temperature where it could blow the radiator. Any 84-89 G body radiator should work, either T1 cars or TBI cars. Not sure about the carbed cars. The fan is different, but the rad is the same. Your radiator obviously was on the verge of being dead already, and extensive idling will overheat a car but it takes like 15 minutes to do that.

kc8cie · 10-04-2003, 10:07 PM

You are correct about the shape of the radiator. I knew it wasn't in great shape, but I didn't think it would go like it did. I've got the new radiator in and running, 50/50 /w a bottle of Redline Water Wetter.

I'm going to attempt to ad a pic of the radiator carnage here, it was not pretty. When I got it out, I'd say 50% or better of the fins were either gone or fell out right there.

I also picked up a new cap and upper hose.

Thanx for everyone's help

kc8cie · 10-04-2003, 10:15 PM

Here's another one, and whats that orange stuff, it looks like RTV to me, would they have used that from the factory? Seems strange to me. Also, instead of using a gasket, they used blue RTV to seal up the thermostat, and the inner ring of RTV that squeezed out got hung up in the thermostat.

Dodgeglht · 10-04-2003, 11:52 PM

What it looks like to me is someone that had the car before you had a problem with the side tanks leaking, and rather than getting it repaired or replaced, they rigged it hoping it would last. Well, the silicone finally gave out and the core blew out.
Also to alert you the radiator cap is not meant to relieve pressure when it gets too high. It's meant to maintaina certain pressure and will not bleed off pressure. If the system has too mich pressure it will force the coolant in the overflow bottle. If the cap was loosing pressure then that would be because the gasket on the cap was no longer able to hold the pressure required on the system. On mine it's 16 psi. It's probably the same for yours. Like I said those systems are under approx. 16 psi, and if the cor was starting to separate from the side tank, and had been repaired incorrectly, then it could blow the tank right off the radiator. I know I used to have an Olds that did that same thing, The tank developed a smal leak and eventually it blew out the side tank. Got it fixed properly and never had another problem with the radiator.

Good Luck

08:22 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by kc8cie
Here's another one, and whats that orange stuff, it looks like RTV to me, would they have used that from the factory? Seems strange to me. Also, instead of using a gasket, they used blue RTV to seal up the thermostat, and the inner ring of RTV that squeezed out got hung up in the thermostat.

I had the same problem about the thermostat housing, it still leaked with one gasket. I guess it was worped or something. I just used 2 gaskets, works great.
Like DODGEGLHT said, someone tried to just patch that radiator before. You probably won't have this problem again. Did you buy a used radiator, or a new one?

kc8cie · 10-05-2003, 10:48 AM

I bought a new radiator, and cap, I thought about picking up a used one, but it was only like $84 for a new one from Advance Auto right in town. She runs nice and cool, and I've seen the fan come on multiple times... I think that something was just really upset revolving around that RTV in the thermostat area.

Thanx everyone for all the help/replies

Tim

firebaron90 · 10-06-2003, 01:11 AM

I am by no means trying to be a smart a$$, but did you actually attempt to run that car with all those rows of fins missing from the tubes in the rad, or did they go bye bye as a result of the carnage???

See chris wright at turbos unleashed. He has a nice thermostat housing that uses a rubber O ring. It is aluminum, and annodized. He had a few left, and i think after they are all sold, that's it. They work really well.

Joe