Radiator suppliers

[Jon_vr6 1]

Its not mate unless you've got some after market thing, your right that it connects to the slam panel when it down (not in use).

 

have a closer look and you'll see that it connects to the wing on a rubber grommet trust me!!

Edited June 28, 2011 by Jon_vr6

[Critical_Mass 10]

Hi Jon,

 

Sorry if i sound like im doubting you but im pretty sure mine is def attached to the slam panel (grommet end), unless im being completely stupid. Ive attached some pics to show you. Sorry for the pics - its dark outside.

 

 

 

EDIT - looking at the first pic. is the pit of metal that the grommet is in an extension of the wing and the slam panel is then attached to IT?

[VWVW 1]

Its attached to the wing...here is a pic of it when I dismantledd my front end with the slam panel taken off.

 

If you need to take the slam panel off.. Iam sure the front bumper will needs to be taken off to allow access to 2 bolts on either side of the slam panel.

Edited June 28, 2011 by VWVW

[Critical_Mass 10]

Ah in that case im sorry i doubted you Jon - i was being a daft pillock :lol: :notworthy:

 

 

Does it all need supporting like that or did you do that cos you took the cross member engine support off too?

Edited June 28, 2011 by Critical_Mass

[VWVW 1]

Ah in that case im sorry i doubted you Jon - i was being a daft pillock :lol: :notworthy:

 

 

Does it all need supporting like that or did you do that cos you took the cross member engine support off too?

 

I only supported it like that due to cross member was off and I wanted to save the precious G++ coolant :) also when fitting the the L radiator brackets to your new radiator dont force it in incase you damage your radiator.

Edited June 28, 2011 by VWVW

[Critical_Mass 10]

ok cool

[VR6Pete 0]

Let me know what you think of the ECP radiator. Mines got a leak in it!!

[Critical_Mass 10]

One question though, how do the 2 brackets that go through the slam panel to hold the rad attach to the rad? Is there something to come off the old rad that they slot into? On the new rad there's a metal sort of bracket thing on the drivers side, but no way for this L shaped brackets to go into.

 

The ECP one is £175 on the site, i got staff discount through a mate who works there. Got it for half that.

[Alex_G60_Fanatic 0]

One question though, how do the 2 brackets that go through the slam panel to hold the rad attach to the rad? Is there something to come off the old rad that they slot into? On the new rad there's a metal sort of bracket thing on the drivers side, but no way for this L shaped brackets to go into.

 

The ECP one is £175 on the site, i got staff discount through a mate who works there. Got it for half that.

they just slide/push into the top..... sounds strange there isn't anywhere for them to go :shrug:

[Critical_Mass 10]

Just taken a look, i was expexcting the metal brackets to slide in somewhere along the actual radiator, but infact they slide in to the plastic ends done they. Yes there is somewhere for them to go.

[Critical_Mass 10]

Well got it fitted, took about 5 hours in total. That includes trying to bleed the system. The only slight issue is that i didnt put the air guides back on either side of the rad. Never mind.

 

One other slight issue is trying to get all the air out of the system. The temps on teh gauge seem norm as does the oil. But there's no hot air coming from the vents. Also the water doesnt seem to be circulating back into the reservoir via the small pipe. Im told there will be air in the system. Ive left it all to cool down and will go back later to try again.

[Kevin Bacon 5]

They're not so much air guides, but rather they stop cr#p blasting round the sides and into the engine bay. I didn't bother with them either when I last replaced the rad, but last winter I had snow everywhere in the engine bay (including all over the uprated H/L loom relays!!!), not to mention assorted twigs and other road debris. When I put my flaps back on, the water temp actually rose a couple of degrees, but the engine bay remained free of junk!

 

Put them back on if you get a chance is my advice :D

 

Top and bottom hoses the same temp? Top hose squidgy or firm?

[Critical_Mass 10]

Yeh i would have put them back on had i realised :lol: but to put them back on it seems the front would have to come back off and i wasnt going to do that!!! not today anyway. Yeah ive wrapped my h/l relays in a plastic bag along with insulation tape as once they got water in them just before an MOT and the lights didnt work :lol:

 

I did do the normal procedure of getting it up to temp with the cap off whilst massaging the pipes.

 

The top hose is hot the bottom is hot but not quite has hot as the top. Top hose is squidgy. :( Water light kept flashing despite there being plenty of water in the reservoir. Left it to cool down now and ill go back in a bit to try again.

Edited June 29, 2011 by Critical_Mass

[VR6Pete 0]

It literally took about a weekend to get the airlocks out of my system when i did head gasket. total nightmaire... I did the old trick of filling up into the matrix / top radiator hose / letting it get upto temp, sticking the cap on the bottle just as its about to boil over, letting it cool down, and repeat. all ok now though.

[Critical_Mass 10]

Yeah i did fill the rad first, before anything else. Then topped the system up from the reservoir.

 

I sorted of expected to have to deal with airlocks, what worried me is the temp light flashing away. Like i say the temps were bang on for both water and oil when it was flashing. The water was well above minimum too.

 

VR6PETE - just to let you know what the ECP rad is like. Its pretty good quality, the only issue i found with it is there's a bracked on the top and bottom that i can only assume the fan assembly is supposed to sit in (based that on the rad i removed) and they did really accomodate the assembly. i didnt worry too much i just bent them in a bit further and the assembly was then able to bolt on ok.

Edited June 29, 2011 by Critical_Mass

[Critical_Mass 10]

Well, went back today and had another look at it. Found no water was circulating still, water in header tank was cold, though the top and bottom hoses were hot. Had a mate take a look, who used to work as a mechanic. We took the top hose off and no water was in there despite it being really hot, maybe a little was getting through but when we took it off it was bone dry. Took the top hose off the thermostat housing and no water. Gave the bottom hose a squeeze and finally water started flowing and back into the header tank also! :D

 

All good! BUT still no hot air coming out of the vent!! :( Left it to settle for tonight and tomorrow my mate is going to get one of those pressure systems to flush through the system and also get the hose to the pipe going to the heater matrix.

 

hmmm annoying.

 

---------- Post added at 09:59 PM ---------- Previous post was at 09:22 PM ----------

 

oh and the cap is knackered and need a new one.

[Critical_Mass 10]

For those of you interested, it is sorted! Finally! I hope that radiator lasts a while :lol:

 

I ended up flushing both inlet and outlet pipe with a hose pipe and finally started to get hot air through the vents and the water is circulating as it should be! I was hating the car before all this as it was one thing after another with it. But had a spirited drive home and fell in love with it again :D