Radiator disintergating after 4 years
 

The very thin horizontal cooling fins in my (94 corolla) Radiator are
disintegrating and dropping out, and are very brittle.

The upright tubes carrying the coolent in the radiator still seem o.k. This
radiator i bought new about four years ago, admittedly quite cheap, but
should it be doing this?

where it has gone brittle is in two large patches that have lost the black
paint the radiator is painted in. if i were to respray those areas in a
black cellulose might that halt the rot, or what else to do?

Grateful for any advice. thanks john west.

"jw 1111111" > wrote in message
...
> The very thin horizontal cooling fins in my (94 corolla) Radiator are
> disintegrating and dropping out, and are very brittle.

This probably should not happen...
>
> The upright tubes carrying the coolent in the radiator still seem o.k.
> This
> radiator i bought new about four years ago, admittedly quite cheap, but
> should it be doing this?

Err, No, probably made of recycled beer cans!
>
> where it has gone brittle is in two large patches that have lost the black
> paint the radiator is painted in. if i were to respray those areas in a
> black cellulose might that halt the rot, or what else to do?
>
> Grateful for any advice. thanks john west.

I think you have probably purchased a very poor quality pattern radiator,
bite the bullet and get a decent one, or find a corolla in the scrappy that
has had a rear end.
Just flush it through well first.

Andy
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>

"jw 1111111" > wrote in message
...
> The very thin horizontal cooling fins in my (94 corolla) Radiator are
> disintegrating and dropping out, and are very brittle.
>
> The upright tubes carrying the coolent in the radiator still seem o.k.
> This
> radiator i bought new about four years ago, admittedly quite cheap, but
> should it be doing this?
>
> where it has gone brittle is in two large patches that have lost the black
> paint the radiator is painted in. if i were to respray those areas in a
> black cellulose might that halt the rot, or what else to do?
>
> Grateful for any advice. thanks john west.
>

Stick it in the Vise boy!
===================
Teddy Rubberford
(The Man In The Latex Suit)

On Mon, 7 Mar 2005 19:04:06 -0000, "Ted Rubberford"
> wrote:

>
>"jw 1111111" > wrote in message
...
>> The very thin horizontal cooling fins in my (94 corolla) Radiator are
>> disintegrating and dropping out, and are very brittle.
>>
>> The upright tubes carrying the coolent in the radiator still seem o.k.
>> This
>> radiator i bought new about four years ago, admittedly quite cheap, but
>> should it be doing this?
>>
>> where it has gone brittle is in two large patches that have lost the black
>> paint the radiator is painted in. if i were to respray those areas in a
>> black cellulose might that halt the rot, or what else to do?
>>
>> Grateful for any advice. thanks john west.
>>
>
>Stick it in the Vise boy!
>===================
>Teddy Rubberford
>(The Man In The Latex Suit)

IMO, just buy another but BETTER QUALITY radiator, drop it in, problem
solved. I mean, I've changed em out before. Slight PIA, but not
brain surgery.

Lg

Stop buying auto parts made in thirld world countries.

Nik&Andy > wrote:

<Snipped Text>

> > where it has gone brittle is in two large patches that have lost the black
> > paint the radiator is painted in. if i were to respray those areas in a
> > black cellulose might that halt the rot, or what else to do?
> >
> > Grateful for any advice. thanks john west.
>
> I think you have probably purchased a very poor quality pattern radiator,
> bite the bullet and get a decent one, or find a corolla in the scrappy that
> has had a rear end.
> Just flush it through well first.

Cheap doesn't have to be crap though. Many of our peers are familiar
with Auto Radiator Services at Caddington. If you can get over there
it'll be time and money well spent - although he's certainly not
expensive.

--
Andy Hewitt ** FAF#1, (Ex-OSOS#5) - FJ1200 ABS
Honda Civic: Windows free zone (Mac G5 Dual Processor)
http://mysite.wanadoo-members.co.uk/...tts2/index.htm
(updated Feb 21 2005)

On Mon, 7 Mar 2005, jw 1111111 wrote:

> The very thin horizontal cooling fins in my (94 corolla) Radiator are
> disintegrating and dropping out, and are very brittle. The upright tubes
> carrying the coolent in the radiator still seem o.k. This radiator i
> bought new about four years ago, admittedly quite cheap, but should it
> be doing this?

This is what you get for buying Chinese (or other 3rd-world) crap instead
of OE-quality parts.

>The very thin horizontal cooling fins in my (94 >corolla) Radiator are

>disintegrating and dropping out, and are very brittle

Do you live in an area where they use salt on the roads in the
winter? If so, that's your problem. Salt will ruin an unprotected rad
in short order.

Dan

On 7 Mar 2005 14:55:38 -0800, wrote:

>>The very thin horizontal cooling fins in my (94 >corolla) Radiator are
>
>>disintegrating and dropping out, and are very brittle
>
> Do you live in an area where they use salt on the roads in the
>winter? If so, that's your problem. Salt will ruin an unprotected rad
>in short order.
>
> Dan

And if you live in a dusty area, abrasion ( sand blasting in effect )
will ruin your radiator in short order. The faster you go, the
dirtier the air, the more rapid the abrasion.

If/when I have to replace mine, I think of it as a disposable
commodity. It is the part of the engine that takes the worst hit and
you know it is going to rot from the inside out, and wear from the
outside in. Given that, don't feel so bad about it. Some things you
can't do anything about.

I would just buy another one, and put aside some time for installing
it.

Lg

Where did you buy this radiator??

A repaint may slow the decomposition. But it is not a problem until is it
becomes a problem. If it cools okay, use it until it fails.

If it is in warranty, claim against it.

****teaux aluminum radiators are born to fail.