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I’ll make a note to remind you
The study of a radiator
- Thread starter DiyNutJob
- Start date
'Oh well, I'll just hope that the combination of a higher price than that mentioned by the OP & the fact that the rad. wasn't sourced through the 'bay might mean I've ended up with an item from the premium range.
I have a Nissen radiator on my old Alfa. It's nowhere near as good as the original. I'd avoid them in the future.
Weight isn't necessarily an advantage for a radiator - often the opposite. Thinner-walled tubes dissipate heat faster.
I've had a Nissens on my old Range Rover classic for over 4 years without issues, but that's only about 7K miles ago so perhaps it's storing up surprises for me.
No, the cooling was noticeably worse on my Alfa from the moment I turned the key. (Well, OK, the moment the thermostat opened, after the moment I turned the key...)!
It just doesn't cool as well as the old leaking one did. That was an "old skool" copper matrix with brass header tanks, soldered together. The Nissens one is the modern plastic header tanks and aluminium matrix. I think it has just been designed down to a cost. It has one less row of tubes than the original one.Thermostats can be tricky blighters as well, back in January my old 5 series overheated about 3 miles from home, following a cold start. Recovered to our local garage.No, the cooling was noticeably worse on my Alfa from the moment I turned the key. (Well, OK, the moment the thermostat opened, after the moment I turned the key...)!
Thermo. suspected, but when tested by immersion in hot water it operated fine.
Replaced as a matter of course, no further problems over the past 1300m.
I tend to have the opposite problem - all mine always seem to fail open!
Annoying but at safe, at least you won't cook the engine. Mine got very hot but I seem to have caught it in time, boiling can be fatal with a BMW.
I always glance at the temp. gauge fairly often as the stupid thing is 'buffered' & doesn't move past normal until things are getting critical .. it was the warning gong that alerted me, right in the midst of 2 lanes of peak period traffic !
I bloody hate that! "Managed" temperature gauge readings. The wife's Skoda has it. It also has a "trick" water pump that's designed to speed up engine warmup in the cold. The idea is quite clever - there's a moveable collar round the blades of the water pump. When cold, the shroud surrounds the blades so the water can't circulate. As the temperature warms up, a solenoid valve opens and the shroud retracts, using water pressure generated by the pump, allowing the pump to start circulating the water. You can guess which position they fail in, when they stick...!
So whereas I might have noticed it reading "a little hot" on some runs, the gauge stayed resolutely in the centre and then all of a sudden, "BANG"! Right into the red!
What's the point of having a gauge and then adding software to make it behave like a warning light?I concur, BM's excuse is that they don't want owners to be alarmed by slight movements of the needle driven by 'normal' fluctuations' in coolant temperture.So whereas I might have noticed it reading "a little hot" on some runs, the gauge stayed resolutely in the centre and then all of a sudden, "BANG"! Right into the red!
Interestingly there were cars produced back in the 'fifties (the Nuffield organisation springs to mind) that weren't even equipped with coolant temperature gauges from the factory & I drove AEC coaches with underfloor engines in the early 'seventies similarly (not) equipped & just had a warning light on the dash, which was universally ignored by drivers in hot weather.
That tells me you have something else that isn't working. My car ran fine with 4 litres of coolant leaked out on the road after collision. Although it was cold weather at the time. I don't need better cooling. I need thicker materials to play bumper cars. Nissens would work out better for me: more materials for lower price.No, the cooling was noticeably worse on my Alfa from the moment I turned the key. (Well, OK, the moment the thermostat opened, after the moment I turned the key...)!
Mine does exactly that.
The fuel gauge is likewise an interpreted value, based on two level sensors, and present mpg. Park the car, and it will show one level, then restart the car later, it will show a lower level whilst running cold, then as the engine warms, and mpg improves, it will rise.
On the subject of corrections, this is what I think you meant
One of my pet hates
No, nothing else changed. Took out leaky old radiator, fitted new one, refilled and bled system, job done. It's just a crap radiator. I have since found and bought an original, and I might replace the Nissen one this summer if the weather gets hot - in which case, I'll happily post you the old Nissen one to tie to your bumper and use as a fender for playing bumper cars, if you like!
What is interesting, is that my son has the 2 litre version of the same car, (mine's the three litre), which also has a Nissen radiator fitted and the matrix looks about the same thickness as mine, so I suspect the corner-cutting scumbags have just used the same matrix for all versions of my car, and only changed the end tanks.