radiator

[quack]

are all isuzu radiators the same? i.e one for my 90 2.8 mu?

would a manual bighorn be the same?

other wise is it possible to fix the fins? i think there is a small leak in one at the bottom coner of mine, just havnt pulled it out to conferm yet but defintly a leak

what about the product by crc block seal? anyone tried this?

[jer0]

This may sound strange but for leaking radiators stick a 1/2 a cup of pepper in it, it kept my old subaru from leaking for 3 years until i sold it

[geeves]

Better to take the radiator out and then to a radiator shop. If its an easy leak they can solder up for next to nothing if not they can quote on a new core then you can try the radiator sealant. Half a cup of pepper would cost almost as much as a commercial sealer.
The radiator is the same as the earlier bighorn (88 - 91) but might have the mounts in a different place which can be fixed with a drill.
CRC block seal is a block and head sealant not radiator. It might work but theres cheaper stuff around that also works. I belive its virtualy the same as Holts Ironite which to freinds used on cracked heads in Telstars They both lasted over 12 months before the cars were sold

[JustinW]

All Isuzu radiators are not the same. The later model Bighorn (ie 3.1TD) radiators are taller than the Mu and Wizard ones. I don't know about the earlier Bighorns though. Alan, can you measure your radiator and post size?

[roga]

I have a radiator out of an early diesel Pajero in my shed (for a 4d56 engine) and I put the Mu radiator beside it the other day and they were almost identical except for the paj radiator was thicker.

[geeves]

best I can measure without removeing 530 high 570 wide not including the mounting flange. I know a few people that have used the ubs55 radiator in there Mu

[James W]

Well not strickly true, yes same radiators but different mounting brackets and hole locations, at least some are differant. I tried that before, a Bighorn one to fit my mu.

[quack]

well i finaly pulled out the radiator and inspected it, put it in the bath and blow some air into it and found the hole straight away. its in the bottom driversside conner were the tubes meets the bottom tank, there was a copple of small pin prick sized holes around there.

i cleaned them up with a small screw dirver and is looking good.

im going with the crc block seal as its easy and dosnt invole keeping the truck off the road while i take it in for the repair. it says on the can that it fixes all types of radiators(plastic and metal) and all types of blocks and heads. costed $20

my next question is does the radiator need to be bleed? i just added water back in and then turned it on and topped it up untill it stoped taking water.

i think that i might of casued the leak myself as around a month ago i flushed it out and added coolent but at the end of the day it need to be done as there was only rusty water in there, and considering i flushed it not that long ago there was stilla heap of crap in there.

[geeves]

Follow the instructions on the block seal before applying the following. Most of those block sealers wont work with antifreeze untill they have cured but once it has had the required time to do its thing do fill with antifreeze at 30% to 50% Not only does antifreeze stop freezing it also increases the boiling point and it is a anti corrosive.
I would still prefer the profesional repair as it sounds quite easy so should be a same day turn around.

[quack]

ok alan i mangaged to borrow a soldering iorn and the gear to do the job myself, just wondering tho is soldering it permenent? or just a quick fix?

[geeves]

Soldering is how the experts do it although they normaly use a torch. Its hard to get enough heat out of an iron unless its big and high watage. If it looks ok ie smooth and no lumps its probably as good as it can be and will be permanant

[quack]

yup its 145w soldering iorn and also investented in a small butane torch as well to keep the heat up will be doing it tomro as its raining today, so no 4wd this week:(

[James W]

A 145W iron won't cut the mustard.....You will need the butane torch... and maybe more.... if the solder sits in lumps it's not hot enough. For a good joint the solder will flow into the joint... or can be described as wicking up into the joint. Have a good look at the existing solder joints for an example, very slim neat looking. Preferably a concave solder fillet it might be described as, not convex (lumps).

[geeves]

Mays 4x4 action mag has an artical on repairing radiators. If you cant get it still at the shop I can scan it and send it.
When I asked how good is your soldering I was thinking I do a fair bit of soldering in my job but Im not sure I would tackle a radiator. If you get it wrong one of 3 things will happen none are supper serious.
1 it will still leak maybe more than it used to
2 melting the solder around the tank could cause the tank to falll off but this would take a lot of heating.
3 you could blow a hole in the core but if this happens the core was probably at end of life anyway.
Have you had a quote from a professional

[geeves]

re bleeding the radiator it shouldnt be nessecsary but do let it idle up to temperature while checking the leval constantlyand the cap off. An occasional rev will help. Mine always seems to catch a fair bit of air under the thermostat which can cause problems if you just drive off. A long time ago I had a escort that had a small head leak. Bubbles built up under the thermostat and caused it to boil 5 miles from where we had started from that day. The water in the radiator which was being blown everywhere was stone cold. To get home we took the thermostat out and drove from Rotorua to wellington like that

[quack]

yes i have the mag your taliking about alan, but it dosnt really cover fixing holes, just a strip down and clean...

thanks for all the help will let you know how i get on and maybe a pic.

[quack]

ok made the repair now, when i put it back in the bath after there was no bubbles so fingers crossed i got it.

now my next worry is that my mate seemed to think that then we filled it back up with water and stuff, and turned the truck on we should of seen the thormastate(sp) open when i got to opperating temp by the water flowing across into the top pipe throgh were the cap goes on, now we idled it for ages and it did get warm but we couldnt see any current? is this normal or maybe i needed to do it longer,

also the temp gauge hardly moves under normal driving. ie it sits below 1/4 of the gauge, is this normal?

[geeves]

Sounds normal Because the filler is half way across the radiator from the top hose then very little water will flow passed it except at high revs. It all goes down the closest tubes. Also at idle esspecialy with the current weather its unlikly the thermostat will ever fully open at idle. The engine doesnt make enough heat at idle. The idea of idleing was to part open the thermostat so any air gets out.
Check the water leval fairly regularly for the next few days then consider it fixed forever