upgrading radiator

[doug_sri]

at the moment my radiator is really small and has a slight leak so gonna replace it. Its the one that has long legs where is fixes into the cross member so think about getting the GTE/GSi one. Has anyone got any pics of this? Just to see the size difference. Do any other vauxhall radiators fit the mounting brackets like a mk2 astra gte 16v radiator? What price am I looking at new and wheres a good place to buy?


thanks

[Mike]

dont no wot ones will fit, but try Vaux performance spares in essex-01255 670 670 they'll deliver to youre door within 2 days

[Chris]

around 50quid for a gte/gsi one, or 100quid for a TD one, which is much bigger although you will struggle with the TD one as the pipes are in a different place

Chris

[doug_sri]

cheers, will get a few prices tomorrow I think. Think i will just go for a GTE/GSi one as the small one seems to manage to keep the 2.0 cool. Just hope fitting the thing aint to hard as there isnt alot of room under the bonnet. Exhaust manifold will have to come off i think

[Chris]

you will need to remove, dizzy, fan, manifold to get the radiator out (or thats what I have to do to get my rad out)

Chris

[Snowface]

1.2 radiator is fine to run a 2.0 16v i think. Running a GSi/GTE engine with one is no problem, so you may aswell save urself some cash and get one of the numerous 1.2's found at scrappy's.

1.2/1.3/1.4 are all same. Not sure about 1.0.

[Nick]

IIRC snowface, the 1.0 rad is the same as the 1.2/1.3/1.4.

it's the 1.6 and TD that are bigger, and bigger, Respectivly.

[burgo]

IIRC snowface, the 1.0 rad is the same as the 1.2/1.3/1.4.

it's the 1.6 and TD that are bigger, and bigger, Respectivly.

i thought the 1L rad was completely different, 1.2/1.3/1.4/1.6 the same and TD huge

[Nick]

im sure the 1.6 rad is bigger than the rest, but smaller than the TD ?

who knows !

[Benn]

vauxhalls ecp says.... 1.6gte/gsi and td are the same size,
1. up to the 1.4 are the same size

[Nick]

ace. Thanks

[Aragorn]

td rad is different

it goes right over to the drivers chassis leg, petrols dont

[j1400]

1.2 radiator is fine to run a 2.0 16v i think. Running a GSi/GTE engine with one is no problem.

I had to upgrade on my 1.4 to a GSi rad cause the car was starting to heat up rapidly on topspeed runs, so on track god knows how long it would have lasted :oops:


You'll also need the fan and hosing for the fan as they're different on the GSi sized rad.

[NovaloadedAgain]

Yeah I have a GSi rad in mine, Im still using the 1.4 fan though. All seems fine here. Been on my car for ages. Ive got customised brackets on mine to hold the rad.

[skud52]

the gsi radiator is no bigger in length, but is deeper than the 1.4

if your struggling for room where the radiator is then the chances of you being able to remove/fit the manifold with it in place will be very difficult. much easier to push it from the front of the cross member into place, then remove dizzy and squeeze the fan in through the top.

i had this problem on my 2.0, i started off with a 1.4, then found there was a leak so changed to a gsi radiator i had, and found that the fan with that rad didnt work. all alot of hassle

[Philsutton]

the TD one is huge, the whole width of the front, the 1.6 is not much different to all the rest. I have a 1.2 rad on my 2lt 16v

[m.d.]

i had a 1.2 rad in my 2.0 8v and i had to have the fan on all the time and removed the thermostat, the temp allways was about half way up the guage (not the guage as ive tried 5 lol) im using a gte one now (45 quid from coopers) its loads bigger in height and in width and thickness by a small ammount too.

now with a stat in it sits just below half way on the guage without the fan. think my sender my be telling lies as its still too far up the guage but the gte rad deffo kept it cooler

[Snowface]

blow all the crap out of your old one and it will help its colling efficiency.

not sure where the 1.4sri rad fits in to the equation, they're quiote rare so i guess you'd have a job getting one anyway.

[sm1thson]

(my car= nova mk1 1.5td)
My radiator has a slight leak, I lose about 0.25l per 1000miles. I fear if I don?t do anything about the leak it will get worse (as I presume it will corrode lots around where it is leaking).

I?m not really in the mood for forking out ?100 on a new one so:

I have thought about using a radiator leak stop additive, does anybody advise against this? Is there a chance it will kill my water pump or anything like that?

I can see approximately where it is leaking (not had much of a look) is it worth attacking from the outside?

Any other ideas?

[-Bruce-]

smithson,

have a look at the coolant pipes and see what sort of order they are in and the conection to the rad!! dont want to fork out 100 for a rad when its only a coolant pipe!!

Bruce

[sm1thson]

its definately the rad itself, not the pipes. things have got worse i just had to put 1L in it. to change the radiator (1.5TD) do i have to remove the manifold or any thing like that? it is clear i will have to move the fan and pipe from the turbo, but i really dont want to touch the manafold as its pretty rusty and might cause some more trubbles!