Radiator problems 3.0 95 Diesel

[tigerchicken]

Hi there, just looking for some advice really. About 6 months back steam started pouring out of my engine on the way to the garage for an MOT (luckily I was only about a mile away when I noticed). When I arrived in a cloud of steam I was terrified the head had gone - like I've read about happening on some 2.4 ltr surfs. Mechanic took a look the next day, alleviated my fear about the head blowing and replaced the radiator (so he he said) as a coolant pipe at the bottom had apparently been loose and drained the radiator sufficiently that it cracked. I had noticed that it seemed to be loosing coolant too fast before - also that it was rust coloured so this seemed reasonable. I was then presented with a bill for £500. Is it me or is this ###### steep for replacing a radiator (when they seem to cost about £150 new on ebay?)

6 months on and the coolant stills seems to be going down too quickly and the colour of the coolant is very rust coloured - also rust coloured around the radiator cap. It doesn't look like a very "new" radiator but then I suppose it's difficult to tell.

I tried pulling a sheep trailer the other day with it and it started overheating - the gauge went right up very quickly. A friend with a hilux pickup 2.4 ltr diesel has no bother pulling it at all.

Have I been totally done?
cheers

[wishbone]

Sounds way over the top to me - It's a fairly simple job to remove and replace, and you'd hope they'd flush and put new coolant in. Even if they charged you 2 hours labour at normal rates (£50 an hour round here) it should come to £300 and that would be doing the work very slowly.

Rob.

edit - you should not be losing coolant at all if it's all in good order....

[charvell]

you should be able to tellif the rad is new, the fins will be all shiney,did he replace the hoses and clips? i would get the head tested for piece of mind. My new rad was £190. from roughtrax i also got the top and bottom hose's £30.00 and bought 4 new clips from toyota £8.00. thats £228.00 then 5lts of coolent. i fittted it my self so had no labour. your bill does sound a bit steep. for that price i would take it back.

[tigerchicken]

Thanks!

Thanks guys, that's what I thought - it's good to have some confirmation!

[stormforce]

post up some pics of the rad etc that they were meant to of worked on and we'll tell you if its new.
Like the others have said iot shouldn't still be leaking and that price is way over the top.
If they refuse to sort the problem free of charge properly the threaten them with trading standards or something

[tigerchicken]

Pics of the rad!

Hi, as requested some pics of the dodgy radiator in question. Bear in mind that it was "replaced" in March so it's no longer brand new (longer ago than i'd realised!) but... see what you think. Much appreciated!

[TonyN]

Looks like a new/recon rad to me, you'll always get water marks round cap from just taking the cap off. But dosn't mean its a good one.

Get someone to pressurise the system, and look for leaks around the neck and hoses.

Bad rust in the coolant system is a sign of exhaust gases in coolant, as well as just old weak coolant. I assume your coolant is new, seeing as rad was changed, so the head/gasket would be high up on the list of suspects

I don't see signs of major leakage that would concern me in those pics.

If you're losing water, its will get hot quicker, then boil away the water thats left even quicker.

Get the head/gasket tested, or look for other signs of leakage around the engine.

[tigerchicken]

right cheers Tony - I'll get it checked next month as it's coming up for an MOT then anyway. Thanks for your help all.

[KERRSURF]

I see in the pic it has a TOCOOL sticker, it's n ebay one or just the same as supplied on ebay, doesn't mean it's crap, just not as good as the roughtrax ones.
Does the coolant bubble with engine running and rad cap off?
Does the top hose go brick hard when the engine is up to temp?
Are you getting any white clouds coming from exhaust?

[Albannach]

tocool is what Roughtrax supply.

[wishbone]

tocool is what Roughtrax supply.

Doesn't surprise me at all...... I bought a new rad off rtrax and had to return it for another. I'd bet money on the Rtrax one being exactly the same as the 'crap' milners one......

[KERRSURF]

I got a TOCOOL one, the rad caps are rubbish.

[Albannach]

I got a TOCOOL one, the rad caps are rubbish.

Mine is behind the sofa.

[KERRSURF]

the rad or the cap?

[Albannach]

the rad or the cap?

Both