GU radiator woes - HELP!!!
Submitted: Wednesday, Jun 01, 2005 at 09:41
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V8Diesel
Well.... after reading the Big T's post a little while back regarding the danger of the fan shroud rubbing through the aluminium radiator cores on GU's and thinking to myself "better
check that out", it happened. Green blood on the driveway. Bugger.
Upon removal and inspection, it turns out there's a pinhole in the ali radiator. Missus takes it to Natrad and the quote is.......$1,400!!!!! "you can't fix / weld an ali core radiator. Top tank is stuffed too." Strewth!!!
My questions to the brains trust are, can an aluminum radiator core be properly repaired? If so, does anyone know who does this in
Perth?
Also, does anyone know of a good aftermarket replacement radiator for a 1999 4.5l petrol (TB45E) Nissan GU Patrol? I would prefer a traditional brass job for the obvious reasons. (BTW I'm aware of the PWR ones, they are about $1,100 from memory - must be something cheaper out there!)
Thanks in advance.
Reply By: Swine Hunter - Wednesday, Jun 01, 2005 at 12:44
Wednesday, Jun 01, 2005 at 12:44
Hi there,
Sorry to hear of the woe.
Try Desert Cooler radiators, he is in Vic, and does exc ellent work, don't think he can repair your alloy one, but I would say he can certainly supply a suitable non-alloy replacement. He custom manufactures them for all types of vehicles, he has done 4 for me, 3 were hot rods, and 1 for a big block chev VN commodore in 5 core. Price was very good too, he advertises in the performance and hot rod mags regularly.
Hope it helps,
Cheers,
Wayne
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Reply By: Casnat - Wednesday, Jun 01, 2005 at 14:07
Wednesday, Jun 01, 2005 at 14:07
Had a pinhole in my GU radiator also and Natrad quoted me a similar price for a new one saying aluminium couldn't be welded (I have since been informed that it can be ... I think special rods are required?). When I persisted enquiring about repairing options they finally came up with the option of some special "glue" which is applied with heat. They won't guarantee it but I went this way and have had no problems since. Have done Googs and
Border Track since and no signs of problems.
I took the radiator out myself and dropped it in to them. Cost....$40. A lot cheaper than $1400! I guess the trade off is reliability and a risk of problems in a remote area. I guess Natrad don't offer this option readily because they make more money out of selling you a new radiator.
Removing and replacing the radiator took a while. Even though they were still ok while they were easy to get at I also replaced the top and bottom hoses and all fan belts and the old ones are now in my spares kit.
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Reply By: V8Diesel - Wednesday, Jun 01, 2005 at 23:48
Wednesday, Jun 01, 2005 at 23:48
Firstly, a big thanks to everyone for all the help and suggestions, the
forum comes through again!
It's fixed!!! Both areas where the fan shroud had touched were ali welded for $50. I removed the radiator in 20mins and put back in tonight 15mins. Gotta be happy with that compared to $1,440.
The bloke who did it said he uses the welding rods from the guy at the Royal Show (as was mentioned above). He does motorbike radiators too (also as suggested).
Will look into getting hold of a reasonably priced brass one at leisure now.
Thanks again guys, owe you all a good drink or ten.
Cheers!
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