Cooling system

[MartinM]

Hi all

I have a 1993 SFA 2200. About three months ago I had my radiator recored. After about two months, the brackets that bolt the radiator to the vehicle broke of the radiator housing. I took my van back to the radilator shop. The brackets were reattached. They however made a comment that they think that there was excesive pressure in the system. The chemical test did not show any gasses entering the cooling water.

My questions to the fundis are:
1. How "hard" should the radiator pipes be when the engine is at opperating temp?
2. Surely the radiator cap ensures a max system pressure?

Any comments would be appreciated.
Cheers
Martin

[Kevin Botha]

Logically, no amount of pressure should break the radiator Mountings??

If the rubber hoses are way too hard and rigid they may put a strain on the mountings, this is the only thing I can think of.
I did see a lexus converion that was done with metal pipes between the radiator and the engine, this caused the mountings to break.

Check that the mountings are correctly installed, they should have some form of rubber mounting washers to keep the actual unit away from the body of the cab.

[Scooter]

Most of the cooling systems I have worked on have had pressures of between 12 and 16psi if I remember correctly.
The cap should have a rating of the same psi, allowing the pressure to be reduced if it rises above the standard pressure.

WRT your radiator hoses, you should be able to squeeze them, I would say by a quarter. If they flatten then theres no pressure and if they are rock hard then maybe too much pressure.

Just my 2c

[BenHur]

Do you mean the pipes are hard due to system pressure or are they hard always even when the engine is cold? If the system ran too hot for some time the hoses may become hard which means they are not too far away from failure.

Can't the radiator shop test your cap and system pressure? If they can not go somewhere else where they have a pressure test kit and let them test the cap as well as system pressure.