re coring a radiator

Post by **45punkbus** » Mon Oct 24, 2005 8:16 pm

hey guys i busted my radiator 4wding yesterday and i was wondering if anyone knows of a good place to get it done around melb and what price approx i would be up for to get it done?

i was told i should up grade from a 3 core to 4 core (i think thats what it was i know it was 3 to 4 of something)

cheers

Dean

Post by **V8Patrol** » Mon Oct 24, 2005 8:33 pm

Will be a price differance between a 3 or 4 core radiator so you'd better be sitting down when the quote is done

Dont expect much change from $500

The 4 core will help with cooling if you are experiancing overheating dramas..... if its runnin fine then why spend the extra $$$$$

Kingy

Post by **runnin4life** » Mon Oct 24, 2005 8:52 pm

sorry to hyjack but any one know how much it would cost for them to do like a service on it
e.g. take the tanks off and dip it in a bath of acid ( well i think thats what they do)

any help would be great

Post by **HEY CHARGER** » Mon Oct 24, 2005 9:05 pm

There is a Shit hot place called ,
Essendon Radiators in Airport West just around the back of Westield shops
and they charge about 30-40 bucks for a reco on your radiator , take the tanks of , clean the cores , totally rebuild it .
Great bunch of blokes aswell , i actually just picked mine up last friday fully reco , and got the bottom tank replaced , and the bottom neck shifted to a different spot . $100.00 bucks later , its a new radiator !!

Post by **45punkbus** » Mon Oct 24, 2005 9:11 pm

V8Patrol wrote:Will be a price differance between a 3 or 4 core radiator so you'd better be sitting down when the quote is done

Dont expect much change from $500

The 4 core will help with cooling if you are experiancing overheating dramas..... if its runnin fine then why spend the extra $$$$$

Kingy

it seems to run fine on road, but the last 2 times i have been out 4wding and had a good work out of low range it has started to heat up more than usual,

but never really got to excessive, until yesterday but a nice sized whole sorta helped that one

Post by **bogged** » Mon Oct 24, 2005 9:25 pm

HEY CHARGER wrote:they charge about 30-40 bucks for a reco on your radiator , take the tanks of , clean the cores , totally rebuild it .

there is massive difference in a flush, and a rebuild. Rebuild or recore is actual new cores, and if they are doing redores for $30, I'll take 1000 thanks. My Ebay retirement fund is alive.

As for where in Melb are you 45? Dont go to Frankston Radiators... They raped me, charged me for flush and pressure wash etc, and all they did was a paint job.

Post by **HEY CHARGER** » Mon Oct 24, 2005 9:33 pm

bogged wrote:
Bogged wrote:
there is massive difference in a flush, and a rebuild. Rebuild or recore is actual new cores, and if they are doing redores for $30, I'll take 1000 thanks. My Ebay retirement fund is alive.

As for where in Melb are you 45? Dont go to Frankston Radiators... They raped me, charged me for flush and pressure wash etc, and all they did was a paint job.

I can't see where i mentioned "recore" or "flush" , but i did mention "reco" and "rebuild" , if you take them your radiator they will

* remove top and bottom tanks , resolder any leaks ,cracks or weeps.
* clean all the cores between the vertiacls individually with a wire brush
* straighten bent or damaged fins ( to a point of course)
* pressure test
* then the customary respray.

I reckon thats a reco/rebuild to me

for 30 to 40 bucks.

I can pressure wash and flush my radiator at home .

Cheers.

Post by **45punkbus** » Mon Oct 24, 2005 9:42 pm

bogged wrote:
HEY CHARGER wrote:they charge about 30-40 bucks for a reco on your radiator , take the tanks of , clean the cores , totally rebuild it .
there is massive difference in a flush, and a rebuild. Rebuild or recore is actual new cores, and if they are doing redores for $30, I'll take 1000 thanks. My Ebay retirement fund is alive.

As for where in Melb are you 45? Dont go to Frankston Radiators... They raped me, charged me for flush and pressure wash etc, and all they did was a paint job.

im out in bundoora. northan suburbs of melb,

Post by **bogged** » Mon Oct 24, 2005 10:23 pm

HEY CHARGER wrote:I can't see where i mentioned "recore" or "flush" , but i did mention "reco" and "rebuild" , if you take them your radiator they will

remove tanks, flush it out, clean any blockages - which is not a rebuild, its a flush. rebuild is new cores totally...

Post by **jtraf** » Mon Oct 24, 2005 11:12 pm

Aussie Desert Coolers in Preston.....

Builds his own core's on site and can increase capacity etc.

All the work I have had done there has been top class

See Norm the big bikie looking bloke and see what he can do for ya.

Aussie Desert coolers is near Preston Market just the other side of the railway line on Murray Rd.

HTH

James

Post by **V8Patrol** » Tue Oct 25, 2005 7:38 pm

45punkbus wrote:it seems to run fine on road, but the last 2 times i have been out 4wding and had a good work out of low range it has started to heat up more than usual,

but never really got to excessive, until yesterday but a nice sized whole sorta helped that one

Ok so there is no real reason to waste $$$$ on a radiator recore to take it out to a 4 core job when the 3 core is working fine...... its still gunna cost tho and again you still wont get much change from $350 - $400.

If the hole isnt that bad then just get it repaired and if your slightly worried about the temp situation then get em to do a tank removel and clean/flush out.

The radiator will nodoubt have some buildup of crud and this usually deposits itself in the actual cores..... that build up however small restricts the water flow which causes a slight rise in temp..... the thermostat in the engine should be able to offset this rise but like all things there comes a point that the thermostat cant regulate the water flow well enough to overcome the core restriction...... thats when it starts boiling !

So what will the radiator shop do........ for what you have described Id recemend a repair to the hole and a full clean and power flush......
this is what they'll do .....

Desolder the one tank from the radiator
with a steady flow of water they will push a steel band down each individual core
NB: the band is similar to an old clock spring and I have one here that I use to clear my radiators out with.... it works a treat )

As the band is pushed down each core it scrapes off all the buildup in the cores..... the water acts as both a lubricant and a flushing agent as the band is pushed through the cores.

The scale / crud is washed out from the exposed side and then runs freely out through the hose outlet on the side that hasnt had the tank removed.
NB: not many radiator shops remove both tanks, its usually just the one tank removal for the std clean out. Bout the only time they remove both tanks is when the cores are really badly blocked and they need to be able to get to a blockage from the other side.

Once the cores are clean then they resolder tha tank back on and pressure test it for leaks ( usually 16psi )

If they are really keen they will sometimes straighten the fins out ( fins are the fine bits between the cores ) with a tool that looks a bit like a comb !, they also blow out as much of the dead flies/bugs etc as posiable with either air or water.....
A water wash is far more effective but also much more time consuming = more $$$$$

Used to be a place in Geelong that soaked em overnight in a mix of chemicals ( smelt like baby wipes !! ) and in the morning just hose em off...... the bugs etc had disintergrated overnight in to a state I can only describe as similar consistancy to those green lumps we cough up when we have a bad cold.....
Sorry for that description

They also used to leave em for about 4 hours with a fairly strong mix of CLR ( yep that product that cleans out Calcium Lime Rust form our home appliances n shower heads etc. )...... this mix helped clean out any other shyte that the core cleaning process may have missed.

I have on the odd occasion done the CLR trick to my own radiators and engine water jackets...... its quite supprising the amount of cwap that it actually flushed out !!!

anyhow back to the "specialists" ......

Once this has all been done they coat the radiator with a coat of black paint so its nice n pretty to look at.
( the paint also helps protect the fins from corrosion as they are very suceptible to corosion )

and then they make out the bill

Kingy

Website · Post by **murcod** » Tue Oct 25, 2005 8:05 pm

Could pay to check out the price for a new radiator too. As an example I was recently quoted approx half the price of a brand new radiator for just a recore!?

Post by **45punkbus** » Tue Oct 25, 2005 8:18 pm

that sums it right up and i appriciate it, ill get it looked at to see if the hole is mendable. are most holes in the core mendable?

if it is mendable then ill get them to do what u suggested with the tank removal clean out,

Post by **ISUZUROVER** » Tue Oct 25, 2005 8:24 pm

murcod wrote:Could pay to check out the price for a new radiator too. As an example I was recently quoted approx half the price of a brand new radiator for just a recore!?

For some vehicles (i.e. a Land Rover) you can get a new (non-genuine) radiator for less than the cost of a recore. However a properly recored radiator often uses better quality, thicker metal and may have more cores than the new item.

Website · Post by **murcod** » Tue Oct 25, 2005 8:31 pm

ISUZUROVER wrote:
murcod wrote:Could pay to check out the price for a new radiator too. As an example I was recently quoted approx half the price of a brand new radiator for just a recore!?
For some vehicles (i.e. a Land Rover) you can get a new (non-genuine) radiator for less than the cost of a recore. However a properly recored radiator often uses better quality, thicker metal and may have more cores than the new item.

That could be true, but if you don't know what condition the ends tanks are in then you could be up for more money in another year or two.

eg. I had an end tank repaired two years ago and now it appears the core is blocking up- I should have just bought a new radiator the first time!

I've got a new genuine one on the way from Japan at the moment... waiting ...waiting ... praying for no hot weather!

Post by **bad_religion_au** » Tue Oct 25, 2005 9:01 pm

i think i should step in here. it was my truck and i've had alot of experience with it

the end tanks are perfect

the radiator was done all new and good last year. so it's also nice and clean. oh yeah and the car hasn't been run much in the last 4-6 months.

in all my yota experience, the standard radiators have kept temps below half no matter the conditions. even the crumbed up old core didn't go over 1/2, including summer days climbing dunes or slugging along tracks (unless it ran out of water).

so for this "new" core to allow the temps to get to 3/4 before it was shut off (during wheeling) or getting over 1/2 way on a hot day up a hill on the highway. i personally believe 3 cores isn't up to the job. we were told that it needed 4 cores by another place last time we got it done. the place we got it done however said it only needed 3, so we went with them (bad experience with them too but won't go into that)

now why does a 1 year old radiator need a recore

45 bus has put his fan through the radiator...

Post by **Loanrangie** » Tue Oct 25, 2005 9:05 pm

HEY CHARGER wrote:There is a Shit hot place called ,
Essendon Radiators in Airport West just around the back of Westield shops
and they charge about 30-40 bucks for a reco on your radiator , take the tanks of , clean the cores , totally rebuild it .
Great bunch of blokes aswell , i actually just picked mine up last friday fully reco , and got the bottom tank replaced , and the bottom neck shifted to a different spot . $100.00 bucks later , its a new radiator !!

Sweet !, i work in Tulla ! do you know the street name ?

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re coring a radiator

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