radiators bite

[christover1]

something to be wary of.
while helpin a mates brother get his new motor fired up, the top of the radiator burst, and covered me and mate in steaming hot, dirty water........me in my face, and mate down most of his side.
It was a plastic type radiator, or the fact it was from a half cut involved in
possible crash?? may be the problem.
I spent many hours in maroondah hospital and the eye and ear
hospital, all is ok now, just sore.
Me mate got fairly badly burnt down his side, but he ok, now, too.
His brother never got any on him, so he ok.
You never expect that to happen, unsure why cap or hoses didnt blow
before the top of the tank? so be careful at all times ,
christover

[turps]

Good to read you are alright. But that is one of the gambles you take with anything 2nd hand.
Dont like plastic rad, to much of a differance in expension with the rest of the thing that is made out of some type of metal.

[christover1]

I agree, me not like plastic radiators now, either

[Nev62]

The top tank in my Raider burst a few months back but it happened while I was driving so no one got hurt. I don't know about other modles/makes but this is a common thing for the Raiders/Couriers/B2600 at around the 210000km-250000km mark. I replaced it with a full metal radiator for two reasons,

1 figure metal will last longer

2 Metal was half the price of a plastic replacement.

[DamTriton]

A Sportage owner in the US had a similar experience a while back. Once the sealant/adhesive lets go it can make for a pretty dangerous situation (not like a radiator cap where you can just twist it back on). This particular event occurred in Moab last year, with similar results to yours, but this was the OE radiator of a 95 model that had been wheeled pretty hard.

Another thing to be replaced before it lets go.......

[Barney7779]

glad to hear everyone Ok

Mate i know how you feel i was working on a forklift one day that had overheated, when i popped the bonnet to see if the cause was a plastic bag on front of radiator(common thing in my work place) the top tank let got and the angle of the bonnet directed all the water at my head. A week on compo and a very red, sore and blistered face for about 2 weeks after so now when the driver says its over heating i tell em to park it and i will get to it when i can(usually about 2 days later after the boss has a whinge about it not being used)

[Zeyphly]

dont tell me some other poor basterd work on fork lifts too

[Barney7779]

used too


but not any more

gone back to driving the stupid things

[V8Patrol]

your lucky it wasnt worse cause Ive seen em go right off... I'm glad your ok, close call hey !

A car I worked on years ago had a major overheating problem ( XB plord coupe 302 V8 ).....
I drove it till it started to warm up then U turned for the w/shop.
Got it into the shed doorway then stopped and poped the hood.
Opened up the hood fully and turned around to get a rag to cover up the radiator top so I wouldnt get burnt from the heat in the radaitor.

Next thing that happend was scary..... the radiator cap along with the bit it screws onto blew off !!. The cap landed 60' away and the water travlled nearly 20' before hiting other stuff in the shed !!!

I near shat but escaped unscathed..... problem turned out to be the bottom radiator hose.... the wire spring bit had corroded away and when the engine was started up cold the hose simply kinked closed thus stopping water flow..... an easy fix but too close a call for major burns.

Kingy

p/s
another of the many reasons I hate phords

[christover1]

this is obviously a more common fault than I thought...me going to stick to metal ones, of 50mm thick anti tank/bullet proof steel.. christover (with suburn in winter)

[christover1]

Just got back from the eye doctor, all is well, no permanent damage, just tears chemistry is out of balance, and should return to normal over time, with artificial tear drops for the time being christover

[greg]

glad to hear you're on the mend chris

[mkpatrol]

your lucky it wasnt worse cause Ive seen em go right off... I'm glad your ok, close call hey !

A car I worked on years ago had a major overheating problem ( XB plord coupe 302 V8 ).....
I drove it till it started to warm up then U turned for the w/shop.
Got it into the shed doorway then stopped and poped the hood.
Opened up the hood fully and turned around to get a rag to cover up the radiator top so I wouldnt get burnt from the heat in the radaitor.

Next thing that happend was scary..... the radiator cap along with the bit it screws onto blew off !!. The cap landed 60' away and the water travlled nearly 20' before hiting other stuff in the shed !!!

I near shat but escaped unscathed..... problem turned out to be the bottom radiator hose.... the wire spring bit had corroded away and when the engine was started up cold the hose simply kinked closed thus stopping water flow..... an easy fix but too close a call for major burns.

Kingy

p/s
another of the many reasons I hate phords

Im with you Kingy, vehicles of the blue oval variety suck. Especially V8's with PS, AC & gas, Marathon effort just to get to the spark plugs. All cars shouls be HQ Holdens. Simple, easy to work on, when the break down, just file the points and your away.
Had a bloke in a Jag do the same thing once except it was his fault. He cam into the shop with the needle bending off into the red. He wanted me to look at it & I said fat chance, not until the block stops glowing. I said give at least half an hour.
I went for a test drive & Mr Jag obviosly was too impatient to wait, I came round the corner to see we developed a guiser at the servo - he had taken it off himself. The water was seriously 20' in the air and the bloke had a look of utter panic on his face.
He didn't burn himself which was a pity because he was told what would happen. Its like touching pain when there is a sign saying we paint. The only damage done was to his undies
I shit myself a bit because when I came around the corner I thought the servo was about to blow up.

Browny.

[V8Patrol]

..... good to see the "blue oval" phobia is alive and well !

[Big Red Toy]

Fountains of coolant are never good. They hurt!!!!
the word coolant is deceptive

[Leprecaun]

This is scary sh$t as I just repaired my radiator once again and then fixed the phords bodgy thermostat and gasket, Nissan hadn't been touched since Sat night and the phord got used early in the morning but undid the the thermo housing and coolant blasted everywhere, still warm even though it hadn't been touched for about 4 hours
Just a nasty mess all around. I agree with Kingy on the viewpoints of a phord but hey its not mine and the misssus won't agree to get rid of it and buy a nissan, though she can drive the zook whenever(no roof and cold winter ahead )