Aluimium raditior

[gazzagq]

Hi can anybody advise me on a aluimium. Raditior I need to replace mine and I can get. A good near new aluimium one to fit into a 4.2 petrol gq its a 3 row and thinking it would be good as I do a bit of towing so it will help keep the old girl cool and info will be great :icon_driving:

[threedogs]

Pic would be nice are the tanks Tig welded on or Pressed like OE.?
Is it bigger than OE ??

[nissannewby]

Why does yours need replacement?

Stay away from the cheap eBay 3 row alloy units they are so low in material quality and build that a lot of places will not repair them. If its a known brand like PWR or adrad then go for it.

There is also a thermostat mod you may be able to it. There is a good write up on another forum about will good explanations as to how and why it works. It will be pretty easy to work out by measurements if you need to do it.

[Alitis007]

If your heating up when towing i would be looking at a highflow thermostat first like this
29423
I was told by my radiator guy to stay away from ally radiators because they are not serviceable when the core blocks up coz of the welds and if you reweld the tanks back on you could potentially block it again with the slag. Also you will need to run the RED coolant for aluminium blocks with a glycol reading of 1050 and not 980 like the green stuff and earth out the radiator to help prevent electrolysis in the cooling system.

My advice to you would be, if you had to replace the radiator i say get a copper / brass 3 core made up, it can be cleaned and re soldered and wont harm the motor like the ally 1 will.

[Big Red]

isn't the genuine GU radiator alum with plastic tanks ?
looked at the 3 core and they look like crap http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/270947712526?ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1423.l2649

there is also a 2 core that looks like the original http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/360623440842?ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1423.l2649

so .. anyone have any experience with any of these [for remote travel so they will have to handle corrugations]

[Alitis007]

The GU has ally core with plastic tanks, the ally tanks and extra row in the core is where the problem is with electrolysis

[Parksy]

So are you saying if you run the red coolant and run a bonding jumper lead from the chassis to radiator that running an alloy radiator will last?

[Alitis007]

Doing that will save your cooling system eating away the motor from the inside out but making the radiator last all depends how much scale is in the block and how well you flush it prior to installing the new radiator. To clean 90% of whats inside the block you need to remove the welch plugs and flush it out that way and also reverse flushing the cooling system, radiator, block and heater core ever 12 to 24 months so the scale doesn't block the radiator and heater core.

[nissannewby]

Give ARE a call. These guys know their shit, I think your a little off with a couple of things. As long as the coolant is suited it doesn't matter what colour it is. Also I wouldn't be running an earth strap to it. I have a Adrad heavy duty alloy unit in my car it's 30% bigger than oem. Have also had it tested for electrolysis and its all good. I retained factory mounting, used a castrol anti-freeze anti-boil and no earth added.

[Alitis007]

I know for a fact Holden, Ford, AC Delco and Nulon color code the coolant, green for cast iron blocks and is a 980ml/l ethylene glycol and red for aluminum blocks and is 1060ml/l Ethylene glycol, both have inhibitor (oil) in them to stop rust and a couple of other chemicals in them aswell.

You can do your own quick tests of the cooling system using a Castrol coolant test strips to measure your % of glycol to raise or lower the freezing and boiling points of the cooling system depending on your environment of OEM specifications, they also test the Alkalinity of the cooling system which is its reserve acid corrosion protection to stop electrolysis. You could get them a test your cooling system every couple of weeks with the normal coolant and see how you go or i could just show you water pumps that have had their impellers eaten away from having the wrong or no coolant in them.

[Big Red]

GU Patrol 1999 4.2 Turbo Diesel recommenation.
RADIATOR
CASTROL ANTIFREEZE NF
A nitrite, phosphate and amine free, fully formulated, corrosion inhibited, ethylene glycol based coolant which has been designed to meet the requirements of the major European engine manufacturers. Particularly recommended for use in heavy duty European vehicles.
Service Refill Capacity: 15.1 Litres.

Do NOT mix Castrol coolant with other brands of antifreeze, coolants or corrosion inhibitors because of possible incompatibility of inhibitors. Mix the Castrol coolant concentrate at 50% v/v with high quality water (distilled, demineralised or deionised).