Coolex Radiators Nottingham

[Weekend Warrior]

While my Bonnet is off and as I was bored today I went into the garage and decided to take the radiator off .As I’ve said before I am a total beginner to thie  mechanical side of things but found it surprisingly easy and enjoyable .I’ve got an oil cooler mounted to the front and as I wasn’t sure if the existing fan ,brackets ,thermostat ,and hoses would work on the Coolex rad ,I decided to jump in the car with it and drive the hour to Nottingham to their Premises .

When  I got there, the owner ,Steve was on reception .He was a true gent and showed me the Coolex rad and answered all my questions.The Spall fan on my old rad was slightly bigger than the radiator itself and he said it would be possible to weld a couple of brackets on to make it work if I wanted to leave it with him .I said I’d happily go for the rad with fan fitted option however Most of the staff were at a car show in Birmingham with the entire stock of Radiators with fans already mounted . He offered me a cup of tea and said if I didn’t mind waiting for half an hour he would get a radiator welded up with a couple of brackets and fit a fan .When the new  radiator appeared he had fitted the thermostat and blanked off the return tube on the top ,my old one had a screw blanking it off .

I just thought I’d say a big thanks to Steve and give him a mention ,in a day and age of internet sales and correspondence it’s good to know you can still turn up ,walk in and receive such good service .

Im planning on fitting it tomorrow so may have a few questions

[Ian Kinder (Bagpuss) - Joint Peak District AO]

Great service with a smile! The new rad has the fan mounted much closer to the cores, which will mean far less air is escaping! Much better!

[Ian Kinder (Bagpuss) - Joint Peak District AO]

I'd suggest removing the blank and running a 8mm ID hose back to your expansion tank to assist with the air bleeding process.

 

[Weekend Warrior]

1 hour ago, IanK (Bagpuss) said:

I'd suggest removing the blank and running a 8mm ID hose back to your expansion tank to assist with the air bleeding process.

 

Thanks Ian ,there’s also a screw in my header tank and I did think the 2 should be linked .As far as air bleeding goes that was going to be one of my questions ,the liquid that left the system was red in colour so what coolant and what ratio do I use ?

When I refill I take it I pour into the header tank undo the bolt on the blank untill water comes out ,tighten up bolt then top up header tank is this so ,do I run the engine then loosen bolt again ,what’s the procedure .

By 8mm I’d you mean inside diameter ,is that a Halfords or motorfactors purchase .

thanks 

Steve 

[Ian Kinder (Bagpuss) - Joint Peak District AO]

3 minutes ago, Weekend Warrior said:

Thanks Ian ,there’s also a screw in my header tank and I did think the 2 should be linked .As far as air bleeding goes that was going to be one of my questions ,the liquid that left the system was red in colour so what coolant and what ratio do I use ?

When I refill I take it I pour into the header tank undo the bolt on the blank untill water comes out ,tighten up bolt then top up header tank is this so ,do I run the engine then loosen bolt again ,what’s the procedure .

By 8mm I’d you mean inside diameter ,is that a Halfords or motorfactors purchase .

thanks 

Steve 

Hi Steve,

You can get either red or blue anti freeze. Ready mixed or mix to the ratio as per the instructions on the container (typically 25-33%  anti freeze to water, for UK winter). Just ensure it's suitable for an alloy engine given you've got a nice shiny ali rad .

Others may be better placed to advise on bleeding for your engine. I've got an electric water pump, so can bleed without running the engine.

Best to massage hoses and try to 'burb' air out as the engine warms up and the thermostat starts to open,, you may need to top up coolant a few times until you've got all the air bled out. Some engines are easier to bleed than others.

ID=inside diameter. You should find the spiggot on the rad and the coolant tank to be 8mm OD (outside diameter). I doubt you'll get it in Halfords but most good motor factors should sell it by the metre.

 

[Thrustyjust]

2 hours ago, IanK (Bagpuss) said:

I'd suggest removing the blank and running a 8mm ID hose back to your expansion tank to assist with the air bleeding process.

 

I's also recommend removing the cardboard off the front to give better airflow too 

[Thrustyjust]

1 hour ago, IanK (Bagpuss) said:

Hi Steve,

You can get either red or blue anti freeze. Ready mixed or mix to the ratio as per the instructions on the container (typically 25-33%  anti freeze to water, for UK winter). Just ensure it's suitable for an alloy engine given you've got a nice shiny ali rad .

Others may be better placed to advise on bleeding for your engine. I've got an electric water pump, so can bleed without running the engine.

Best to massage hoses and try to 'burb' air out as the engine warms up and the thermostat starts to open,, you may need to top up coolant a few times until you've got all the air bled out. Some engines are easier to bleed than others.

ID=inside diameter. You should find the spiggot on the rad and the coolant tank to be 8mm OD (outside diameter). I doubt you'll get it in Halfords but most good motor factors should sell it by the metre.

 

Zetecs were designed by Ford to use OAT coolant, which in theory is the red stuff. Some 'may' question this but if you went to a motor factors and asked they would point at OAT. 'If ' you wanted to change coolant to blue , which I wouldnt recommend , as the system already potentially has OAT , you must totally flush and clean the system out to being completely clear of it as they dont like being mixed. 

[Weekend Warrior]

1 hour ago, Thrustyjust said:

Zetecs were designed by Ford to use OAT coolant, which in theory is the red stuff. Some 'may' question this but if you went to a motor factors and asked they would point at OAT. 'If ' you wanted to change coolant to blue , which I wouldnt recommend , as the system already potentially has OAT , you must totally flush and clean the system out to being completely clear of it as they dont like being mixed. 

Thanks Mr Thrusty ,

One more question if I may I didn’t mark the connectors for the thermostat how can I tell how they re connect ,does it matter which way they go on 

[Thrustyjust]

Whichever way you want. Its just a switch.

[Weekend Warrior]

All done ,I never realised it would be that easy  

,I took the rubber tube off the top of the rad filled via the header tank untill it came out ,put the bung back topped the coolant up to half way on the bottle and squeezed the hoses a few times . Is that it ?   Do I just run it up to temp for a while now and check for leaks .

 

 

[Ian Kinder (Bagpuss) - Joint Peak District AO]

Yep. Run it and keep checking all is well. The thermostat won't have allowed any water passed it, cold. So you may get some more water in as you progress. Feel the hoses as it warms up to give you an ideal where the waters getting to etc.

 

[maurici]

Looks like a nice install, but yes, please, connect the blanked of the rad to the tank... you have a nice air trap there and is never a good idea.

As allways I´m late... But you can get OAT in any colour... And actually any Organic antifreeze would be chemically compatible... including the G1xx from volksvagen (I´m just on the process of changing the coolant on all the engine variants we handle...)

However, and given that this cars never will see any form of Ice and snow (appart of @Dave Eastwood (Gadgetman) - Club Secretary's car), and will rarely live in a garage with -5 dregrees, I would go for minimal ammount of mixures, and I would always use deionized water... (even better if you just avoid the use of any form of glycol and go for something like Water Wetter or Mocool) with really good anti-corrosion properties, and less shielding for the heat transfer than the Glycol. Just an idea for next winter flush!

[Sparkymart]

39 minutes ago, maurici said:

and I would always use deionized water

What's the advantages of using DI water ? We have a DI plant at work and it's always springing leaks  and I've been told by the water treatment guy it's because it's so pure it takes all the impuritys out of the pipe work  which eventually causes the pipes to spring a leak . But if it's recommended for the car I'll give it a go .As we out thousands of litres  a day down the drain no one will miss a couple of litres

[Thrustyjust]

I did mine with OAT and de-ionised and dont talk to me about weep leaks !! Not sure if that is linked ?

[maurici]

Wow, never heard about a fluid being so pure that damages the instalation... and i suspect has more to do with the deionizing process itself... im not super familiar with the process iself but involves loading current to the water... and water and current in the same application is never good for the hardware, (galvanic corriosions i think are called) but i may have said an stupid thing as i dont really know the process in deepth. 

Deionized water is the best you can use along with destiled water (but destiled water is harder to get in this country dunno why. In spain is the other way around...)

Reason being is that has virtually zero  residues solved, and they will not break in solid layers of scale in your engine walls. Depending of where you live, tap water may have a high content of minerals, and this is never good.

 

Edit:

Sorry if there is a chemist in the room and ive said something really stupid about the waters...

Main point being... is pure and will interact better with the engine leaving less residues.