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| So my Fiero died... (Page 3/12) |
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sdgdf
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JUL 30, 11:47 PM
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Cliff Pennock
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JUL 31, 06:40 AM
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I got a full refund for the one they never sent. I've really never had any problems getting my money back from AliExpress. It's in fact a lot easier than trying to get your money back on eBay.
I ordered another radiator from China for about €200 (about $220) including shipping, and that one is actually on the way (according to the track & trace). It's estimated to arrive on August 9th.
I already have the line wrenches (bought them on Amazon).
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Cliff Pennock
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JUL 31, 06:44 AM
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Yes, I had seen those but they either don't ship to the Netherlands, or shipping is around $150-$200... On top of that, I will have to pay import taxes and VAT, so that will be around $100 extra.
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Cliff Pennock
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JUL 31, 05:02 PM
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BTW, is it normal that a radiator fails so drastically? I mean, the car was leaking coolant somewhere but I was never able to figure out where because I never saw it dripping anywhere. And all of a sudden, it looses 5 quarts in 5 minutes from the radiator (area). The hoses felt dry but it was leaking from that area so I assumed it was the radiator.
But can a radiator fail in such a way that it develops a big hole in minutes?
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theogre
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JUL 31, 05:21 PM
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Cliff Pennock
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AUG 02, 06:47 AM
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My radiator has arrived! That was a whole lot quicker than expected. 8 days from China!
It was well packed and it looks good quality wise. I ended up paying about $220, including shipping. Not sure if I will get a bill for VAT and import taxes, but I suspect not.
Now I just have to wait for it to stop raining (which hopefully is in about 8 days) so I can try to fix my car...
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Cliff Pennock
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AUG 04, 10:21 AM
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So today was a sunny day with no rain (first time in weeks) so I seized the opportunity to replace my radiator.
It was in no way an easy nor quick job.
That said, I think I could have done it in 2 hours at most if I used an OEM radiator. But as it turned out, this thing is not a drop-in replacement.I'm not sure if they send me the wrong one because other than it not fitting, the couplings for the transmission lines were different too.
I spent 4.5 hours so far and while it's finally in, it's not hooked up yet and I still need to make a few changes. Let me reiterate my day...
So I started by removing the deck lid because I quickly saw that without removing it, it was going to be a near impossible job to do. Then I removed the top bracket which was also easy. I loosened the fan only at the top because I noticed it was not necessary to remove the fan at all.
Removing the rubber hoses was also no problem, but the transmission lines was something else. The top one came loose easily. Although I only now noticed that apparently someone tried to remove the transmission lines before (maybe during the repair I had done last year?) and the lines had broken because both the top as the bottom line had a piece of the line replaced by a rubber hose. Not sure why the top one had a piece replaced since it came off easily, but the nut of the bottom one was rounded. So I suspect they cut it and used a rubber hose to connect the piece that was stuck to the radiator with the rest of the transmission line.
So I ended up cutting the rubber hose and was able to take out the old radiator. That was almost an hours work.
When I wanted to insert the new radiator, only then did I notice that the couplings were incorrect. The pictures on AliExpress showed te correct ones:
but what I got was this:
It did come with "adapters" so you can put a hose on it:
and since both transmission lines are cut anyways and I need to use hoses, I can make that work I think.
But then... Like I said, this is in no way a drop in replacement. Since it's a 3-row radiator, it's a lot thicker. I knew that because that was mentioned in above video (where they replaced the OEM radiator for the same one as I have). I also knew that I needed to trim the rubber bumper pads which I did. But it still wouldn't fit.
The reason why it wouldn't fit is because the OEM radiator has rounded corners while this aftermarket one has square corners. So the bracket no longer fits. So what I did was "reshape" the bracket (bent some pieces straight, and making the corners as square as possible). I was then able to fit the bracket over the radiator but it was "floating" in the air about an inch above the bolt holes. I had to remove the top and bottom rubber pads. It still had a gap of about half an inch so I just put all my weight on it, tried to align the bracket with the holes and put the bolts in just a little bit. I then tightened all the bolts causing the bracket to snugly bend around the radiator. But it's now metal on metal. No rubber padding. But it's so incredibly tight that I don't think that's a problem.
But, because the radiator is wider, there's another problem. There's no room for the radiator fan anymore. If I would bolt it into place, it would bury itself into the side of the radiator.
This is the distance it has when it sits against the radiator:
So I need to put some spacers there to move it back. But then there's another problem. Move it too far back, and the fan hits the top bracket:
So not sure what to do there yet. Perhaps I will be able to get it just right with the proper amount of spacers. Maybe I'll just get my grinder and remove a small part of the bracket so the fan has a bit more room at the top.
Now back to the transmission lines. I need to couple these two together:
And also these two:
But I don't have the rubber hose yet so I need to get that before I can finish the job - which probably won't be before the end of next week when it stops raining again...
One quick question: Do I need to use teflon tape on the threads of these couplings?
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CoolBlue87GT
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AUG 04, 10:30 AM
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I would use teflon tape on the threads. Good luck with the repair. [This message has been edited by CoolBlue87GT (edited 08-04-2023).]
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Cliff Pennock
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AUG 04, 10:31 AM
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As for the old radiator, this is how it looked...
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Cliff Pennock
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AUG 04, 10:41 AM
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I just rewatched the above video again and two things I noticed:
1) He has an aftermarket fan
2) His top bracket has square corners
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