Rad lip=poor seal?

[Rattlenbang]

What does the rad lip look like on other folk's machines? I'm talking about the inner one where the seal for the rad cap presses down to keep coolant at bay until it reaches over 13 PSI. I bought a new rad a few months ago, and have found that when the vehicle gets quite warm, say 1/2 way up the gauge 'cause I'm climbing mountains, coolant blows past the seal into the overflow bottle (and then overboard). In other vehicles I've owned there's usually a nice smooth seal surface in the rad, while on this one the plastic casting is all uneven, coarse and rough, and I'm suspecting that's why it leaks too quickly. I've replaced the cap already, and there's no way it should be blowing out at those temperatures. It only does it when its really warm, so I know it's not blow by of any kind.

[nxski]

How warm is it actually getting? 1/2 or higher is where you want to pull over and let it cool down to avoid head cracking. I've had this occur on my Mighty Max, but that was because the radiator was clogged and it overheated. Do you have an EGT gauge to give a different perspective on how hard the engine is working when this occurs?

[konadog]

Don't know about the rad lip, but 1/2 on the heat gage is normal - nout to worry about. The spill over though doesn't sound good.

[nxski]

Don't know about the rad lip, but 1/2 on the heat gage is normal - nout to worry about. The spill over though doesn't sound good.

Yes, sorry if my post sounded like I was accusing you of pushing it too hard. 1/2 is normal on long hill climbs, but if it starts to go over that's when you want to let it cool down. I have noticed some pretty high EGT's though before anything starts to register on the coolant gauge and have heard that it takes a while for the stock gauge to register. This means the coolant might get hot enough to overflow a bit but then you get to a flat and it cools down before the gauge can inform you of this.

[Rattlenbang]

Yes, it's not overheating, but it gradually loses coolant which will cause overheating if I'm not on top of it. And during that brutal climb over grey creek pass in the Kootenays, it was spewing coolant like crazy although it wasn't overheated. It just can't deal with any pressure in the cooling system. It's either that or my gauge is lying AND there is something wrong with my cooling system (new rad).

[nxski]

It could be over pressurized. I also saw a post recently about a rad purchased from Rising Sun that was leaking around the seam I think (I think it's in the dealers beefs and bouquets section).

[thedjjack]

Ya I try to stay away from the plastic tank/aluminum rad....I still have the old copper one (rebuilt)...next I would find a close fit with a full aluminum rad and make it fit...some lower cost superior built ones for hot rods...If it cannot get up to pressure the coolant has a much lower boiling point...

[Rattlenbang]

My copper had been rebuilt once already, and beyond salvation. I thought paying $300 for a rad was already crazy, since I bought a new one for my Acura for 1/2 that...

[lskillan]

Hi guys, I have just started making L300 rads, if you are interested I have posted an ad in the trader section.

http://www.delica.ca/trader/index.php?p ... all_models

HTH Lee