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I would have thought a hose/join would fail before a radiator
P38A Going through radiators- not overheating
- Thread starter enjoi
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- Previous owner put a new rad in mid-2021.
- Replaced the above late-2022 with https://www.allfourx4.com.au/Radiator-suitable-for-Range-Rover-P38-V8-EFI-from-1999-on-PCC106850/
- Replaced the above late 2023 with a local shop's radiator. Looks very very similar to the above.
Hesitant to buy another, unless it's a full alu, until I've gotten to the core of the issue. Especially if this loss of power/limp mode thing is back.
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Looks ok, but if it's leaking in less than a year, must be crap quality. As said before, leaks allow the coolant to boil, so fix these first.
Power / Limp issues need diagnostics, but unless the ECU gets silly temp readings, I can't see it being related.
Power / Limp issues need diagnostics, but unless the ECU gets silly temp readings, I can't see it being related.
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Soneone on here got an all ally one from somewhere that seemed decent. Cannot recall the name. Regazzi? @Mark Piercy might remember.
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So I got that heater hose off and it looks like the pipes are just fine
As I was wrestling with the hose, I could see coolant seeping out of it- it was split. Looks like whoever replaced it last just use a regular hose which was too small. The correct hose should be slightly flared at the heater-matrix end.
By some miracle I was able to find the correct hose at some wholesaler that was only 15 minutes from my house, otherwise it was going to cost me over $100 Aussie dollarydoos to get it imported from the UK
This is what I got https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/335376708715 (PCH118830) it says hose-heater-out, I need the heater in, but it was the same part number for both out and in so... /shrug
In other news, I got under the car at night with a UV torch to try track down the other leak, and turns out it doesn't seem to be coming from the radiator after all. But rather, something dripping onto the bottom of it somehow. I couldn't definitively tell where another leak was, but I could see a bit of dried coolant on the lower part of the hose that goes from the thermostat to the water pump. So perhaps that might need replacing as well.
Dust with talc, follow the trail back ...
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Why not re-core a suitable rad ?
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Got one from direnza in the UK. Great shiny box but the quality of the welding looked like it was done on a Saturday morning after a few drinks the night before!! That suggested to me that these rads are bought from the the same company that builds those sold on ebay for example and direnza pay them to add a panel with their name on into the fabrication process. It has held up tbh and does its job but if your a stickler for a decent finish you may be a tad dissatisfied
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- 19,297
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- Buckinghamshire, UK. ('95 DT)
Got one from direnza in the UK. Great shiny box but the quality of the welding looked like it was done on a Saturday morning after a few drinks the night before!! That suggested to me that these rads are bought from the the same company that builds those sold on ebay for example and direnza pay them to add a panel with their name on into the fabrication process. It has held up tbh and does its job but if your a stickler for a decent finish you may be a tad dissatisfied
Can you remember which member was doing a lot of towing and was buying a triple core one from somewhere? iirc he said yhe original LR one was double the Nissens one but he'd found something bigger than that?
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I don't matey, sorry
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brianp38dse
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Thanks for that one i need a new rad my Nissens one has started to leak only been in about 15 years
not a bad price to boot
then i might get it moted it ran out in march and been sat since
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- Buckinghamshire, UK. ('95 DT)
Thanks for that one i need a new rad my Nissens one has started to leak only been in about 15 years
not a bad price to boot
My Nissens rad has been on there about ten years, maybe a few years longer but has been fine so far, although it did struggle up Lodge Hill when towing a 3 ton digger.
Datatek
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The Nissens RAD has been on mine for more than 10 years and with my electric cooling mod has never struggled even with another P38 on a trailer on the hook up French hills.
Howdy friends, quick update, put a new rad cap on and observed some coolant out the overflow. So I did another sniff test while the car was nice and hot after a drive and I could definitely see a slight colour change in the test liquid this time, as well as a bubble coming up every second or so when at idle.
I called the manufacture of the sniff test (Liquid Intelligence in Australia) - great bloke, all his products come with phone support and he's super knowledgeable. Anyway, he basically said that exhaust gas is only around 15% co2 which is why a small gasket leak might be difficult to spot with a test liquid colour change. But any bubbles is a definitive busted gasket.
He recommended that I try a gasket repair solution as it sounds like a pinhole breach and you can have a really decent chance of success. Seems reasonable to me and a bit less effort/money than a brand new gasket install.
Any reason why this would be a bad idea? I was under the impression that radiators don't like these gasket repair liquids, but I want to get a new rad anyway so I could replace it after the repair has done it's thing.
I called the manufacture of the sniff test (Liquid Intelligence in Australia) - great bloke, all his products come with phone support and he's super knowledgeable. Anyway, he basically said that exhaust gas is only around 15% co2 which is why a small gasket leak might be difficult to spot with a test liquid colour change. But any bubbles is a definitive busted gasket.
He recommended that I try a gasket repair solution as it sounds like a pinhole breach and you can have a really decent chance of success. Seems reasonable to me and a bit less effort/money than a brand new gasket install.
Any reason why this would be a bad idea? I was under the impression that radiators don't like these gasket repair liquids, but I want to get a new rad anyway so I could replace it after the repair has done it's thing.
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Liquid repairs are just "get me home" fixes. They can block the smaller passageways and pipes for the throttle body, bleed return etc and make things worse. I've experienced this. Head gaskets aren't hard to do
If the block/liners are good then upgrade the head bolts to studs, it reduces a lot of stress where cracks can form
If the block/liners are good then upgrade the head bolts to studs, it reduces a lot of stress where cracks can form
Quick update, ended up pulling the heads off due to the sniff test result. But unfortunately I don't see anything hugely obvious. Some gouges in the block, maybe a hairline gouge in the HG, but no steam cleaned cylinders or blow outs from what I can tell.
I've attached some images.
Something else curious I found was that no cooling hoses were attached to the throttle body. The hose next to the coolant temp sensor on the manifold was just routed straight to the underside of the expansion tank, whereas in the workshop tutorials I was following had this routed to the throttle body. Not sure if that's just an Australian thing because it doesn't get cold here?
In any case, I'd like to try a dye penetrating test next, I'm convinced something is cracked somewhere.
I've attached some images.
Something else curious I found was that no cooling hoses were attached to the throttle body. The hose next to the coolant temp sensor on the manifold was just routed straight to the underside of the expansion tank, whereas in the workshop tutorials I was following had this routed to the throttle body. Not sure if that's just an Australian thing because it doesn't get cold here?
In any case, I'd like to try a dye penetrating test next, I'm convinced something is cracked somewhere.
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brianp38dse
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The throttle body hoses not connected is a normal mod over here as again not really needed and a known leak area so bypassing it is the norm.
Makes sense, thanks!
I tried the water leak test on the valves today. Just one was leaking.
Interestingly, though, when I went to tip all the water out of the exhaust ports, a bunch of oil went with it on 2 of the ports!
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Thor coolant hoses should be like this:
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