Stone hits radiator!

[Chris Edgar]

Driving down the M6 last night in really foul weather..gale, horizontal rain, dark, cold.
Suddenly a smell of heat soon followed by the heater blowing cold.
Pulled over onto the hard shoulder, opened bonnet, lots of steam & water everwhere.
Was too dark, even with a torch, to see where the leak was, so called for recovery (Footman James).
Myself and family evacuated the car & huddled under a bridge ( which I had stopped underneath), wrapped in blankets, stamping feet, community singing, etc.
The sheer violence of the passing traffic was awful...fountains of spray from the HGVs

Recovery arrived in 30 mins & we were transported the half hour journey home. The cab of the truck was SO warm & dry

Filled system & could see that there was a good stream of water coming from the front of the matrix. Took rad out & it was obvious that something had hit & puntured one of the copper tubes. The matrix around the hole was flattened of course.
I tried soldering but the best I could manage was to block most of the leak off, not a decent job as the tube wall was so thin it was not possible to clean the surface sufficiently well for the solder to take properly.
Anyway, it is down to a "weep" now so will do for short journeys until the new rad arrives on Wed, hopefully.

Never had this happen in over 40 years of motoring, but want to make sure it never happens again. My idea is to put a sheet of stainless steel wire mesh betweet the grille & the rad.
Wonder if anyone has done this & where to get a sheet of mesh.

[Neil MG]

Woah! That sounds like a horrible experience Chris! I can well understand you not wanting it to happen again!

That said you are correct in saying it is a very, very rare thing. It could also have been previous damage to the front of the radiator that chose that moment to let go... the grille as designed does a pretty good job of protecting the radiator.

But, one of my sidelines was fitting mesh grilles to Porsche 911s. From the 996 on these had up to five cooler units fitted behind the front bumper without adequate protection. The big killer was corrosion due to a build up of debris... but I digress.

I used an aluminium mesh available in (at least) three different "hole" sizes. Very easily cut and moulded to shape if required it can be simply bonded, tie-wrapped or bolted to the back of the front panel. I would recommend black as it will not be easily seen. The ready coloured will not chip or scratch easily, whereas that might be an issue if you try and paint the natural aluminium type.

I also recommend hole size 10x6mm as the optimum balance between protection and potential clogging/airflow restriction.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/BLACK-ALUMINI ... 20ce1f4a7a

I think the radiator matrix is just less than 11" x 22" approx 30x60cm so the above would need to be cut 2/3 along its length and the remaining part halved to make the right size protection.

Hope this is useful and just give me a shout if you need any more information or help,

Neil

[lambrettalad]

the mesh is popular with boy racers ,try one of the car accessory shops /style shops

[bmcecosse]

Have to say -well done the FJ recovery -30 minutes is pretty good!

[mike.perry]

The Series MM grill does not need a mesh

[Chris Edgar]

Neil,

many thanks for that information, I shall chase it up. Once is too much...twice would be unforgivable!

Cannot complain regarding the FJ service at all...the chap on the other end of the phone was good & When I asked the recovery truck driver where he had come from, it was Tebay. We had broken down on the Cumbria/ Lancashire border, so he did not have too far. In that respect I think that we were lucky.
During the journey home, jobs kept coming in over his phone. The area he covered was huge, but there are other firms out there at the same time, I suppose.

The 948 engine does not have the threaded blank to fit a temp guage to of course. I once saw someone with a different thermostat cover which had the sensor fitted into...anyone have any idea where these can be obtained from?

thanks for the replies
& all the very best for 2013

Chris

[seriesmm_1]

If you have a look in the Morris Minor Moss catalogue Page 11 item 85 it says thermostat housing tapped for temp gauge,doesnt state cost tho.Happened to me many years ago luckily it was near the top of the rad so wasnt too bad but still caused problems

[JOWETTJAVELIN]

Don't waste money on the special thermostat housing - recommended to me was to buy a bottom hose with the heater take-off, trim it to size and fit this in place of the standard top hose, placing the sender in the take-off, securing with Jubilee clip and keeping the original hose in the car as a spare.

It works.

[Trickydicky]

This is how I fitted a temp gauge to my 948cc engine, it works for me, I think a oil pressure gauge would be another good addition and its next on my list.
http://www.mmoc.org.uk/viewtopic.php?f=11&t=46293

[Chris Edgar]

Using bottom hose with heater take off...Brilliant idea!!
Very many thanks, chaps!

I've ordered the aluminium mesh, Neil.

[bmcecosse]

If it's an electric gauge - you will need to run an earth to the sensor body if it is in a rubber hose........

[ASL642]

I believe B&Q sell aluminium mesh suitable.

[Chris Edgar]

BMC...noted, thanks.

Lou, thanks also noted, I bought the stuff from Ebay