The radiator gave up 70 miles into the trip, and stranded me at Cambridge Services. It's a mercy that it didn't fail in the roadworks. For the first time in my Peerless/Warwick ownership Ive needed a two truck.
However, the ali/plastic land rover rad is rubber mounted, firmly stayed, and the 4 psi cap didn't lift. There's no sign of a head gasket failure, I don't have a themostat, and none of the waterways are blocked. The only thing I can conclude is that it just vibrated itself to bits. Quite why it chose Saturday to fail is beyond me, over the last 5 years it's been run harder, faster, and in hotter ambient temps without a problem.
As I only paid £87 for it (free eBay delivery and built-in oil cooler) I'm not heartbroken. For an extra tenner I'll replace it with an all aluminium version that should have different vibration characteristics, and I'll back back on the road by Tuesday. As a matter of interest the radiator on the Peerless cracked every year at the filler neck, which is why I went down this path, as used in the race Warwick.
Anybody intending to go down the same route with these rads is advised to avoid the composite ones, that can fail where the ali core is crimped to the plastic ends.
No, it was brand new and square when went in around five years ago. Around 5k miles total, nothing too exiting. No external impact /damage. Robustly stayed at the top and to the chassis at the bottom, secured by rubber mounts. Running a 4psi cap and header tank.
The rh side seam (the banana shaped one) just opened up during a steady 65 mph cruise, it didn't boil until the water pump ran dry.
Seems like the clowns that make rubber components are making plastic for radiators now.
When I was restoring the Elise I modified the standard (already leaking) radiator myself.
These are commonly known to fail also on the crimped on plastic tanks.
But replacements are some 300+ pounds, and there are no alternatives for this one.
As the original core was still very nice, I cut off the crimp flanges of the radiator and my brother made up some aluminium tanks, and I ordered a couple of hose coupling pipes.
I welded it all together and pressure tested it, still some holes left.
After the final pressure test I put it in the car and it now has some 5000 miles on it without problems.
-- Edited by Erik V on Tuesday 20th of August 2019 09:48:10 AM
