radiator

[455bird]

Well as you all know I have been fighting an over heating problem on my car for some time. Last trip out I pulled out the thermostat removed all by-pass lines so I only have the one coming in the top with the oil cooler line and one coming out the bottom of the radiator going back to the motor and it still over heated. This is one thing I found out at the dunes my radiator is a dual pass but the front tank was hotter then the backside. Well I pulled it out of the car ran a water hose in the top inlet side and it came right out of the bottle with out going through the radiator. The plate that separates the top and bottle must be broke and the water is not flowing through it.

[dunerocket]

That is a problem... Dual pass also places more restriction in the system and isn't a very good option for a water pump that wasn't designed for it....

[renegadespec1]

This might sound stupid...I have used afco Rads on some race cars and mud trucks in the past, are you feeding it hot water from the top or bottom?? The reason I ask is this the afco with both outlets on one side will not cool any thing until it is full...meaning if you have air trapped in it it will by-pass the air bubble and just pass thu the tank on that side. The fix I did was to pump hot coolant into the bottom of the rad and put in a prestone tee fitting on the upper hose and burp it ( several times)until the system had no air left in it...It is a pain in the ass but after that they worked well for me

[busasandrail]

That radiator looks like the one I have on my car....Mine is set low behind the seat w/ a seperate higher mounted fill neck. Beside a bad batch of leaky side tanks on the radiators, it has worked fine.
How are you bleeding the air out of you setup?

[nutz4sand]

Originally Posted by 455bird

Well I pulled it out of the car ran a water hose in the top inlet side and it came right out of the bottle with out going through the radiator. The plate that separates the top and bottle must be broke and the water is not flowing through it.

Instead of the word bottle I am assuming you meant bottom?

Do you have any tiny mirrows on wands like you use to see in behind things? Point a bright flashlight in the bottom hose hole of the radiator and put the mirrow in the top hole and see if you can see the light easy.

Did you buy the radiator new? If it came on the buggy did the previous owner have the same issue?

Whoever built the radiator at the place that made it may have totally forgotton to put that part to divert the water across it in. Or maybe it was suposed to have the bottom hole on the opposite side and got built wrong that way. Bill

[busasandrail]

After rereading your post I think I know what your talking about....look at the attached pic of a afco radiator and look at the inlet/outlet side of the radiator there is a weld half way down on the tank. That weld is where the diverter goes, and from what I can tell in your pics your dont have a weld on that side of the tank meaning your probably right. But I dont think its broke, I think Afco forgot to install it when it was built.

[455bird]

Well I got an e-mail from AFCO where I sent my radiator back to and they said that the separator plate is broke but they are fixing it for me. At least I know what the problem is now and I do not have to buy a new one

[nutz4sand]

Its hard to see with the darkness and angles of your pics 455bird but as stated by busasandrail was there evidence of welding of the baffle plate on your radiator?? If there had been one you would have been easily able to see the "weld thru" on the middle outside of the tank. It does not look like yours did but it may just be I cannot see it.

[busasandrail]

Would you post some pics of the "repaired" radiator when it comes back.....I'm curious about the baffle and the lack of welding on the side tanks.

[plkracer]

If you look at some of the aluminum ac condensers it is very hard to see the baffle. There is a little line, and bump where they are welded on. They must be resistance welded, and not the typical tig.