Date:         Fri, 9 Sep 2005 09:19:28 -0600
Reply-To:     jimt <camper@TACTICAL-BUS.INFO>
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From:         jimt <camper@TACTICAL-BUS.INFO>
Subject:      Re: How to tell a radiator is bad
In-Reply-To:  <432148D4.3070408@comcast.net>
Content-type: text/plain; charset="ISO-8859-1"

Same method but used a little different was that on a radiator I wasnąt sure
about I found that the temperature in the return line was climbing as you
moved away from the engine like the water was flowing the wrong direction.
When the thermostat opened the temp only went down for a couple inches from
the outlet of the radiator. When I pulled that radiator I found it had flow
but nowhere near what it should have been. A hose that had rotted out inside
had plugged about a third of the passages.  I reverse flushed the heater
core on the vehicle and got a black soup out of the line for about a minute.
If you ever pull a hose and see that the inside has been rotting out
severely, I recommend flushing the system if you can.
jimt

On 9/9/05 2:33 AM, "Ken Wilford" <kenwilfy@COMCAST.NET> wrote:

> I found a surefire way to find out if a radiator is bad.  Get either an
> infrared heat gun or some type of thermostat for measuring the heat of
> the coolant hoses.  Now, when the van is warmed up measure the
> temperature of the hose going to the radiator and the hose coming back
> from the radiator.  The one coming back should be about 10 degrees F
> cooler (at least).  If the temperatures are the same or similar then the
> radiator is bad (plugged) and needs to be replaced.
> 
> Last van I checked this way the radiator looked like it was full of mud
> and it weighed 10 lbs more than the new one (both aluminum).
> 
> Hope this helps,
> Ken Wilford
> John 3:16
> www.vanagain.com
> 
> John Smith wrote:
>