Running with no radiator
 

Okay, my radiator blew apart and I am assuming the head gasket blew but I ma not sure now. I hooked up a by pass pipe to connect the hoses. I took out the thermstat. I checked that I can turn the crank with a wrench. No hydro lock. The oil level hasn't changed. After sitting all day it started right up and ran. No smoke in the exhaust. I ran it until the temperature came up to normal. So this is not making any sense to me:confused: Any Ideas? If I put in a new radiator I am afraid it will just blow apart also. I still do not know why the radiator blew up.:rolleyes:

what do you mean by "blew apart". I have had one (and seen more) radiators split open on the tank part of the radiator. That certainly makes a mess with a hot/pressurized system. That was no big deal except for the expense. Of course that assumes the vehicle wasn't driven too far with the temp needle burried on the high side.

I don't know why it did this but I got a wide open split about 16" long and an inch wide.:eek: I got no warning the temperature wasn't high, I heard a hiss and them bam-pop and the steam and coolant all over my car from the hood to the trunk.

I only bought my SVX a couple of months ago and it came with a newly installed radiator so I can't say for sure, but here's what recently happened to my daughter's MR2. FYI, she claims she had no warning either.

A split opened on the side (the tank isn't on the top like the SVX) and was about 1/2 inch wide and about 6 inches long. Took it to a radiator shop when I found out how much Toyota wanted for a new one. The guy there tried to braze a patch, but didn't charge me anything because he said the metal was thin and fatigued. He doubted the patch would work for any length of time, but left it up to me. I've done work with this guy before, so I trust him and believe he knows his business.

Anyway, as long as you didn't drive too far without water it should be OK. Without water the tranny gets heat (assuming you are using the stock cooler) and the block/heads can warp.

As an aside, I got a replacement radiator from a website
www.auto-car-radiator.com

they don't show an SVX (but lots of other Subaru products). I'd call them (and no I don't work for them - my employer is the US Air Force). They sold me the MR2 radiator for $160 less than the best dealer price I could get, and when I opened the box I found it was actually a genuine Toyota product.

Sorry for the length.

Here's a theory, however unlikely it may be.

You recently did your waterpump and such, right? You probably removed the radiator to get the space up front to work on the car?

I've found that the 10 year old plastic on the radiator can be quite brittle, and you may have inadvertantly caused two minor hairline fractures when you re-tightened the hose on the radiator.

With heat and pressure, well, POOF!

Considering that it's just coolant circulating in there, in order for it to "blow", it would require excessive pressure, which maybe :confused: a faulty cap could have caused excessive pressure? And the only thing that could cause a pressure increase was heat, but you said the engine didn't overheat at all.

But you'd think that if there was excessive pressure that it would've blown through one of the gaskets (water pump?) or through the upper or lower radiator hose.

Am I making any sense? :confused: :)

VK

Plastic tanks pop all of the time, they're really a poor replacement for the brass tanks. A lot of the replacement radiators we use have metal tanks instead of the E plastic tanks. I've seen all-metal radiators bow and/or blow out from bad caps not releasing pressure, without harming hoses or gaskets.

So, Beav: are we saying that the purchase of new radiator cap
every two years or so, is a wise investment?

Ron.

Ron,

Has that high-maintenence mistress of yours left the beauty shop yet? Inquiring minds want to know...

It wouldn't hurt, but it would probably be unnecessary. It's a rare occurence when the cooling system is maintained and not rusty. I can recall seeing three in about the past fifteen years and one was clean, the other two were nasty.

Also I have yet to see a radiator blow a plastic tank on the cold side of the radiator.

Yes it has, John & I must say it's a lovely perm.

Ron (ding-free for a day).