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No heat after radiator replacement

Paul I used stuff from Halfords. ( Their own brand) Choice of pink or blue - can't remember difference but the blue one is correct but once chosen you have to stick to it . It is recommended you use distilled water which sounds a bit much but having spent lots on a professional engine rebuild a few extra pennies on distilled water didn't matter. I will replace mine soon along with the engine oil as the running in is now complete so I can flush all through. ( re bumper no Kentish or Essex trips have come up yet but I'm sure they will)
 
I've just been out to the car to empty the cooling system, as I now have the antifreeze, and found the radiator lose. The bottom has come away from the radiator core and whilst it is not losing coolant, it can no longer be trusted so a replacement radiator it is. Mr Auto sells a new one for £54.90 unless I can get one locally. Damn.

Jonathan, I have bought some Halfords antifreeze, and they have silicate or OAT. I've no idea as to it's colour. I've chosen OAT anyway although their guide does not list the recommended stuff for the Renault 4GTL. For very other Renault model they recommend OAT. No rush with the (front?) bumper but if you could give me details of the supplier (in Spain?) I could look for a rear one in the meantime.
 
Thank you Andy. Yes, I had seen that and was waiting for my local supplier to come back to me with a better price but the NRF 54683 at £39.03 seems pretty unbeatable so I've ordered one. The old 30yr old radiator might have got me through another winter but for that price it's not worth the risk, eh?
 
Hmm boiling H2O get you nothing but H2O vapour, not H2 :) You'll need electrolysis for getting that. BTW what material is the radiator you have bought made from? My new copper radiator was pretty expensive compared to your 39 £.
 
I have no idea as it yet to arrive Niels but it is metal and made by a reputable British manufacturer, NRF. I still cannot believe that boiling cooling water make a happerth of difference. Air locks make a difference and squeezing them out solves things. Well it did when I did this last week.

Neils, On a different subject. Copenhagen. I was fascinated by an interesting Rick Stein documentary I watched last night. Stein is a famous British fish chef and his present series is about him visiting various cities trying their local food. I was last in Copenhagen two summers ago and loved the city, and especially the Mikkeller beers. Denmark is of course expensive for us Brits (although Sweden is dearer and Norway astronomical!) anyway I am a bit of a foodie so am thinking of a long weekend in the capital. Any advice? Budget hotels? Places to eat, etc?
 
Hmm, I'm no expert on the great capital of ours as I am from Jutland and presently living on Funen (Fyn). The bridge to Sealand (Sjælland) is very expensive thus I am only driving over it when its work related and I don't pay myself :)

On the hotel front I know nothing of any places (sorry), as for the food I have not visited any myself other than some small restaurants in Christiania (the 'Free-city' in Copenhagen) - Those are called 'Spiseloppen' and 'Morgenstedet'.

I know of Noma (of course) which is crazily expensive and then Restaurant Naert, and in general all the restaurants at the seafront at Nyhavn.

As I am just finished with my study as a biologist, and thus only worked as a 'real' grown-up this last 6 months, I have not yet begun living as one (going on trips for the weekends and so on) :)

Too bad that you're not staying longer as I know more interesting places on the other side of the bridge :)

As for the boiling of water, I dont think is does any difference, I just pointed out that you cant create H2 by boiling it. Its possible by electrolysis though, but has no relation to cooling the engine. I am also working on getting the system vented as I have replaced a worn out hose, and a also just squeeze the hoses, raise the expansion bottle and then rev the engine for some 10-30 minutes.

Write me if you have more questions about Denmark, danes or the like!

PS: The weather is pretty sad at the moment
 
so what you're saying in effect is that Water-wetter doesn't work at all either? -as this stuff also does lower oxygen-content in the coolant
/water ..(by way of removing surface-tension in water-to let oxygen/air out) Another approach but same result I would say..
I won't start a war here ,but when you bring water to the boiling-point isn't it (air)bubbles you see rising to the surface ?? The idea is to be
left with oxygen-low water in the pan -which in turn means less chance of air-bubbles and hot-spots when same water is used in the cooling-
system.. As it took me all of 8mins to boil I felt it an ok "investment" but that must be up to any to all of course -Reid
 
Reid, no "war" from me, honestly, we we must all disagree about some things. Water Wetter? Well have have remotely heard of the stuff but have no experience of the stuff. In fact I don't think it's to be found here in the U.K. In fifty years of doing my own mechanics on my cars, I've never found the need to use anything but antifreeze and rainwater. And a car's coolant system is really very little different from our home's central heating system. Just a matter of getting any trapped air away and up to its highest point.
 
When the car is driven warm the coolant-water mixture itself should be so hot that the air will make its way out the bleedhose and expansion bottle without lid. I drove 15 km and then massaged the carburettor (and water hoses) to bleed the system last time, and the air sputtered out the bleedvalve like near-boiling water.
Here in Denmark the reason people often use demineralised water is the very high lime-content in the local tapwater. I would think rainwater is a bit acid, but hopefully not enough to erode the metal in the engine.
 
Well I removed the old radiator yesterday and found a few surprises. The bottom of the R4 radiator should have a pair of vertical threaded studs (M7) which fit into a pair of rubber bushes. One stud was missing and there was no nut & washer on the other stud. So apart from the thin struts, it was just the rubber hoses keeping the radiator in place. The coolant was the expected red rusty colour but it only took five minutes or so of flushing using a hose pipe to get clear water to appear. I've removed the cross member which links the two inner wings as well as the thin struts and painted these as they were so rusty. M7 nuts seem to be everywhere, an unusual size but obtainable on eBay. I'll replace these with stainless steel M7 Nylocs and M7x15 bolts - my motorbikes have lots of stainless fasteners too - and that will tidy up the engine bay. The 40mm Jubilee clips were rotten so will need replacing too. It's a pleasure to work in the engine bay and have the luxury of so much space to work.
 
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