Vdub Rad w/ AC

[wrxdrew]

First though...

Why not BORROW a pressure tester so you can stop GUESSING at what is/was wrong. Andrew (WRXDREW, I believe...) told me he went to one shop that allowed him to RENT a tester or BUY it if he wanted to keep it... Others have "borrowed" ones from Pep Boys and Auto Zone.

I still have the pressure tester if it's still needed. I never returned it to the store i borrowed it from. I was planing on using a trick I've watched my wife do with dresses numerous times... leave the tags on and return it when i was done. But, i still have it and can loan it out if you need it.

 

[lookforjoe]

I may be missing the point here. I'm dense sometimes so my wife says...... But at idle, cars ALWAYS overheat because there's no air going though the rad. If the car heats up only at idle, then replacing the fan switch would be my first thought.

I think a bad water pump would be the last thing to try. And if it's rusty like the picture above, pop out the freeze plugs and scrape out all the crap accumulating in the water jacket!!!

The stock fan switch I have doesn't kick in until the temp is up around 220ºF. Bayless is out of the lower temp switch. In any event, the car is fine unless you sit for extended periods, in high ambient temp & WAIT for the stock switch to kick in - I don't actually do that, I turn on the fan manually.

The extra fan has nothing to do with any of that - that's for the AC condensor, which now that it's spaced away from the rad (better for the cooling system), doesn't get enough draw-through from the main 14" fan. This became obvious when I charged the AC, and the high-side pressures went over 350 * idle (not good!). Now it's fine.

I'm doing the water pump because I'm going to have the head off anyway for shaving & hot cam install.

 

[lookforjoe]

I still have the pressure tester if it's still needed. I never returned it to the store i borrowed it from. I was planing on using a trick I've watched my wife do with dresses numerous times... leave the tags on and return it when i was done. But, i still have it and can loan it out if you need it.

Thanks for the offer, I did actually pressure test the system before I went further - no problems there.

 

[lookforjoe]

Slight Modification....

...to the lower mounts, I wasn't keen on the rigid mounts, so I used Volvo upper radiator stay brackets & bushes from a 240 :grin:

much better - no worries about excess shock to the radiator that "hard" mounting can cause.