Yugo Radiator swap

[turbofiat124]

The radiator on my Yugo may have run it's course. It's starting to "steam" but has yet to start leaking. I'm not sure if it's worth repairing or not.

Has anyone ever tried to substitute one of those alumnium radiators from something else in their Fiat/Yugo?

The reason I ask is I can get a brand new alumnium radiator for about $75 for my Subaru. That's probably why there are not many radiator repair shops in business these days. Cheaper to replace that to fix.

No doubt a new copper/brass would cost $400. If you could even find a new Yugo radiator. But I'm sure there is one sitting on a shelf somewhere with an inch of dust on it. I actually found a new radiator for a Fiat 131 a few years ago. I could tell it had been sitting on a shelf for quite a few years. I actually got a good deal on it. I suppose the supplier was glad to get rid of it.

One thing about it. The original radiator only takes up less than half the length behind the grill. Surely I could find something that would fit in it's place. As long as the snouts are on the same side and close enough I could use a piece of exhaust pipe and various size hoses to link it up.

Anybody know of a good radiator "search engine" website? So far Google has not turned up anything under "Search for radiators by dimensions". And it pulls up those old steam radiators used back before heat pumps!

 

[Fiatpwr]

Sounds like a lot of trouble James.
You should just buy this one.


I can set you up with new hoses as well.
This rad is a low mileage junk yard find from years ago. My last Yugo Radiator.

 

[turbofiat124]

Unless it's NOS and has never seen coolant, I'd rather pass on it.

The radiator in mine came from a junked car with 24K miles on it. Although it had been sitting full of this green chalky stuff for about 15 years. I flushed it out and allowed it to sit full of vinegar (twice) and it seemed to do well for awhile.

One weird thing I noticed was on the end of the upper hose there are these small pin holes that go into the end of the hose. The other day it appeared coolant was leaking through these holes. I don't know how coolant could be leaking from there. Unless there is a break inside the hose. It maybe worth a shot at simply replacing the hose before I goto the trouble of swapping radiators.

My Yugo has more urgent problems. If you read my post. The guy at the alignment shop said I need new wheel bearings and at least a new tie rod end. And I thought the roaring sound I was hearing was those cheap ass 13" Chineese made tires..

I botched my "just for the hell of it" wheel bearing replacement up 10 years ago and now they have failed. I guess I pressed them in wrong.

So I need some new wheel bearings and I'm going to try replacing the inner boots while I am at it because the passenger side is slinging oil onto the turbo.

I was told the reason these leak is because dirt gets between the boot and axle and wears a groove in it. But I don't recall buying new inner boots when I built the car. I recycled quite a bit of parts between this car, my low mileage parts car, stuff I've bought from you, Ebay and vendors.

The seals in he inner boots may just be worn out.

So do you have any NOS wheel bearings and inner 4 speed CV joint boots comparable to vendor prices you want to get rid of?

I think those NOS 128 tie rods I have will fit.

Shoot me a PM at turbofiat124*gmail.com.