First time out today with a brush cutter I made for the Case 430. After about an hour and a half the engine temperature alarm came on. I idled it down and jumped out to find a small stream of coolant squirting right out of the middle of the radiator where an old patch job had come loose under the strain. It seems I need a new rad. The dealer wants 715 clams but I see lots of tempting aftermarket options for around $400-$500. I've always used cheap aftermarket rads in cars and trucks and never had a problem there but a piece of equipment is a little different. If I have to go to the dealer to get a good dependable radiator then so be it, but if i can save a few hundred bucks by buying aftermarket that would be much better. What say you?
That is not enough of a price discount for me to want to take the risk on that kind of machine. The other option is a radiator shop might be able to disable those tubes somehow, you have to find a good one and call and ask.
That's what the little angel on my right shoulder is saying. It is an important piece and I while I don't want to pay through the nose for it I *really* don't want a cheapo one to let go in 100 degree heat. I've had good luck with cheap radiators in cars but every time I skimp on something for a piece of equipment I regret it. Disabling the tubes would be good but I don't know how one would go about it. Seems like it would involve brazing or welding and I'd rather just replace than do that.
If you have a good radiator shop in the area, they can take your old tanks, and re-core it for you. Hard to find a good radiator shop, nowadays, though, epa seems to be hell bent on making all of em go outta business...
A good radiator shop if you can find one will just cut those to tubes off next to the tanks and solder them shut. Heavens if it is a good shop they probably would just repair them.
Second all the above. Take it to a good radiator shop. They'll probably just pinch the 2 tubes and solder them. If you do go down the replacement route aftermarket would have to be well ess than 50% of the cost of OEM to even consider it.
That looks like aluminum core with plastic tanks. Does 'pinch and solder' work on those? SimS
My thought too. Pick up the phone and call a shop and see what they say would be my course of action.
I guess we'll find out. I dropped it off monday with a local one-man shop who felt confident he could repair it. The way he described it sounded like he would cut in at opposing angles to give himself room to close off the ends.
Got the radiator back yesterday and installed it today. I noticed some smashed fins on the oil cooler so I unbolted it to straighten them. I'm glad I did because it turns out there were a LOT of folded over fins on it! I think the fan might have gotten into it at some point because one of the brackets holding it on was bent in quite a bit. I spent a few hours poking the fins back out with a bent piece of fence wire. This is shortly after I started. And here's the rad repair. He actually opened up the tubes and ran solder in to fill them. Ugly as sin and probably not the way I would've done it but as long as it holds I'm happy. He also spray painted it silver for some reason.
Don't look like fan blade contact to me. Looks more like somebody went apesh*t, with a pressure washer...