Member
mechanic telling me its leaking by upper flange .
i do see in diagrams plastic meets metal on these.
had about 80,000 miles on it
Member
Radiators are a component of my cooling system refresh every 100K miles. Expansion tank and water pump also included.
Member
Here is the spot the radiator broke on top flange. The mechanic did have one big piece of the broken off part..
I never saw a leak from there.
I kinda doubt that he would purposely break it to get me to
buy a new one at a inflated price. Didnt add too much time for labor since i was
already replacing water pump and expansion tank.
ever see a failure here ?
006.jpg
Last edited by enf1945; 05-20-2022 at 05:43 PM.
Member
Is that the top of the radiator? Mine broke off completely at that spot 2x. The engine flexes and the radiator does not, so that seems to be a common stress point. Plus the hot gases can collect near there if you have air bubbles. You may get over 80,000 miles but plastic also ages with time so a low mileage car may fail sooner. I always had a clean break but you may have a slow leak first that the hose clamp cannot stop or it breaks while removing the hose.
Member
Wow look at the inside the plastic is chipping away! Holy crap.
If that broke off while driving you could have badly overheated if the engine wasn't immediately shut off. If this did fail and the engine was fully up to temp you would have seen a massive amount of steam.
This could be an indication of worn motor mounts.
It would have been a good opportunity to upgrade to an all aluminum radiator. Know that there are new all aluminum radiators on the market that have the ends epoxied instead of welded that people should avoid.
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Member
yes that's the top one.
some part did break off during removal i saw the piece.
Also there is a bend in the hose there as the hose makes the turn from the air filter to the
thermostat housing. The turn is pretty close to that plastic. I wonder if that bend puts added pressure on the plastic ?
shade tree mechanic
Moderator
additional pressure comes usually from bad engine mounts, then the engine flexes more clockwise and anticlockwise, bringing more stress to the upper connection of the radiator. That is a very common place where it breaks.
https://eeuroparts.com/blog/e36-325i-engine-mount-diy/
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