Radiator replacement
The cooling radiator gradually clogs with fluff and insects outside and with scale and old-antifreeze breakdown products inside.
Symptoms
- Overheating in traffic while normal on the highway, leaking, coolant level dropping.
What's included
- Aluminium tanks and cores also corrode, while plastic tanks crack along their seams. Symptoms include overheating in traffic despite normal highway temperature, leaks and a falling reservoir level. We pressure-test the system to pinpoint the leak; otherwise a sound radiator could be replaced because of a leaking hose. Replacement includes flushing the system, filling with fresh antifreeze and checking the fan and thermostat, since overheating rarely has only one cause.
Additional checks
- Inspecting radiator tanks for corrosion (aluminium) or seam cracks (plastic)
- Checking the radiator for fluff/insect buildup outside and scale inside
- Checking fan and thermostat operation
Why it matters
The system is pressure-tested to pinpoint the actual leak — otherwise a whole radiator gets replaced for what was really a leaking hose. Overheating rarely has just one cause.
More details
The radiator gets clogged over time — on the outside with fluff and insects, and on the inside with scale and the breakdown products of old coolant. Aluminum tanks and cores are also prone to corrosion, and plastic tanks crack along the seams. Symptoms include overheating in traffic with a normal temperature on the highway, leaks, and a dropping level in the reservoir. We pressure-test the system to precisely locate the leak — otherwise it's easy to replace an entire radiator when the actual problem is a leaking hose. During replacement we flush the system and fill it with new coolant, and we also check the operation of the fan and thermostat, because overheating rarely has just one cause.
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