S**t happened

[aardvarkash10]

at the worst possible location.

Cruising back from a short run to the North Shore (40km each way) over the Auckland Harbour Bridge, and the temp gauge flies off the dial.

On a bloody 8-lane motorway bridge.

Coast down the downhill side and pull into a bus-lane VERY unhappy. Pop the bonnet and... the entire hotside radiator tank has started to separate from the radiator - fluid ****ing everywhere!

I managed to get it to hold enough water to limp to a rellies place 1.5km away.

Now to find a new radiator....

[827Roverman]

Originally Posted by aardvarkash10

at the worst possible location.

Cruising back from a short run to the North Shore (40km each way) over the Auckland Harbour Bridge, and the temp gauge flies off the dial.

On a bloody 8-lane motorway bridge.

Coast down the downhill side and pull into a bus-lane VERY unhappy. Pop the bonnet and... the entire hotside radiator tank has started to separate from the radiator - fluid ****ing everywhere!

I managed to get it to hold enough water to limp to a rellies place 1.5km away.

Now to find a new radiator....

Shame about the rad, hope you soon get it sorted, love the view of the bridge.

[Bonefishblues]

Lovely place to break down though!

[Laird Scooby]

Originally Posted by Bonefishblues

Lovely place to break down though!

From a view perspective yes, definitely! If it's the bridge i'm thinking of then no, definitely not!

I watch quite a few of the programs such as Road Wars, Police Interceptors etc and one of the programs is called Motorway Patrol.

In simple terms it's a New Zealand version of a mix of Road Wars, Interceptors etc and something that is heavily featured in most of them is a motorway bridge - it looks very similar to the one Ash has pictured. Rush hour is like the M25 on a bad day, there are heavy fines for running out of fuel on the bridge etc simply because it is so busy.

Is it that bridge Ash?

As for the radiator, would it not be quicker to get this one repaired/recored/reconditioned than try to get a replacement shipped in?

[bluebrickrick]

My Wentworth suffered from top hose connector to rad header breaking out of the header (being plastic) three times Ash, a pig to repair so rads replaced, third time it happened I took a long hard look at the problem and eventually worked out that at some point the garage had fitted an overlong top hose, which put constant pressue on the connector and engine torque reaction did the rest - changed for the proper hose (and it wasn't much more than an inch or so too long and fairly soft) and no further problems.

BTW Chatterton's compound, wire and tie wraps can be used to hold a socket (forget which size) in place as a get you home measure.

Having been over the bridge at rush hour I can sympathise with your predicament, although you are lucky it was not the Sydney Harbour bridge, traffic possibly heavier but my experience of Kiwi drivers is that if they saw you in trouble they'd hold back to let you get across the lane - hope that was the case anyway.

Rick

[aardvarkash10]

Originally Posted by Laird Scooby

From a view perspective yes, definitely! If it's the bridge i'm thinking of then no, definitely not!

...
Is it that bridge Ash?

As for the radiator, would it not be quicker to get this one repaired/recored/reconditioned than try to get a replacement shipped in?

That's the bridge Dave - on a nice day its a great view all the way out the harbour. On a crap day its a 25 minute slog through choked traffic and aggressive misery.

The photo shows it from the north looking south toward Auckland City.

There is a radiator specialist in Christchurch who is carrying a couple in stock would you believe - only 36 hours away by courier. Price not bad either at $330NZD to me. New rad, guaranteed. Easy.

[Laird Scooby]

That's great news Ash - i think that works out about £165 so about the same as the prices over here give or take.

Is the old one plastic or brass? If it's brass i'm thinking some delicately applied warmth from a blowlamp and some tin/lead alloy..........
If it works you've got a good spare if the worst should happen again, if it doesn't you've not lost anything.

I thought it probably was the bridge i've seen on tv, often thought it's a bit like the Dartford Crossing here although Dartford is nowhere near as picturesque :



https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dartford_Crossing

There are 4 lanes on the bridge going south and 4 lanes in the tunnel going north - usually the tunnel is free-flowing even in peak times but the bridge is often congested. Then it can be an hour or more of choked (and choking from all the diesel fumes) hell so i can definitely sympathise!

[aardvarkash10]

Originally Posted by Laird Scooby

That's great news Ash - i think that works out about £165 so about the same as the prices over here give or take.

Is the old one plastic or brass?

I thought it probably was the bridge i've seen on tv, often thought it's a bit like the Dartford Crossing here although Dartford is nowhere near as picturesque

Hey Dave - yeah FRP end tanks, otherwise I would have repaired.

Its a similar shape bridge eh!! Our view is significantly better though. I remember going through the Dartford tunnel when I lived in the UK in the mid-80's. It was congested hell-hole then...

Cheers!

[Laird Scooby]

Similar shape yes but i bet the water underneath is a lot cleaner down under than it is here!
Bet it smells better too - what isn't shown on that photo is a sewage treatment facility on the south side just to the left of where the picture ends!

[aardvarkash10]

meanwhile...