Leaky Radiator What to do next?

[thomasu888]

We have just had the pleasure of spending the bank holiday Monday waiting for the AA to arrive as our beloved Bongo developed a crack in the top of the radiator. (The good news was that we pulled into a pub car park to find this out). The AA man was very helpful and after carrying out a number of pressure tests advised us that that there was indeed a crack in the rad and that he would put K - Seal in which would get us safely home some 3o miles away.
Having looked K seal up on the internet it appears to be a wonder cure and if all I read is correct it sounds like we need to do nothing more until the next anti freeze change. Is this correct or should I just buy a new radiator? If so which radiator should I buy for a 2.5 1995 Diesal Turbo Automatic? There seems to be about six available on ebay ranging from £80 to £150 but all suitable for our Bongo.
We have just moved to Shepton mallet in Somerset and do not know the area at all well so does anyone know a Bongo friendly mechanic nearby as from what I have read on bongofury if this is not fitted correctly we could end up with far more major problems.
I would welcome any advice that could be given on the above. Thanks

[mikexgough]

K seal will do the job..... but for me the only way is to get another replacement radiator...... there are various on ebay now and many are suitable..... I got mine from here and it has been faultless. Garage nr Shepton Mallet...I would go for Bell Hill

[bikerbob]

Bought mine off ebay for £105.00 inc P&P from Bellocat Products. I am not endorsing the seller but I had a good after sales experience.

!st one was faulty as could not remove rad cap, contacted seller who immediately arranged for a replacement, arrived next day, courier collected & delivered new one. This has now been fitted & functioning OK now for over a month.

The reason I bought from this particular seller was that price was middle of the road, saw one for as low as £75.00.
Just make sure on delivery to check the quality of the rad before the courier goes and that the rad cap is easy to remove & is the correct rating for your vehicle, mine was 1.1 bar for a 2.5 Diesel.

[missfixit70]

Bought mine off ebay for £105.00 inc P&P from Bellocat Products. I am not endorsing the seller but I had a good after sales experience.

!st one was faulty as could not remove rad cap, contacted seller who immediately arranged for a replacement, arrived next day, courier collected & delivered new one. This has now been fitted & functioning OK now for over a month.

The reason I bought from this particular seller was that price was middle of the road, saw one for as low as £75.00.
Just make sure on delivery to check the quality of the rad before the courier goes and that the rad cap is easy to remove & is the correct rating for your vehicle, mine was 1.1 bar for a 2.5 Diesel.

Rad cap rating is irrelevant as it should not be able to vent, it should rely on the top fixed seal. If there is a vent on the radiator for the rad cap, it needs blocking off or it'll cause all sorts of issues. Any venting in the system takes place at the header/expansion/degassing tank. If it's got a vent pipe - it's not designed for the bongo.

[Northern Bongolow]

I got mine from here and it has been faultless.

on the link posted mike it shows a rad cap on that page,this looks a little worrying as its rated at 0.9 kg ----and suitable for a bongo.
rad looks good though.

[missfixit70]

I got mine from here and it has been faultless.

on the link posted mike it shows a rad cap on that page,this looks a little worrying as its rated at 0.9 kg ----and suitable for a bongo.
rad looks good though.

But as we keep saying, it is irrelevant what rating cap is on the rad as it does not rely on that part of the seal, it relies on the top fixed seal on the rad cap - there should be no vent for it to vent if that seal did lift
The crucial cap is the header tank which should be 1.1bar & preferably genuine, or at least checked for opening pressure with a physical test.

[thomasu888]

Thanks everybody for your prompt replies and keeping it simple for the less mechanical minded!! very grateful once again.

[bikerbob]

OOOOOH a slap on the wrist from missfixit - can`t recall saying anything about there being a vent on the rad for the rad cap, all I was pointing out was difficulty in trying to remove the rad cap which could not be removed despite brute force and loads of ignorance, if you can`t remove the rad cap how do you fill it???? the point I trying to make was my experience with that particular seller and that the replacement rad was OK.

Whats the irrele-vent bit????

[missfixit70]

If you read what I wrote, you'll see the irrelevent bit ie highlighted in red.
It's not a slap on the wrist, just stating that the pressure rating on the rad cap should be irrelevant. I didn't say yours had a vent, I said IF it had a vent (which some of the cheaper ones do & you may not have realised if you did & that it wasn't supposed to) as a warning to others & POSSIBLY YOURSELF, as you obviously didn't realise the pressure rating was irrelevant if there was nowhere for it to vent to. Just trying to help, sorry if that offends

[bikerbob]

Course it don`t offend oh supreme being I enjoyed it