Jazzman. 1990 fiat tipo dgt 160a motor radiator is gunked up know anyone who can do a replacement at a decent rate guy in town h

jezz43, Feb 3, 12:18am
1990 fiat tipo DGT
160A motor
radiator is gunked up, know anyone who can do a replacement at a decent rate! guy in town here said i would need custom made due to the layout and quoted $1300 plus GST. dont really want 2nd hand if i can avoid it

i dont mind if its factory or aftermarket.
mugenb20b, Feb 3, 12:35am
Can you get it rodded out or is the core stuffed!
jezz43, Feb 3, 12:36am
na, the guy recons that the radiators tubes are too small to be rodded, so its needs to be replaced. and something about the way its sealed making it a difficult and unworthy job
henderson_guy, Feb 3, 12:37am
Can you not get it re-cored!My radiator was re cored at birch ave radiators.
jezz43, Feb 3, 12:41am
nope, asked that too, he had an excuse for it all, some parts are too small, some parts are sealed and cant be replaced. and this bit runs the wrong way etc etc. not sure if he was full of sh1t or just fobbing me off. would rather a new radiator anyways. just not keen on $1300 for it. bloody car only cost me $1250
henderson_guy, Feb 3, 12:43am
In that case try Silverdale radiators, they sell on here and can courier, they often have some cheap new radiators for sale so may be worth a try
jezz43, Feb 3, 12:45am
has a plastic tank ontop of the radiator aswell that i want replaced, its a bit warped and covered in crap
thejazzpianoma, Feb 3, 1:16am
Hi Jezz,
Have you tried Dino Enterprises and TheItalian Auto Centre!
Genuine Fiat parts are sometimes the cheapest parts of all. Both of these places should be able to overnight you one, both new and secondhand. If you have no luck come on back as Intrade has another place he has used with great success.
trdbzr, Feb 3, 1:16am
Around $220nz including express shipping from UK from a seller with around 4000 feedbacks 99.7% positive, so can be trusted, ebay is your friend
thejazzpianoma, Feb 3, 1:21am
LOL, SNAP!
thejazzpianoma, Feb 3, 1:21am
BTW, those radiators only run to about NZD $120 on ebay so even if its twice that in stock in NZ thats not end of the world. If all else fails and you can hang in a week or so you can always import one yourself.

You should be able to get one in NZ without problem though.

BTW, its worth reviewing whether the Tipo is a good long term keeper, they are getting old now and do have some niggly faults now and then. By all means get it going but I am finding the difference in price between what a Tipo is worth and a much newerFiat is worth is pretty negligible. So its worth considering changing to something quicker, safer and better featured.
jezz43, Feb 3, 1:22am
thanks jazz, didnt even think to ask mal. il give him a ring on tuesday and see what he can do. do you know of another fiat that has a similar radiator layout thats larger! perhaps one of the upmarket performance models!
jezz43, Feb 3, 1:26am
im aware the tipo is getting on a bit, and there are faster and better models available etc. but i kinda like it to be honest. digital dash, manual, comfy on long trips, sticks to the road bloody well. and has been faultless up till about a month ago. im about to overhaul the entire rear brakes and lines and it should be ok, at idle when warm it heats up a bit hence why i want to replace the radiator. i know the engine is clean. since i bought it, its only really cost me about $60 in repairs
thejazzpianoma, Feb 3, 1:29am
Mal would also be the man to ask that. I have owned a Tipo but many years ago now so really scratching my head to remember sorry. The sedicivalvole runs a different radiator I think but not sure if its bigger or just a different setup.
Best of luck with it.
thejazzpianoma, Feb 3, 1:33am
If you like it and are getting a good run out of it then by all means stick with it. Sounds like you know what you are doing. There is something a bit special about a Tipo I have to admit. couldn't put my finger on it to explain exactly why/what but I do know where you are coming from.

Good move getting on to the radiator smartly, they are prone to doing in head gaskets once they start getting like that. I would actually suggest you check yours is not already gone. I would also check the thermostat and radiator fan operation as well.

The car is likely over 20 years old so a new radiator even if standard should help it out a lot.
jezz43, Feb 3, 1:39am
thermostat packed up a long time ago, found a new one for $300 plus GST, so i just removed it (clips into the housing). replaced the waterpump at the same time and removed all the coolant, started using this stuff called water wetter. seems to have made a small difference. radiator fan seems to work fine, but did have to replace thermo switch when i got it as the overheating got quite bad. i had another thread a while back about engine upgrades etc. decided to S/C the 160A. i have a spare one now, so il keep the current running till i source a charger to fit. i do agree on the X factor with the car. god knows what it is but they are so much fun to drive
grangies, Feb 3, 9:16pm
Special, as in "Speshul Needs" !

Or just plain old "special"!
thejazzpianoma, Feb 3, 9:29pm
Was waiting for that actually. funny man.
thejazzpianoma, Feb 3, 9:31pm
Just remembering something I found with mine. I seem to remember it being a bit of a pig to bleed the air out of the radiator. I trust you found the 2 - 3 air bleeders. Seem to remember too that parking it on a slope or jacking up the front helped a bit with the bleeding too.
jezz43, Feb 3, 9:37pm
yes i found them lol. bloody little plastic things. O-ring went walkabout on one of them, so i had proper steel bleed nipples made up to replace them. took a fair while to bleed out. did a flush and alot of crap came out and then it developed a leak. so guy at BNT sold me this stuff that comes in a block and it looks like rubber. crush it up, dump it in and problem solved haha. enginewise its been pretty good with exception of this radiator crap. just 2 sensors an oil leak and a water leak. and a bung thermostat. not too bad on the gas either. $90 to fill and gets about 750kms. and im far from gentle driving it
flashgordon_nz, Dec 8, 12:07pm
http://www.technilube.com/rmi25/index.php

try the rmi 25 for cleaning your cooling system.