Rad Troubles

The very first time I took the Stylus out with the car club all the water ran out because the rad had been mounted touching an edge on the GRP body, which had slowly slowly cut through the aluminium. I got that mended, but last weekend I noticed the water level was again low, but looking around I found a stain on the rad. £300 of Coolex radiator was leaking from the core.

I didn't buy it - I wouldn't be so daft, but as it was now obviously recycling fodder I bought a radiator from a Polo - which doesn't look so nice, but as it's tucked away deep in the nose, who cares? If it keeps the water in & the engine cool, that'll be just fine with me.

It arrived as promised & fitted perfectly in place of the old one, as a bonus it's 1/2 the weight & holds less water so there's a 2 1/2kg weight saving. It's now on the car & the cooling system has been flushed, tomorrow I'll tighten the clamps & put fresh coolant in it & give it a testing.

Just as an aside, the weight of the car at purchase was 700kg, the car still has all the features it used to have plus a few new ones, like removable side windows, USB ports, seat cushions, a fuel tank that doesn't scrape the road & it now weighs 627kg, None of it's been big stuff, just little savings here & there, taking off things it didn't need, like the oil cooler & swapping steel components for aluminium ones, none were really worthwhile in isolation, but they all add up - or subtract down.