ACtion Magazine - March 2017 - 22


Radiator service & repair

mission fluid also needs to be cooled in order to maintain the right temperature and avoid damage to gears and
other internal components. A/C is also affected, since the
condenser is mounted directly in front of the radiator on
most vehicles. Excess heat can transfer into the refrigerant, greatly reducing A/C performance.

During the 1980s the industry began a change over to
a newer style of radiator which is almost ubiquitous today, and that's the aluminum plastic design. Flat alumi-

YOUR
HEAT EXCHANGER
SOURCE

Figure 2: Radiator on left is from a 1972 Datsun (Mfg by
Nihon Radiator, Japan), on right from a late 90's Toyota
(Mfg by Denso Michigan). Although cheaper, more efficient
and easier to replace, technicians were at first skeptical
of these highly engineered plastic and aluminum designs
which were thought to be not as strong as their copper
brass predecessors.
num tube and fin cores are soldered to aluminum headers,
which are then crimped onto plastic header tanks with a
gasket in between. See Figure 4. These are much cheaper
to construct than previous designs, are lighter and much
easier to install. They also cost a lot less, mainly due to the
price of raw materials (traded on commodities markets, a
search on 1/29/17 shows aluminum around USD 0.83/lb,
while a pound of copper is trading closer to USD 2.67;
more than 3x the price!).

Steve Schaeber

CONDENSERS, HEATER CORES & RADIATORS

MACS Staff

Days gone by
Many radiators in pre-1990s cars and trucks were of a
copper brass construction (copper fins with brass tubes and
tanks). Tubes are soldered to a header, which is soldered
to the tanks along with inlet, outlet and overflow ports and
a filler neck. This style of radiator is commonly found on
older cars and trucks, and when there's a problem like a
leak or a puncture hole, many are still rebuilt by radiator
specialty shops. They're also still available new from several manufacturers. Most are made to serve the restoration
and custom replacement markets, although some vehicles,
lift trucks, industrial machines and heavy equipment still
use them brand new as original equipment parts.

Rnbc North
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469-214-7622 | RnbcUSA.com
22

ACTION * March 2017

Figure 3: During normal operation, aluminum radiators can
expand by about 0.160" along the length of their tubes,
requiring flexible rather than rigid mounting brackets.


http://www.RnbcUSA.com

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of ACtion Magazine - March 2017

Outlook
Service Port
Leonard's Law
Virtual View
Cooling Corner
Member Profile
Radiator service and repair
What you don't know can hurt your diesel engine
Industry News
Association News
New Products and Services
Last Watch
ACtion Magazine - March 2017 - Cover1
ACtion Magazine - March 2017 - Cover2
ACtion Magazine - March 2017 - 3
ACtion Magazine - March 2017 - 4
ACtion Magazine - March 2017 - 5
ACtion Magazine - March 2017 - Outlook
ACtion Magazine - March 2017 - 7
ACtion Magazine - March 2017 - Service Port
ACtion Magazine - March 2017 - 9
ACtion Magazine - March 2017 - Leonard's Law
ACtion Magazine - March 2017 - 11
ACtion Magazine - March 2017 - Virtual View
ACtion Magazine - March 2017 - 13
ACtion Magazine - March 2017 - Cooling Corner
ACtion Magazine - March 2017 - 15
ACtion Magazine - March 2017 - Member Profile
ACtion Magazine - March 2017 - 17
ACtion Magazine - March 2017 - 18
ACtion Magazine - March 2017 - 19
ACtion Magazine - March 2017 - Radiator service and repair
ACtion Magazine - March 2017 - 21
ACtion Magazine - March 2017 - 22
ACtion Magazine - March 2017 - 23
ACtion Magazine - March 2017 - 24
ACtion Magazine - March 2017 - 25
ACtion Magazine - March 2017 - What you don't know can hurt your diesel engine
ACtion Magazine - March 2017 - 27
ACtion Magazine - March 2017 - 28
ACtion Magazine - March 2017 - 29
ACtion Magazine - March 2017 - 30
ACtion Magazine - March 2017 - 31
ACtion Magazine - March 2017 - 32
ACtion Magazine - March 2017 - Industry News
ACtion Magazine - March 2017 - 34
ACtion Magazine - March 2017 - Association News
ACtion Magazine - March 2017 - New Products and Services
ACtion Magazine - March 2017 - 37
ACtion Magazine - March 2017 - Last Watch
ACtion Magazine - March 2017 - Cover3
ACtion Magazine - March 2017 - Cover4
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