daveo90s4

perrys4, what is wrong with the needle on a digital-dash S4 sitting on the 3/4 mark? Many / most do sit about there, don't they? Certainly the case in my experience. If you don't like the needle in that position, but you're sure that your engine is not overheating (easy to check) then simply take the needle off and put it back on in a psychologically more appealing angle.

Bill Ball

The 3/4 mark (second white line) is where my 89 has run on hot days since I've owned it despite new WP, lower temp T-stat, radiator rodding, new fan, and disabling the warm-up flaps. Put the AC on, and it creeps over that mark, especially if going uphill. I don't get too excited unless it is more that a needle's width over the mark, approaching the redzone. This is very, very common in S4s. I would expect 90+ to run a bit cooler as the oil cooler was moved external.

F451

Very interesting Bill. My S4 that I bought last spring has been running with the temp needle right in the middle, basically horizontal, under all conditions since I bought it. Now that the summer is here, its been runnning at times up to the 3/4 mark, and sometimes just over it. Not into the red, but it was concerning me.

This makes me feel a bit better. But I still need to go through my entire cooling system and make sure everything is up to snuff. And it needs a tb change, and all the associated parts that go with it.

Anyway, thanks for the info. -Ed

Lizard928

Bill,
knowing that I had a new end tank I didnt worry about trying to save the one that was on there and I cheated, I annealed the aluminum before bending the tabs up, when applying slight upward pressure on the tabs you could just feel when it hit that point and they came up (still with about of force) easily, once the entire tank was off I reannealed them abit more to hopefully relieve any stress cracks,

I used 2 rachet tie down straps to bring the end in (worked great), I think the problem/reason my end tank cracked was because I didnt get all the tabs down first all the way around the rad, I got more down in one spot first, where I should have done it in two or 3 stages of tightening those tabs down.

There is a local member here who broke all but iirc 6 tabs off the end and he put the new seals in and two new tanks on and then put 3 hose clamps around each tank and tightened the clamps down, that is all he has (still) holding the tanks on and it appears to be working with no issues.

I wouldnt even attempt to bend those tabs up without mildly annealing the aluminum though as with my experiance with working with aluminum and steel during fabrication and repairs in the field not heating it, it will ALWAYS break. I used a small propane torch for mine as aluminum doesnt take much heat.
A trick to anneal aluminum though is to smoke it with just acetalyne then get the torch dialed in and then heat it till the smoke disappears and it is then at its softest point, but dont leave the torch in one spot too long or you will simply melt it, esp with how thin the metal on these rads are.

heinrich

disgusting ewww

heinrich

impressive

Bill Ball

Precisely the way mine has always worked.

Bill Ball

Liz: I'm not sure if the shop used heat or not when bending the tabs up, but I sure can't tell they were bent after two sidetank jobs on the same side. If there is a next time, I will stay and watch.

perrys4

I have had issues with this car before so maybe I am over cautious. I was expecting it to show on the guage that it was running significantly cooler. Sitting in rush hour traffice when its 90+ degrees isnt a place I want to break down or over heat. It has only been a short time so maybe i will get more comfortable with it if it proves to keep things cool. My car has always run 1-2 needle widths below the 3/4 mark, with the bad radiator. I was expecting the needle to sit at the half way point with the new one.

Bill Ball

Unless the radiator were significantly thicker or had a somehow more efficient design, I would expect it to perform the same. The advantage is no plastic sidetanks to crack or leak and the cost is much less than a Behr radiator.

perrys4

I heard it was larger with more cooling capacity. I know it is a great unit, my expctations were set a bit to high I guess.

Bill Ball

Hey, I was a kid 50 years ago. We put our oatmeal in noisy transmissions.

Bill Ball

To be larger it would have to be thicker, but even that would be a problem with the fan shroud.

H2

Wait.....my '88 S4 5-speed has an external cooler in front of the radiator...It's missing the labels too. Is there a chance that it's a replacement Behr radiator from another year? If so, what radiator am I going to have to buy to make sure that the pipes line up without a lot of dangerous bending?

Along this line, I've wondered about the various replacement radiators on the market and am not sure if they're "drop in" or require some custom bending of pipes to make them fit? My S4 is running up past the top white line and I'm pretty sure I'm going to need another radiator. But I don't want to get one that "kinda fits" but not really.

Harvey

Bret928

I had some radiator woes not all that long ago when one of my end caps started leaking when the system was at temp and fully pressurized. First I tried to purchase a used radiator thinking I could have it rebuilt then swap it out for my leaky one. But when I delivered it to a local shop to evaluate it’s condition – under a mere 10 PSI it leaked like a sieve. Looking at the design I decided that I didn’t want to invest in refurbishing my old radiator, so I went to 928 International for one of their C&R Aluminum radiators.

I got it installed and after some “other” problems encountered while trying to change the thermostat & hoses – I was finally able to get my car back on the road again about two weeks ago. After driving around for the better part of that time in 85-90 degree weather, the car seems to run pretty much the same as it did before (minus the leak) and so far no problems.

Personally I think the stock Behr radiator had an inherent week point because of the plastic end caps/tank design.