OTish: Micra 'Tempest' radiator replacement.

[Spamlet]

The rad on SWMBO's until this point, super reliable, 8 year old, thrashed round the clock 3 door manual gearbox Micra, decided to blow last night (we had been warned it was beginning to leak at the last service, and it now seems to have parted from its moulding at the bottom).

Now she has had a whole series of Micras, and I did most of the maintenance and rebuilding if necessary, of the older ones, but I have not had to look at this one other than bulbs and fuses - and one fun session hammering a dent out of the spare wheel; and the usual hassles with keys and alarm systems.

Anyhow, whilst I have been rather too weak to do much of late, looking at diagrams of new rads seems to indicate I may only have to undo the hoses and fan, and the thing may just lift out. Oddly enough, I have tried googling but not come up with the usual handy blow by blow accounts of removal and replacement.

I wonder the uk.d-i-y sleuthing abilities can either tell me if things are as straight forward as they look, or point me at some strip down info, and perhaps advise on the pitfalls to look out for when ordering spares (I've already signed up to a few online parts finding services, and offers are already pouring in even at night - but can they be trusted...)

Cheers,

S

[Cicero]

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I don't know anything specific about the Micra but many modern cars have the radiator held in place with two dowels at the bottom and two spring clips at the top. The clips are attached to the body and locate in grooves in the radiator. Unclip the clips and push the radiator backwards and then lift off the dowels.

Of course your Micra might not be anything like my description, in which case you could try 'uk.rec.cars.maintenance' where somebody will probably give you a detailed run down.

For parts look at GSF Car Parts and Euro Car Parts, but also try Yellow Pages as local specialist radiator companies are sometimes cheaper than the big outlets.

Cic.

[Spamlet]

Thanks Cic. From the diagram at one suppliers it does look like it is just dowelled at the bottom - but with the dowels on the rad not the car. I'm not quite sure how the fan is attached behind it, or how it goes at the top, but I would feel pretty dumb if I paid out loads for a garage to do it and then found it would have taken just a few minutes. Seems the choice between new/pattern/and used may be the next stumbling block.

Cheers,

S

[Cicero]

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Yes, that's what I meant - dowels as part of the radiator which slot into rubber protected holes in the bodywork.

I'm not quite sure how the fan is attached behind it, or how it

The best way if you've got alternative transport is to take the radiator out first and take it to a local supplier to compare or even match to an online supplier's diagram. The fan shouldn't be a problem - probably attached by a simple web.