S1 Elise radiator replacement - advice?

[Captain Muppet]

Hello,

After four years of no problems last night I found my radiator has a leak. I have a spare radiator already, as I was planning to pull the front clam off for a bit of a rebuild during the summer. However, as the Elise is my daily drive it needs fixing now.

I have the workshop manual, I have a broken S1 Elise, I have a gravel driveway and I have a new rad. I've done way bigger jobs than this before, but never on my Elise. My questions are these:

What are the common problems that will crop up while removing the clam that won't be in the manual (rusty bolts, etc)?
What else should I definitely do while the front clam is off?
How long is this likely to take an angry man working alone outside in what is still technically winter?
Are there any tricks to refilling the coolant system afterwards?

Thanks for any help,

Muppet.

[JBanx]

i've not done it myself but i can imagine that rusty clam fixing bolts and rivnuts that start spinning when you try and undo the bolts will be the first thing that could cause problems. start spraying them with penetrating oil now, keep doing this each day. will probably help.

rusty bolts on the radiator fan fixings (are you replacing the fan as well?). I'd buy the fan mounting kit from eliseparts or elise shop. this will stop you having to mess about with the rust old ones.

Change the towing eye (at least paint it in POR15 / hammerite) while the clam is off.

Change the driving lights if you have one that needs doing.

As for timings; i've taken the rear clam off in 40 mins on my own, i imagine the front is probably the same unless you get stuck with a rust/spinning bolt.

Get an angle grinder ready!

[Captain Muppet]

Thanks for that. I've got a can of plusgas at the ready, I just need to get my angle grinder back from the guy I lent it to.

I was going to replace the fan as mine sounds like a jet taking off. I hadn't thought about the fitting kit.

My tow eye thing is a blob of rust - no thread left to screw the eye in to. It was on my summer rebuild list anyway.

Good call on the driving lights, I'll give them a look over when I get home.

[Captain Muppet]

After a thorough soaking in plusgas for most of last week the clam was off with just two days of agonising grief. Someone had rounded out a lot of the hex sockets on the bolts, making it a crippling saw marathon. So thanks, whoever it was at the three places that have ever worked on this car, thanks for not replacing the bolts you damaged.

It's all in bits now, and everything that's going back on is new (as are all the fasteners) so it shouldn't be too much grief. I'd be finished already, but one of the headlights fell to bits when I tried replacing the bulb so I'm waiting for a new one. I've got to the relaxing OCD phase of the job, and shouldn't be needing the saw again. The new rad assembly is sat on my dining table next to the old one, looking all shiny.

The next time the clam comes off it'll only take an hour.

It's been no more hassle than working on other 15 year old cars I've had, it's just been more stressful as I was so worried about breaking anything delicate.

[fiveoclockhero1]

You dont say what rad you are putting in. Dont put a standard one back in, you might have to do it all again in a year. Put an all alloy one in.

[Captain Muppet]

My standard one had been in there for 15 years. I had a spare standard one, so that's going in.

If it does go again the work I've done on the front clam will mean that the next radiator swap will just take a couple of hours.

[pthelazyjourno]

fiveoclockhero1 said:

You dont say what rad you are putting in. Dont put a standard one back in, you might have to do it all again in a year. Put an all alloy one in.

Disagree that they're that bad - most of them start disintegrating after 7, 8, 9 years.

Mine lasted 13 hard years.

[wezzer-45's]

Captain Muppet said:

My standard one had been in there for 15 years. I had a spare standard one, so that's going in.

If it does go again the work I've done on the front clam will mean that the next radiator swap will just take a couple of hours.

Just make sure you bleed the system correctly, The bleed alone to do it properly will take about an hour at least.

Air lock = overheat = head gasket.

[Captain Muppet]

wezzer-45's said:

Captain Muppet said:

My standard one had been in there for 15 years. I had a spare standard one, so that's going in.

If it does go again the work I've done on the front clam will mean that the next radiator swap will just take a couple of hours.

Just make sure you bleed the system correctly, The bleed alone to do it properly will take about an hour at least.

Air lock = overheat = head gasket.

Don't worry, I'm sufficiently paranoid about the K-series cooling circuit, and I'll be careful.

I have the workshop manual, all the tools, a degree in engineering and I used to design engines for a living. I've made my own pressure bleeder/filler and will pressure test the circuit before turning the engine on.

[wezzer-45's]

Captain Muppet said:

wezzer-45's said:

Captain Muppet said:

My standard one had been in there for 15 years. I had a spare standard one, so that's going in.

If it does go again the work I've done on the front clam will mean that the next radiator swap will just take a couple of hours.

Just make sure you bleed the system correctly, The bleed alone to do it properly will take about an hour at least.

Air lock = overheat = head gasket.

Don't worry, I'm sufficiently paranoid about the K-series cooling circuit, and I'll be careful.

I have the workshop manual, all the tools, a degree in engineering and I used to design engines for a living. I've made my own pressure bleeder/filler and will pressure test the circuit before turning the engine on.

I use a vacuum filler to fill the system but there is always plenty of air to bleed out.

I've seen an S2 that had a cooling system work carried out and the car was driven till it cooked itself, Liners has sunk down and head warped.
All caused by an air lock.

[Abe Froman]

There is a current thread on Seloc about things to do whilst the front clam is off....if you have time.

Towing eye probably rusty
Driving lights if you have them, check replace
Horn - meep meep to barp barp
Clean
Replace clam catches to make it easier next time.

I'm going to tackle mine in a few weeks, once it warms up a bit and I know I'll have a clear weekend.

[Captain Muppet]

Well, it's been ten days and a couple of hundred miles on the new rad, so I'm calling it a win.

Obviously one of the sidelight bulbs blew after the clam went back on - they were the only bulbs I didn't replace while it was in bits (thanks Halfords for the massive trade card discount). Annoying couple of minutes bending the wheel arch liner out of the way fixed that.

Spent a happy hour sat in the sun staring at the car last night and my list of jobs to do is now down to:
- fit a new badge (the old one had rusted at the studs and stained the paint)
- give it a polish

Hopefully Easter weekend will be nice and I can give it a damn good clean.

Abe Froman said:

There is a current thread on Seloc about things to do whilst the front clam is off....if you have time.

Towing eye probably rusty
Driving lights if you have them, check replace
Horn - meep meep to barp barp
Clean
Replace clam catches to make it easier next time.

I'm going to tackle mine in a few weeks, once it warms up a bit and I know I'll have a clear weekend.

Tow eye is done (stainless jobby), driving lights were OK, Horn looked like new (and also looked like I can replace it with the clam on), cleaned everything, retapped threads, greased everything up and put new fasterners in.

[pthelazyjourno]

Captain Muppet said:

Well, it's been ten days and a couple of hundred miles on the new rad, so I'm calling it a win.

Obviously one of the sidelight bulbs blew after the clam went back on - they were the only bulbs I didn't replace while it was in bits (thanks Halfords for the massive trade card discount). Annoying couple of minutes bending the wheel arch liner out of the way fixed that.

Spent a happy hour sat in the sun staring at the car last night and my list of jobs to do is now down to:
- fit a new badge (the old one had rusted at the studs and stained the paint)
- give it a polish

Hopefully Easter weekend will be nice and I can give it a damn good clean.

Erm, shouldn't you have replaced the badge **before** putting the clam back on..

Mine was fixed from the back of the clam, so you can't actually do it with the clam on the car!!

[Captain Muppet]

pthelazyjourno said:

Erm, shouldn't you have replaced the badge **before** putting the clam back on..

Mine was fixed from the back of the clam, so you can't actually do it with the clam on the car!!

I thought of that. Do I want to screw it back on so it's a clam off job to replace it next time, or use a stick on badge that I can replace when I like? So stick on badge it is.

Plus it'll be lighter without nuts and stud behind it

[pthelazyjourno]

Captain Muppet said:

I thought of that. Do I want to screw it back on so it's a clam off job to replace it next time, or use a stick on badge that I can replace when I like? So stick on badge it is.

Plus it'll be lighter without nuts and stud behind it

Gotcha, good plan.

Don't forget that the later stick on badges aren't made out of the same enamel, so fade a lot more quickly, the original one doesn't seem to at all.

Then again, that's no use if somebody nicks it or it gets chipped! So good idea, certainly makes things easy.

[XrayBob]

Hi Mate,

Planning similar radiator replacement this year and a few suspension changes. I have the same problem of no garage and a gravel drive! What did you use to lift and support your Elise?

Cheers

XRayBob