Look at this damage

[ILikeMy240sx]

That's the platic barb part of the radiator where the hose connects to.

This happened after I had a shop reaplace my upper radiator hose. I was driving late at night and my engine was overheating and steam was coming out from the hood... I pulled over and saw that my upper hose was disconnected and upon closer inspection I saw that....

The thing is... I had the hose replaced in Michigan and I drove all the way down to NY about 600 miles... It was fine for few weeks after I drove here and then BOOM that happened.

Is this something that the shop did wrong? maybe they tightened the hose clamp too much?

[Anand]

dunno.. can't see the pic

[ILikeMy240sx]

sorry pic fixed

[hamsterball]

Yes.. that looks like something the shop did wrong..

any friggin shop (even a 76 service shop!) would not let a RADIATOR HOSE like that go unnoticed.

That's pretty bad man. Please do get it replaced.

[MECPInstaller]

ouch did you find the plastic chunk thats missing, if you do maybe some pvc cement could fix it up for now.

[ILikeMy240sx]

yea I have it fixed but the problem is.... whos going to pay for it? I need some decent arguments to bring up to the manager... and thats where you guys come in

I dont think it was broken like that in the shop... because I wouldnt have made it to NY from MI like that... It's something that they did that caused this damage in a long run... but what could they have done?

[ILikeMy240sx]

ouch did you find the plastic chunk thats missing, if you do maybe some pvc cement could fix it up for now.

nope... i couldnt find any broken chunks... weird.. but what I did find was a thin plastic ring that was about 1/4" thick(not diameter wise) that was also broken... it was stuck inside the hose.

[MECPInstaller]

hmm i've never taken a rad hose off so can't tell you if thats common or not. but doesnt' sound like it should be there. So does this mean you have to cough up the money and buy a new radiator:(

[DammitBobby]

Looks like somebody used a screwdriver to take off your hose and broke your radiator. No that is not normal problem to happen. That cheap plastic can break if you are not careful.

[Anand]

that def is not normal... ^^ is right... looks like someone used a screw driver to get the hose off... sux man..

[ILikeMy240sx]

i already paid for a new radiator and at $90/hr labor rate... it came out to be 500 something dollars... I had no choice but to go to that shop since I coulnt run my car like that...

If somebody used a screw driver to get the hose off wouldnt it have broken in the shop? I dunno how I was able to drive over 650 miles like that....

[MECPInstaller]

it might have been semi sealed and slowly worked its way to where the break was then popped off. I could be wrong but i mean it looks like theres 1/4 inch of good plastic before the break so it might be able to hold for alil while, but don't count on my word.

[DammitBobby]

Yea I think you could have driven it over 600 miles before it showed a problem. It probably had a small leak and it just kept getting worse. I replace my radiator for 140 bucks. I did the labor. It took me a little over an hour to do. It sounds like they overcharge you for the radiator install.

[DammitBobby]

Something hit me after looking at that picture. Notice that it broke on top not on the side or bottom. That gives me another reason to believe somebody used a screwdriver to pry off the hose.

[Dattebayo]

$500??? thats ludacris!!!'OMG how did you get ripped so bad?!?

[ILikeMy240sx]

$500??? thats ludacris!!!'OMG how did you get ripped so bad?!?

$90/hr labor rate plus 250 for the radiator and 2 and something hours to install and then tax...

yes i got ripped off bad.. Its the first time ive been to a mechanic because I had no choice.. I had no tools or anything at the time... I just got it to the nearest shop.. bleh hopefully the shop i got the hose replaced will pay for it...

[Anand]

I guess, you learned a lesson...

next time.. spend $50 on the tools and you will save your self a lot of money!

[ricebike]

250 for the rad??? that better come w/ a lifetime warranty cause i got mines online for a whole lot less than that price + free shipping to my doorstep to boot! All-metal (copper/brass) construction too

[gumby]

$500 to replace a radiator christ whats this world coming to.

[tonynalli]

my radiator did that also. about 3 months ago. but lucally i found a 240 for 250 with a 5speed so i figured that i would be cheaper to buy that then to buy a radiator. unfortunatly the spot might have had something to do with it. but like someone else said, and i back them up, the rad is made of cheap plastic. now if you tighten it up to tight (or i assume that the shop did) it will cause it to break very easy. thats what i assume is what happend. if i had an extra radiator to sell you i would but i dont because i am using it. but talk to the manager of the shop nicely, i was always told that you get more flies with sugar than you do with vinager. just keep that in mind.

[MysteryIncMan]

Mine did the same thing. The plastic just broke off inside the radiator hose. Replaced my radiator from http://www.radiatorbarn.com. All metal fit great.

[ILikeMy240sx]

tonynalli, MysteryIncMan - do you guys remember how your rad barb broke like that?

[ricebike]

mebbe the materials just got brittle w/ age... most plastic composites do all the time w/ the heat-cycling of hot/cold...

for example the aluminum-plastic endtanks of the original radiator i had expanded/contracted @ different rates & finally got a leak recently between the endtank & aluminum core. replaced w/ an all metal/copper/brass rad & back on the road again...

[gtd65]

So when this problem occurs as in the case of my old car – you need to replace the whole radiator?

Not sure what happened either but the connection has completely broken off too. I'm not familiar with plastic connectors on radiator and this would seem like a good reason to avoid them in general!

[ILikeMy240sx]

old thread lolz...

Yes if plastic neck breaks like that... you need to replace the radiator since there is no way to just reaplce the plastic neck...

Id say buy all metal alum and install it your self.. should take you around 2 hours or so

[Nismo_Freak]

So when this problem occurs as in the case of my old car – you need to replace the whole radiator?

Not sure what happened either but the connection has completely broken off too. I'm not familiar with plastic connectors on radiator and this would seem like a good reason to avoid them in general!

I have a spare S14 radiator if anyone wants it ... lol.

Shoot me an email: [email protected]

[ILikeMy240sx]

Nismo_Freak - where were you when I actually needed one lolz

[Nismo_Freak]

July 3rd... I have had my radiator listed in the "for sale" section for quite a while and no takers along time before then.

Should have used search

[tonynalli]

i think that when you initally had the hose on and i assume that you didnt, the flexing of the old plastic made it weaker. just becareful when you tighten your rediator piping

[drifter_for_life06]

that sucks, i dont see it beinga HUGE problem. My friend Stanza jsut about very hose is like that. Just get clamps and overlap the pipe and it works wonders. Course we also have "stolen" pipes from his brothers 240