Corroded Radiator

[kudosman]

Hi, I recently purchased an 'M' reg 1.6 Carina Kudos Extra, it's pretty sound overall but the radiator is very corroded with about 30% or so of the tiny fins between the pipes either fallen off or just about to.

My question is, would this be an MOT fail, I was thinking not because it's not structural. The temperature does not appear to be overly high, the gauge climbs slowly to about half way and stays there.

My second question is...is there an easy way to tell if my engine is the lean burn version of the 4a-fe, I can't find a proper spec for the Kudos extra trim anywhere and sadly the handbook is long gone.

First post, be gentle :)

[goodison]

It won't fail an mot for the radiator , its not even part of the test, but i would recommend you replace the rad soon as the parts that are missing are the cooling fins which trap the cool air and stop the engine from overheating. The lean burn engine is easily identified by the ACIS system which is between the inlet manifold and the cylinder head, There is a vaccum unit on the timing belt end of the inlet manifold also hope this helps you.

[kudosman]

It looks as though the injectors go directly into the bit with "16 valve" written on it (can you tell I'm not that techincal?) so it's probably the standard version.

Guess I'll trawl through the scrappies at the weekend, how much would I expect to pay for a half decent radiator? £30, £50...I've no idea.

Thanks for the help.

[trev3635]

Try eBay they usually have plenty of rads on there, my friend bought a new one (just before his engine blew up)

from unipart for about £50-£55 including VAT, google jap parts see what that throws up.

Good luck with it m8 :D

[kudosman]

Well, I got an ok radiator from a scrappy for £20, bit dirty but intact and no leaks.

Now the alternator has packed up ( I think ). Blimey, this thing really is a banger, still like it though :) I assume it's the alternator anyway, the Battery basically just drains as you drive until electrics started turning off, windows stop working, lights dim until evenually the car struggles to it's destination then refuses to start, Battery is flat as a pancake. I've tried a couple of batteries and it's the same story.

Quick question though, would the alternator not working affect the central locking, even when the Battery IS fully charged? because that's not working anymore since the first time the battery went dead. To be honest, I'm not bothered, provided I can disable the alarm/immobiliser which goes off if the passenger door is opened, even with the key, is this an easy thing to do?