Hi every one.
Last week I had a curious problem with the Cockroach radiator. A N/A MANUAL transmission XFire
Resume for lazy asses: My radiator blew up after being driven for 10-15 mins with a check coolant light (whereas having the reservoir full) and the A/C on max cold and max fan force.
For fixing it I should've bought the N/A manual trans radiator A202 500 77 03, and I ended buying the AUTOMATIC transmission A202 500 78 03, hence having two additional holes for the automatic tranny oil cooling.
Now I'm wondering about using them for MOTOR oil cooling.
Chapter one: "
to blow hot, blow cold"
The car had been parked in the street without moving it for two months or more.
I had to pass the vehicle technical inspection
*, so I called my car insurance company, since I have an included driver service for taking the car to the inspection .
Then, when I was going to start it for the guy to pick it up, battery was completely dry, not even digital clock, dashboard, nothing.
Not having jump cables at that moment, I called for a roadside assistance to jumpstart the car.
And TBH I couldn't fully watch it, but I think the tow truck driver put the cables in reverse position (pos to negative), so I told him to re check the polarity and I believe he changed the cables again.
This point is important because when I started the car, two weird things happened:
1.:the windshield wipers were moving WITH STICK IN OFF POSITION. I could only make it faster, but not stopping. After a minute or so, it "recalibrated"?? And stopped by itself. That led me to the 2nd issue
2.: A YELLOW LIGHT came on in the dashboard, one that at first glance I thought it was the windshield wiper low water sign...but later (too late in fact) I recall it was the LOW COOLANT LIGHT (or the "
whatever problem with cooling system" light, to be more -un-precise)
I didn't give it much credit since I know these cars throw a bunch of sensor errors whenever out of battery or jumpstarted (happened before), but since I hadn't the code reader in that moment, I couldn't check it. Only thing I can recall is that coolant level was OK in the reservoir, and that there was NOT any coolant leak on the floor when I finally moved the car.
Sooo long story short, the guy departed in the car to the inspection, and 10-15 minutes later he calls me, from the very queue of the place, telling me that he heard a loud BANG and the motor started to white smoke like a chimney. (He just drove 10-15 minutes road to the tech inspection site, from cold start, and he was driving with the air con on max cooling, it was a very hot day).
Car towed to my house, that's how the radiator looked:
A whole rectangle patch of plastic flew off, there you can see the internal fins of the radiator, with the coolant massively leaking
Driver side, just next to the left vent tube.
Chapter two: "
when Mopar God closes a door, he opens a window"
So, there was I, stood with a foolish look on my face, seeing all the coolant flushing away from the radiator, and hoping that calamity happened because a bad sensor or thermostat or bad function of the cooling system or whatever (tell me what you think, please,
that could be even possible because a bad sensor signal due to jumpstart??) and praying to the motor God for not having a head gasket issue that could've lead to a overpressure in the cooling system.
When I finally install the radiator, I'll investigate further in the coolant warning light issue, but
AFAIK the fan was working properly (or at least running) both when the guy left and came back.
BTW I can tell reservoir was full because it leaked A LOT onto the floor, like 9-10 Qts.
So, I tried to search for the MB Serial Nš, but was partially erased (supposedly by the steam bath it had few minutes earlier) and the other etiquette with the serial was just on the part that blew off. I lately found it was A202 500
77 03
Then I searched for a crossfire radiator on ebay, and Bingo! There was an used one for about 70bucks, so I directly purchased it (given that the next option was at near 200$, it was a no brainer)
AND HERE COMES THE ERROR, EITHER POSSIBLE OPPORTUNITY,
AND MY MAIN QUESTION for the wise people in this marvelous forum:
I purchased a radiator for an AUTOMATIC Transmission XF, serial number A202 500
78 03.
That menas it has two additional holes for the tranny oil cooling, in the passenger side.
So, here comes the question: assuming that's a SEPARATE part in the radiator (an individual compartment inside the main core, obviously because otherwise it would result in an instant sludge)
CAN I USE THAT AS AN OIL COOLER for the
motor oil in Manual cars, without throwing in am additional oil cooler-radiator? Anyone though about/tried something like that?
(I plan it as future project, if possible, thus I don't have intentions of tracking the car in the near future.)
And, till I have the time to think about the in/out ways for the oil (I read some posts in the forum about an auxiliary oil cooler)
IN THE MEANTIME, CAN I JUST LEAVE THOSE HOLES OPENED to the air, OR BETTER CLOSED WITH BOLTS? (I believe these are M14 taps, I'll check tomorrow when I can buy the bolts)
Aside of my questions, I hope this case report would be useful for someone, remember guys, when jumpstarted, chech and erase errors on you cars prior to driving like stolen.
Thanks in advance to whoever that can answer my questions.
Have a good and safe drive people.
Red.
(*): Ive been struggling through some health problems whereby I wasn't able to drive it to the state technical inspection (here is mandatory for using the vehicle to pass an annual -in my case, +10yr old car- technical inspection, where they check various compliances including lights, emissions test, wheels, motor, active and passive safety devices, etcetera), so I asked my assurance company for a service driver to go pass it. Thereby I wasn't in the car at the moment the radiator blown up, neither can tell how it was driven, only it was about 10-15 minutes drive to the tech inspection site, from cold start, and that he was driving with the air con on max cooling, it was a very hot day.