Radiator support panel

[gothofic]

Hi, a few months back I had a little spill and pulled my front bar off and its damaged my radiator support bar, Ive been fine driving since then, but, am having slight issues with the radiator, being that Im overheating, mainly on days that I have been either driving all day, or high revs a few times in the day, Ive had the radiator pressure tested, its not leaking, so my mechanic recommended get the support fixed,i took it to a panel beater, he reckons the whole radiator would need to be replaced, and quoted me $4800 (roughly, im awaiting the official quote) which includes replacing the radiator, support, and front bar, pending other damage that may have been done that isnt visible. Now, I was just wondering what other opinions could be on this before i get more quotes, and would it be that big a job? Having the mechanic look at it the day before (i got new rotors) would he have spotted anything else that could have been damaged or would I really need it pulled apart to make sure its all good??

[Mbro]

the rad support shouldt really effect the way the radiator works, unless its ####ed the bar enough to defelect the air.

4800 is about right, there is a decent amount of work to be done.

[gothofic]

So replacing just the support panel wont resolve the issue?

[FATMOE]

$4800 for a radiator, support and front bar?? Your getting ripped I reckon. Go elsewhere.

[iaydemir]

Replacing the rad support wont fix your problem.

Considering you damaged your rad support, id say there would also be a crack on the radiator somewhere.
Who pressure tested it? Same guy who said replacing the rad support will fix the overheating issue?

Have you checked to see if water levels are lowering in the radiator?
Could be losing water from elsewhere (hoses, clamps, thermostat housing).
If you can't find a leak and your confident water levels aren't dropping try replacing your thermostat.

[gothofic]

yeah definately no leak in it, ive filled it and left the car sitting on concrete for 3 days and nothings come out of it, the bloke who pressure tested it was an old friend of family, and he told me just get the panel fixed/replaced, as it could just be an imbalance issue affecting airflow or something, the panel beater i took it to, was quite dramatic about it and contradicted himself a few times in the convo (eg. "wow, how did you damage that they're really tough" 5 mins later "i get at least a dozen SS's in a week that I have to replace that in" lol)so thats why i decided to post on here, yeah $4800 sounded a bit harsh to me when i looked up part prices, first thoughts were the thermo with it, Im going to take her to a couple of other panel beaters and get a couple of other opinions.
Water levels are dropping though, but, coolant i put in almost a year ago (stopped using coolant Dec. last year and have just been using water) still comes up every time i add water, the first few air bubbles bring up green, so Im 100% that there isnt a leak. Its taken a few months since the spill for this to actually start happening, so I really dont know whats happening with it

[Mbro]

inlet manifiold gasket?

[gothofic]

oooh, ok, what can i do at home to have a look and see if thats the issue??

[<RaBBiT>]

is the fan working?

[gothofic]

yeah the fans working

[<RaBBiT>]

k read ur last post if u said u stopped using coolant but it keep poping up coolant, think its time for a radiator flush, the cooling system should not overheat at idle so airflow to radiator is not the problem, get some radaitor flush stuff, run it through the system for 30-40 mins with heater on full , get a hose and flush the system out from the thermostat housing till run's clean, while ur at it whack new thermostat radiator caps and coolant of course should be sorted

[gothofic]

ok, yeah I flushed it when I got it last august, well Ill give all that a shot and see how i go Thanks everyone for all the ideas to look into as well. With my temp gauge, it usually sits between the quater and halfway mark, always has since i got it, but everyone else that drives my car questions if thats where it normally sits.....should it be that high up? Or is that potentially an indicator of needing maintenance on the thermo?

[<RaBBiT>]

my old ecotech sat at the same temps

[gothofic]

yeah ok, i thought it would have been normal thanx