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VT Commodore battery and radiator issues, anyone have a clue?

Discussion in 'VT - VX Holden Commodore (1997 - 2002)' started by thebot123, Jun 4, 2012.

  1. Jun 4, 2012 #1
    thebot123

    thebot123 Compulsive JC User

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    gday gday

    my little brothers VT has been draining the battery alot, this morning i had to drive a fair while to go jump start it and on the way home when he was driving behind me his VT stalled and needed another jumpstart (full pain in the ass it was in the middle of a busy road, had to be pushed.)

    i jumpstarted his car again and we got it home finally and when he pulled in the drive away i noticed smoke coming under the hood, when i popped the hood heaps of steam was coming out the radiator, my brother also said he has been through 5 litres of coolant just over the weekend and it went dead dry today and had to be refilled, obviously this has something to do with all this steam coming from the radiator?

    is he looking at a new battery? i tested the alternator its charging at 14.3v so it seems to be charging fine or do you think its worth looking at the voltage regulator?

    for the radiator do you think it would be a direct radiator replacement or could it be a hose or something
    '
    any help would be sick

    cheers
     
    thebot123, Jun 4, 2012
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  2. Jun 4, 2012 #2
    Clutchy

    Clutchy New Member

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    if the alternator is charging check if the battery has acid in it to hold the charge fair chance the battery is just dead and as for the coolent leak find were it is and that will answer ya question we cant see it through the computer so we cant give you the answer ya will have to have a look for yaself.(it could be a number of things radiator hose radiator heater hose heater core head gasket manifold gasket)
     
    Clutchy, Jun 4, 2012
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  3. Jun 4, 2012 #3
    thebot123

    thebot123 Compulsive JC User

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    ill have to hit it up and have a look with a torch, yeh didnt think of that i should of put up a photo.
    i dont believe its coming from the head or manifold gasket it was coming from under the plastic on the top of the radiator ill have a good look tommorrow and get some pictures up it was steaming up a fair bit though.
     
    thebot123, Jun 4, 2012
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  4. Jun 4, 2012 #4
    som

    som New Member

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    It sounds like you may be up for a new radiator.Search around cos the last time I saw a price was at Autobarn for $100.As far as the battery goes I'm not certain but I'm fairly sure that if the engine temp gets too high it will shut down so perhaps that's that part of the problem and if that's the case the radiator will fix both problems.Good Luck.
     
    som, Jun 4, 2012
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  5. Jun 4, 2012 #5
    thebot123

    thebot123 Compulsive JC User

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    $100 for a new radiator? that sounds like a fair price to me i told my little brother he could be up for a few hundred bucks for a new radiator.
    as the bloke said before ill take a good look at it tommorrow and get a better look where its coming from better even though you can kind of see clearly where its coming from, if i cant see any leaking hoses or anything ill just replace the radiator and hopefully that fixes her.

    also when the car shut off at the traffic lights, the thing wouldnt start again as it had a flat battery i had to jumpstart it again would the system drain the battery from shutting down?
     
    thebot123, Jun 4, 2012
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  6. Jun 4, 2012 #6
    SavVYute

    SavVYute Active Member

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    $100 a bit cheap for a radiator. Think you might be up for a bit more.
    If the battery has collapsed it won't hold a charge.

    Beware...;)..bad news usually happens in three's. There's probably something else lurking under the bonnet :supersad:
     
    SavVYute, Jun 4, 2012
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  7. Jun 4, 2012 #7
    thebot123

    thebot123 Compulsive JC User

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    i had a suss on ebay and they had them for $110 incl. shipping but ill go down to car parts plus here in adelaide and see what deal they will do on a radiator for him, haha dont worry im aware of the "three's" im still waiting for something else yet.

    is there anything i have to take into consideration when swapping out this radiator, besides having to bleed the system? anything would be sick!
     
    thebot123, Jun 4, 2012
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  8. Jun 5, 2012 #8
    thebot123

    thebot123 Compulsive JC User

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    What a mission today was! Went down got a new radiator come home ripped the old one out and put the new one in, when started it pissed out coolant everywhere from the radiator unfortunately we got sold a faulty radiator riddled with holes ( I didnt even notice the holes until coolant leaked everywhere) so I ripped it back out took it back and swapped it for another and come home and for the 2nd time put it back in, I filled her up and you beauty no leaks and the car is running fine now, the fans kick in do there job everythings good.

    I do have one query though, when filling up the coolant resevoir (next to radiator cap) is it meant to leak when getting full is it just overflow leaking out? I check the stick after it leaks for a tick and it seems ok.

    But I guess after all it was the radiator I noticed before pulling it out coolant was leaking bad from the old one and the metal was corroding away, ill put up a pic tomozza
     
    thebot123, Jun 5, 2012
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  9. Jun 5, 2012 #9
    thebot123

    thebot123 Compulsive JC User

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    Ohhh btw the radiator was $165 , bit more expensive but not to bad.
     
    thebot123, Jun 5, 2012
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  10. Jun 6, 2012 #10
    som

    som New Member

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    Yes it can run out of the overflow during final filling.Also I should have mentioned that bleeding the system can be a bit if a task,make sure the heater is on etc,but if he checks it each morning, before starting it,and slowly adds coolant ,he'll have it right in a day or two.Another also, inspect hoses and replace radiator cap with a new one in the near future.Good job,you're an Ace big brother.
     
    som, Jun 6, 2012
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  11. Jun 9, 2012 #11
    thebot123

    thebot123 Compulsive JC User

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    ok thats good its just overflow, it was only happening towards the end of filling it. i told him to get a new cap and keep checking the coolant level and add if it drops at all should be all good. thanks mate, Ace big brother wish the little **** said that to me when i finished his car.
     
    thebot123, Jun 9, 2012
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