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Have to agree that a new radiator is money well spent. Too many REALLY expensive parts to replace with a major overheat.
JMHO,
Jay
“Faster, Faster, until the thrill of speed overcomes the fear of death.” - Hunter S. Thompson
"I couldn't find the sports car of my dreams, so I built it myself." ~Dr. Ferdinand Porsche
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can you see where its comming from,
you get leaks in a few places that may not be the rad,
thermal switch under the top hose,
drain plug rubber disintigrated
the take off from the water pump with the little plastic part, O ring fails
and last but not least, the header tank cracks at the top of the support leg, if the leg mounting bolt is missing or loose
1992 968 Coupe
1986 Honda VF1000 FII
2016 Volvo XC90 D5 R-Design
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The thermo switches go pop quite often, especially when the fans are getting a bit sluggish and full of dirt
The load at switch on welds the contacts together, and then the fans will run till the battery goes flat
The fans always benefit from a good clean out and a lube,
The temp gauge is a bit of a hit and miss affair, if your really concerned about temps I would install a real temp sensor
With the rad cap hold the system under pressure at 13-15 psi, this increases boiling point to about 110c
But I would definitely check the stat and switch are the correct ones if your temp is up near the red, should never get that high
1992 968 Coupe
1986 Honda VF1000 FII
2016 Volvo XC90 D5 R-Design
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If you follow the manual from back in the day it requires 3M G48 based antifreeze,
But times have moved on, and Prestone now seems to be the weapon of choice for a lot of folks
1992 968 Coupe
1986 Honda VF1000 FII
2016 Volvo XC90 D5 R-Design
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Must be a astrological or geographical issue at work here. My fan switch just failed and welded itself in the on position, so back to the parts store we go.
As for repairing the radiator, we nave a shop in town that will pressure test them and weld up cracks for a good price. I replaced mine around 6 years ago, and I went with a lower (85c) switch at the same time. I plan to have my old one cleaned and repaired one of these days for a backup.
3 Cautions when you are doing the job.
1) BE CAREFUL tightening the fan switch. There is a torque spec that you need to follow, and it's surprisingly low.
2) make sure you get a 968 radiator, or a 944 radiator WITH the little cover for the line that goes to the turbo. The 968 radiator has the tube for the turbo, but it's not drilled out. The 944 one is open and thus requires the little cap and a clamp to block off the line that is supposed to cool the turbo.
3) Be sure to burp the system after it is up and running. Get it hot to the point the thermostat opens, raise the front wheels a bit, and release the trapped air using the bleeder bolt on the top radiator hose gooseneck. If you have an early 92 you will need to remove the injector cover to access the bleeder, all later models have it exposed which makes it much easier.
1992 968 Cabriolet
Volvo S60 Turbo AWD
Lexus RX 300 AWD
