On Wed, 2 Mar 2005 23:31:05 +1300, "peter.creagh"
<peter.creagh@xtra.co.nz> wrote:
[color=blue]
>My Toyota dealer dented my radiator fins badly while replacing a cooling
>fan. He said the radiator can be repaired. Would this be possible or should
>he give me a brand new radiator as my RAV 4 is only 3 years old[/color]
The fins on the radiator and the AC condenser core are soft
aluminum, and some of them (depending on the car and the gauge metal
they used) can be very easily bent over with accidental contact - a
brush of a knuckle can make a really nasty looking pattern across the
fins. If they bend large areas, it can block enough airflow to affect
cooling.
As long as they didn't whack the radiator with a wrench or tool hard
enough to damage one of the coolant tubes, the fins can be bent right
back out straight just as easily, and be as good as new. No permanent
damage, unless they bend and straighten the same spot repeatedly and a
chunk of the aluminum fins crack off from fatigue - and even then you
won't lose enough heat transfer surface to matter.
They use a special hand tool called a 'fin comb' that looks like a
miniature garden rake, the comb tips are made in different sizes to
match the fins per inch of the radiator.
--<< Bruce >>--
--
Bruce L. Bergman, Woodland Hills (Los Angeles) CA - Desktop
Electrician for Westend Electric - CA726700
5737 Kanan Rd. #359, Agoura CA 91301 (818) 889-9545
Spamtrapped address: Remove the python and the invalid, and use a net.
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