Advice for my first 5 gt turbo

[dmiller1]

Hi everyone, I am in the process of finally buying my first 5 gt turbo raider ( after a 20 year wait!!). I want to keep the car as original as possible. Just looking for some advice on the cooling side of the car. I have read mixed reviews of the merits of changing rad thermostat and fan switch to low temp ones. Can anyone offer any advice? PS Also looking for any garage recommendations in the Glasgow area. Thanks

[Bigfoot]

Hi welcome to the club and congrats on finally getting a 5 after waiting 20 years. As long as the cooling is up to job, most people don't flush out the rads, keeping the standard thermostat and rad fan switch will be fine. Changing them to lower down just means they run cooler than they are meant to run which is not a good thing.

Not sure on any garages up that way but if you got some tools these cars are easy enough to work on, and when stuck we can point you in the right direction or help within the forum. There are a lot of articles and help files which can do the majority or items, plus when looking for items, check the club shop which you get members discounts on, or put up a post and cant tell you where to look for items as going to places like eBay where a lot of the sellers are just increasing the prices which they get the items from easily.

[dmiller1]

Thanks Bigfoot, appreciate all the advice. Emailed the shop about rear window Renault elf sticker but out of stock. Any ideas if they will be getting it back in. Thanks again.

[Matt Cole]

Hi Dmiller, have you seen this:-

https://www.rtoc.org/boards/showthrea...GTT-April-2011

Also have a look through the articles/files section as there are bits on the cooling system.

[Matt Cole]

COOLING SYSTEM

Any increase in the boost pressure/performance of the car puts more load into the cooling system which unless it is properly maintained will lead to the car overheating and again possible head gasket issues. The RTOC state that the standard cooling system is more than up to the job as long as it’s properly maintained. If the car seems to be running too hot it is probably a partially occluded radiator or a build up of silt within the system. Once the cooling system is fully thoroughly flushed out, and the water pump checked for a good flow rate most overheating problems will disappear otherwise the radiator will probably need to be replaced. Some replacement radiators made from copper were know to leak. For flushing only use water as some engine flushes have been known to block turbocharger waterways. The cooling fan should cut in as the gauge reaches the 3rd of 4 marks unless a low temperature fan switch is fitted where it will be about 1/2 a mark lower.

Some people remove the thermostat in the top radiator hose near the water pump in a vain attempt to help car run cooler, however this means the engine does not warm up fast enough and can cause cavitation within the water pump and erosion within the cylinder head. It’s better to use a lower temperature radiator fan switch. Some people like to drill a 4mm hole in the top of the thermostat to aid coolant system bleeding.

If there is white powder in the exhaust tail pipe this can mean an over heating engine possibly caused by blocked radiator.

There is an oil cooler built into the radiator to prevent the oil from over heating.

[dmiller1]

Thanks for the advice guys. Fingers crossed i shouldnt have any trouble on the 280 mile drive home when i pick the car up. cheers