Problems with Z8 radiators

[Juergen Wunderlich]

Dear Club Members,


Please read the attached file for important info on radiator clogging problem.

[macfly]

Thanks for the heads up - I'l check mine next time the car comes out of the bubble!

[thegunguy]

Jürgen,

Thanks for the "heads up"! Yet another reason all Z8 owners to support the Club through membership...

[Z8doc]

Also, a good reason to have some compressed air in the garage too!

[Z8Mania]

the following is from an email I sent to the Z8 Club email group from Jurgen's email. Btw- a big thanks again to Jurgen and the Club for coming through for us.

I would consider having this work done as critical.

Dear All,
I just had my dealer perform this as my Z8 was in for an oil change, they told me they went beyond the radiator and also to the oil cooler and behind that as well- at every stop they found an alarming amount of debris. My car is nearly 7 years old with a little over 24,000 miles on the clock. I am the original owner.

Fortunately there is no real damage to my car but I would urge everyone who is doing this to either have it done professionally and have them look behind all the various cooling systems or if you are a good "do it yourselfer" then I would not stop at the first "radiator".

Have a good weekend!

[thegunguy]

I took mine apart to see for myself. Wow - what a bunch of trash and bugs.

[Z8doc]

So, how did the compressed air work to clean it out??

[macfly]

I thought I'd better have a look today too, since these few days off gave me the chance to play around with my car.

Even on a 9,000 mile, never seen the rain - except once in Utah - car, the amount of 'gum' in the radiator was shocking!:eek:

If you attempt this yourself make sure you have the right Torx head screw driver, and also exactly the right long thin Phillips head screwdriver for those easy strip and very annoying little plastic rivet-screws. I'd suggest ordering a dozen or so before even starting. Other things that are a must for DIY are a super strong vacuum cleaner and an good airgun.

Thanks again to Jürgen and the club for getting us this info.

[dwz8]

Andrew, please keep in mind that you only cleaned the front side of the AC condenser. The critical area is the actual water cooler behind it.

Please see also

http://www.bmwz8.us/vbb/showthread.php?t=636

[macfly]

Thanks Dieter, I used the air gun as much as I could from the back side, scuffed my hands up no end doing it too! Thought I couldn't reach everywhere I was able to get most of the junk out, happily living in the desert there wasn't too much of the caked debris that a wet autumn drive in England would create! Even the dead bugs had turned to crispy debris easily air-gunned away, all of the loose debris blew out, or got sucked out by the vacuum.

Getting in there had me wondering about creating some kind of screen to sit right behind the plastic grilles that would prevent this kind of build up. Has anyone in the EU talked about creating something like this?

[Sir Callaby]

Reading about all the problems with debris in the radiator, I checked this when we bought our Z8 in May. And yes – there was some debris. Several leaves and plastic pieces were relative large. Therefore I decided to install a forward defense. I ordered some marine grade stainless steel mesh, cut it in the right shape and installed it directly behind the grill, which allows me to see debris easily and get it out of the way. (see pictures below)

[calmsea]

It looks great. Where did you order the mesh from? I wonder how effective it is in blocking out the smaller debris.

Jim

[macfly]

I like it, can you get that mesh in anodized black?

[MarkZ8]

Very nice. However, I wonder how difficult it would be in trying to extract the numerous large Texas grasshoppers (and other assorted insects) which seem to be drawn like a magnet? As it stands now, they degrade slowly over time hidden on the radiator.

Mark

[Z8doc]

I think the screen looks great, especially if it was annodized black too but my only concern is from the engineering perspective as the smaller the screen size, the more it restricts the airflow, which obviously is what the debris was doing and causing excess heat and poor cooling of the transmission oil radiator and the engine radiator in the first place.

[Sir Callaby]

I searched the internet and selected the 1/4" Mesh Welded Stainless T316 - .032" Wire Dia. from TWP (see link). http://www.twpinc.com/twpinc/control/product/~category_id=TWPCAT_14/~product_id=004X004WT0320W48T
Then I cut the mesh with a wire cutter into the rough shape (attention sharp edges) and bend the rim to best fit the Z8 grill.
The mesh keeps debris in the front of the grill, where it can be easily removed with a vacuum or by hand.

[Scott Pettit]

Hermann,

Do you think that it would look good behind the grill on my Morgan? I have thought about installing something to give it a "finished look".

[Sir Callaby]

Dear Scott,

I used the stainless steel wire mesh for several cars (Jaguar SS100 replica, Lotus Europa, Jaguar E-Type, Mazda MX5) and it allways looked great. It adds an old fashion sporty look to the car and I would think that it would look specially great with a Morgan.

[jim]

Looks ok, but I sort of wonder about subsequent air flow obstruction? Wonder what BMW thinks? Please chime in.

[Scott Pettit]

1000's of Z3 owners use it on their lower grills and I have never heard of an issue. I have flat steel on mine and no bump in temp readings.