I have a radiator from a 1500 ute(the old hilux lookin ones) and i have a fellin thats its the problem y my ute is gettin hot(i thought it would cope with my a15 but it must not be as i have tried everythin else)!!!, so now wats the diffrence between the 1500 radiator and the gemini radiator??? Would this be a wise move 2 do???

1500 ute radiator was fine on my old turbo A14. Unless its blocked, look elsewhere for the problem. What else have you tried?

U name it and i have tried it!!!! Umchecked head gasket, thermostat, all pipes, flow of coolant, changed radiator cap, Everythin that i can think of!!!.
I havent actually looked at the water pump but i toak it 2 a very well known mechanic and he said it was fine!!!
I bought the radiator from a wrecker and toak it 2 get a $150 service where they toak it all apart and cleaned it!!! I um completly lost as 2 what the problem maybe?????
I have tried everythin i can think of!!
Do radiator shops do a complete engine heating inspection or somethin???.I need somethin 2 be fixed or a problem 2 be diagnoised

when does it get hot? does it do it just idling in traffic or lights, highway only, or just all the time, only on long runs, etc? Any details you can give will only help.

are you loosing water?
do you have a filter sock in the top hose by any chance?

most likely causes are:
1) thermostat. how did you check it? The old 'drop it in hot water' trick really isn't adequate - you need to know it opens (fully) at the correct temp. Replace it - $20 from the local parts shop
2) water pump. impellors can be corroded, and I've also seen the impellor wheel come loose on the shaft. For a 20-30 minute job and the cost of a gasket, take it off and check it - its almost free. At least then you can cross it off the list.
3) bottom hose sucking in? less common but possible. how old is the hose?
4)cap holing pressure?

then again, it could even be an instrumentation problem. does it actually steam/boil over or just read hot on the gauge with no other symptoms?

The engine seemed 2 only be gettin hot when i was on the highway, but now its gettin high on the guage when i go on short runs 2!!!. When idling it sits on halfway then when its been driven it gets between the middle and the hot mark on the guage and sumtimes it sits higher. It really shouldnt be gettin that hot considerin i have the engine fan and a thermo fan runnin on it!!!.
It seems 2 be heatin up most of the time now like not only on the highway but at idle 2!!
A mechanic i toak it 2 said he reakons the guages is bad but it was workin perfectly fine with the a12 i had, and i even put the a12 temp sender unit back in the a15 so that should all be ok!!!.
No water is been lost!!!
I dont have a filter sock!!!
I toak the ute 2 the mechanics how got me 2 take the ute 4 a 10min drive then they toak the thermostat out and it was fully open!!
The cap is holding pressure as i bought a new one with the rubber seal around it!!!
The bottom hose is new and is not sucking in
The only thing i am unsure of now is the water pump!!!
What do i need 2 do 2 check that???
I was told that 2 check if my guage was reading correct, just given the radiator cap a slight turn with a rag and seein if it sprayed everywhere.Which it certainly did on one very hot day Whats the best way 2 check if the guage is correct???
I thought that the 1500 radiaotor and the engine fan plus a thermo fan would be able 2 keep it cool!!!
If the water pump was stuffed then what would be obvious signs???.
Thanks 4 all ur help

Hi Tommy

I am so sorry for this happening to you.
It really sounds like you have spend some money to get this problem solved with no good results.
My A12 is doing the same at the moment when very hot in taffic goes to the centre of the guage and on the highway goes between centre and hot.
From what the guys have told me, I am about to replace my radiator with a triple core one to handle the extra temp we are getting here in summer.

I do not think that your radiator is the problem though as it has been flushed.
I really want to help and can only think of one more thing.
Is the water galaries in the engine block not maybe blocked?
From everything that you have done so far, it sounds like the only place that it can possibly be.

Please keep us up to date on what the problem was. Hope you get it fixed.

I have a Gemini radiator and hammered the engine on the racetrack for sometime and the needle never moved past the optimal temp. cost .....$50 and I used the same standard hoses.....

if you haven't replaced the thermostat yet, I'd do that first - quick easy and cheap. Thermostats can do all sorts of weird things when they fail...

then, if the problem is still there, check the water pump by removing it, inspect the blades on the back of the pump - if they are corroded away replace it. To check for a loose impellor, hold both the impellor and the pulley mounting side and twist them in opposite directions. If loose, replace it.

Where cooling systems are marginal for the engine size (not the case here), even engine tuning can be responsible for running hot. My old 308 HZ Statesman used to run hot if it was running too much ignition advance. also cruise circuit mixtures could be too lean contributing to hot highway running. What carb are you using on the A15?

The only way to check the actual temp is with a temp probe of some sort - wether its a probe from a multimeter slipped into the top hose temporarily, or an aftermarket gauge with its own temp sensor. Maybe a radiator specialist would have a device that replace the rad cap with a temp gauge? such a thing may not even exist - I've never had a cooling problem that couldn't be diagnosed. But if it was steaming or boiling over when the gauge is at H, then I'd say its working OK.

My termostat I replaced with a genuine one.
It did make a difference but not too much.
I am going to do the radiator as I had it at a radiator shop.
When you look at the front of the car you can see the engine on the other side.
The guy said the radiator is not adequate for our temp.
Going to put in a tripple core with more pipes and more fins.
Like Dodgeman said to me once, you cannot have too much radiator.
If it still does the same, I will replace the
Waterpump as they are not that expensive here.