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Technical Disappearing Radiator Fins

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Technical Disappearing Radiator Fins

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doctorchris

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Just cleaning my nearly 3 year old Cross and I've noticed that the cooling fins on the aircon radiator have almost entirely disappeared.
Now, I admit to using a pressure washer but it's not a very high pressure one and the radiator grille puts a bit of a distance between the pressure washer outlet and the fins. I held my hand at the same distance in the pressure washer flow and it didn't hurt.
I actually blame this on something that happened when the car was nearly new and that also led to all the brake discs being terminally corroded after a couple of years/20,000 miles.
Very soon after the car was delivered it was in a bump that meant it needed a new bumper. The bodyshop took it in and kept it for ages whilst waiting for parts. This was in November, the whole car was covered in salt and grit and never got hosed down or cleaned for several weeks.
I suspect that the discs and the aircon radiator fins became severely corroded at that time.
Now, it's not a big issue. The aircon seems to work. If it isn't sufficiently powerful next summer then I wil get the system checked and a new radiator fitted if necessary.
Just wondered if anyone else had noticed this phenomenon.
 
I have a 59 plate 1.2 Dynamic and at the last service (24k miles) the garage has noted that the air con radiator is in a 'very poor state' . Sounds similar to yours, a good number of the fins are missing. I rarely pressure wash the car (I rarely wash it to be honest) so I don't think that is an issue. Now its been noted I will push for a new radiator under warrantee at the next service. Shame as the rest of the car seems in good order.
 
Warranty is nearly up and I'm out of the country for a couple of weeks very soon, so I'm off to the dealers tomorrow to see if they can persuade Fiat to accept a warranty claim.
It's worth a try.
 
Other than the missing fins there is nothing wrong with it so I doubt you'll succeed on a warrantee claim.

Mums Yaris is the same with the cooling radiator, where it's direct line with the air flow in the grille.

It's normally caused by lots of little stone etc I'd have though as isn't happening where the radiator is protected by the bumper etc (y)
 
doctorchris said:
Just cleaning my nearly 3 year old Cross and I've noticed that the cooling fins on the aircon radiator have almost entirely disappeared.
Now, I admit to using a pressure washer but it's not a very high pressure one and the radiator grille puts a bit of a distance between the pressure washer outlet and the fins. I held my hand at the same distance in the pressure washer flow and it didn't hurt.
I actually blame this on something that happened when the car was nearly new and that also led to all the brake discs being terminally corroded after a couple of years/20,000 miles.
Very soon after the car was delivered it was in a bump that meant it needed a new bumper. The bodyshop took it in and kept it for ages whilst waiting for parts. This was in November, the whole car was covered in salt and grit and never got hosed down or cleaned for several weeks.
I suspect that the discs and the aircon radiator fins became severely corroded at that time.
Now, it's not a big issue. The aircon seems to work. If it isn't sufficiently powerful next summer then I wil get the system checked and a new radiator fitted if necessary.
Just wondered if anyone else had noticed this phenomenon.
Click to expand...
Hi,
I’ve just changed my wonderful 2010 Panda Cross for a 2014 1.3 Multijet Cross. Having given it a good clean and inspection this weekend I too have noticed the cooling fins at the bottom of the radiator are disintegrating. The loose segments just break down into small pieces. How far up the radiator the problem extends I don’t know. I am wondering just how many owners may have an experience like this? I guess the same radiator is fitted in all 1.3 Multijets with a/c.
Seems like a product failure which I hope will be covered on the remaining warranty.
Hope this car isn’t going to be trouble!
 
Last edited:
lakeland4x4man said:
Hi,
I’ve just changed my wonderful 2010 Panda Cross for a 2014 1.3 Multijet Cross. Having given it a good clean and inspection this weekend I too have noticed the cooling fins at the bottom of the radiator are disintegrating. The loose segments just break down into small pieces. How far up the radiator the problem extends I don’t know. I am wondering just how many owners may have an experience like this? I guess the same radiator is fitted in all 1.3 Multijets with a/c.
Seems like a product failure which I hope will be covered on the remaining warranty.
Hope this car isn’t going to be trouble!
Click to expand...

"They all do this, sir"...

DaveMcT said:
Very thin cooling fins made from aluminium foil. Mix with British road salt and you wont have to wait long for the results..
Click to expand...

...for precisely this reason.

Exactly the same thing happened to both my 500 and my panda 169 within the first three years. Fortunately both are still holding up after seven years, and perhaps surprisingly both still cool the car perfectly well with the A/C on.

The A/C condensor radiator is a most fragile thing, and I suspect is easily damaged in even a minor accident - typecastboy may have a better idea about this.

I doubt Fiat will replace one under warranty unless the A/C fails outright, but I'd certainly try in your situation.
 
Last edited:
Thanks for the replies; seems like it's nothing to worry about too much. Surprising none the less; I've not seen this kind of radiator deterioration on other cars I’ve owned. I have a 6 year old RAV4 and the radiator is still fine. Perhaps my old Cross was the same as the new model[FONT=&quot]; the radiator was not as visible. [/FONT] The radiator on the new Panda Cross does look rather vulnerable with its very open style skid plate, not just to salt spray but to stones.
 
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