XE into Escort, BMW E36 radiator.

[Yaosey]

Hullo there everybody peeps, I have a mk2 escort, An XE and for reasons best left unknown i also have a brand spanking new BMW E36 radiator. This is the type with the expansion bottle on the side.
It would seem that this is a bit of an odd one as this radiator circulates the water between the engine and the expansion bottle when cold, Once the water is up to temperature the water then circulates the full radiator.

Can anybody help concerning the correct way to pipe this kind of radiator up. I know this rad operates in an unusual fashion but its a fantastic fit in the mk2 engine bay as it sits on the chassis rails nicely, Goes the full width of the bay and sits nice an level with the slam panel.

Any info on this type of rad with regards to its operation and also the piping up woul be most appreciated. Cheers.

[mini_john]

i have the same rad to go in mine, there are three oulets on it, top and bottom hose are obvious which leaves the one(about 25mm) at the bottom of the built in expansion tank, just thought i would run the standard vaux expansion tank pipe to this, seems the blatant thing to do but any advice is good advice,

The one i have is from an auto therefore has the gear oil cooler built into the rad, would it be an option to run the standard vauxhall oil cooler pipes into this(thought it would be a pretty tidy install this way).

john

[Yaosey]

I saw this radiator installed into a Capri but the small 25mm pipe was blocked off.
It did'nt work worth a monkeys like that and I'm assuming that this pipe should be plumbed to the engine.
I hunted for some info on the BMW cooling system and the Beemer straight six has quite a complex cooling system with two water pumps.

I'm trying to find out how these plumb in with regards to flow direction etc. It would seem the expansion tank on the side is completly separate to the rad core with a valve which opens when the coolant is up to temp.
I just dont want to cook the engine due to dodgy plumbing.

[kinhellfire]

how have you got on with the rad install & plumbing ?

I have BMW E46 2.0 diese with a similar set up, may be able to do a schematic for you if you want ;)

[Shed]

http://www.sbdev.co.uk/Info_sheets/Cooling_systems/20L_Cooling_system.gif