Working on the convertible I got from my father. Found coolant leak was a cracked level sensor. Looks like it was over tightened. In the process of getting sensor out parts of the plastic on the end did not come out with the sensor. I assume that plastic can lodge in the water pump or in the coolant channels in the engine? Or will it forever be trapped in the radiator?

I haven't driven the car since I took possession of it and really want to drive it some to see how it's doing. My preference is quick fix so I can drive it some, but if that is not safe I can go as far as swap out the OEM radiator for my Koyo from my dead engine turbo vert. If I'm flushing the OEM radiator and disconnecting the radiator hoses anyway there are only a few bolts keeping me from pulling the radiator and installing the Koyo. But like I said, I really want it driveable sooner rather than later.

 

may not be a bad idea just to put the koyo in, the plastic stock radiator is just a time bomb waiting to go off anyway. might as well upgrade, it may become more work than u planned if its a thicker one and your still using the stock fan tho

 

I suppose it depends on how many pieces it broke into. If it was only one, it would probably stay in the top tank forever, but that also means it could be blocking a channel. If it was several, they could be lodged in multiple places. I'd put in the Koyo now too.

 

Koyo will fit with the OEM clutch fan and shroud. I might be pulling the N/A engine for a turbo swap rebuild. I'd like to wait for radiator swap till I know if the engine is coming out or not rather than swap the radiator and pull it to reinstall it after the rebuild.

Looking at what broke off I think it's big piece that slid off as I pulled on it. I got all the broken threads out as I was backing out the separated threads. New level sensor will be here Sunday (yay Amazon). Right now I'm inclined to put the new level sensor in and let it warm up. The rotary won't be a daily driver and I may just button it back up and see what it does. Buy myself sometime in sizing up the new car and deciding on whether the engine is coming out. No sense putting the Koyo in only to pull it back out when the engine comes out. BUt I have day or so to think about it before the replacement sensor arrives.

 

its fine, a little piece of plastic isn't going to hurt anything

 

You caught the issue before circulating coolant, so any bits would fall to the lowest point, which is the bottom of the radiator. When I drained the original radiator from my FC, there were bits of plastic coming out with the coolant. Soon as I saw this, I started looking for a new radiator.

Swap in your Koyo, put in the new sensor, fill it back up and call it a day. It probably needs the coolant replaced anyway, spec is every 1-3 years.