Hey guys. I recently started a thread about my car running a little hot and finally decided to get it checked out. The car was also making some noise from the gearbox so figured it was worth the 2 in 1 visit.

To cut a long story short, slightly dodgy thermostat and blocked radiator were causing the heat issue and a 'weak' gearbox mount was making the noise from the box.

The mechanic could tell i knew what i was talking about (i took it to one closer to work instead of my usual) and said that the gearbox mount wasnt an urgent repair but would need to be adressed eventually, and replacing the radiator was probably going to be the best course of action over time... which brings me to my questions.

Thermostat, i'll do no probs. But the radiator, what would be the best way to flush it out? I'm thinking of running some radiator flush additive, then taking the radiator out, giving it a bit of a soak (thanks to alan j for the tip) Assuming that could do the trick? i dont care if its a temporary-ish fix... but hopefully should help.. any suggestions?

number 2 is are there any ways to reinforce my gearbox mount. i havent had a look myself so i dont know exactly where/what is the exact problem. but i'm assuming any 'solution' to this will be a pretty general fix... Again, this is just to stretch out the life of the existing mount, not to fix it permanently... This one, i dont have many ideas on. One idea floating around was to basically smother it in quik steel putty or similar to try and hold it all together a little more firmly, ghetto, but it could work. but yeah, hopefully somebody here will have some better ideas

oh, and prices quoted were 80 for the thermostat, 495 for new radiator and 280 for gearbox mount. But when i end up getting to it, i'll do the thermostat and radiator myself...

cheers guys
- Paul

Just a quick Heads-Up - I "think" I have seen 3rd Gen radiators on FleaBay for about $165-00, in any case shop around and I'm sure you'd get far better price than what you have been quoted.

For gearbox mount - I'd strongly suggest you suss it out, and then see what you think your options are. This, I think is likely to be something you could tackle yourself - and I mean replacing the mount. There are/were members who mould/re-mould mounting bushes in polyurethane, which may be more affordable than OEM mounts. There is a seller on FleaBay who does a drivers-side engine-mount for approx half-price of the Mitsi spare - I have one of each of these mounts in family car's with no issues from the cheapy ( but bit too soon to really guage durability)..... that E_Bay seller "may" also do the mount you need to replace?

All best with the repairs and budget!!

thanks elwyn. Yeah i knew i would be able to do my own radiator pretty cheap but 165 is amazing!! i'll have to sus it out. I'll look into doing the mount myself too, not something i've dealt a whole lot with but i think it will be a good questions for the DIY day AMC SA is having in june. Budget isnt a major problem, but i'd much prefer putting the cash towards some mods rather than paying for labour costs! now just to find somebody who's done a manual conversion and has spare mounts..... hmm

check out www.ozeparts.com.au they usually got the sharpest pencil...in perth anyway