Trying to replace a burst top hose of my 1996 mk1 1.8 Eunos, I was pulling at the old hose’s connection with the radiator when the whole connection came off in my hand, and the top of the radiator came with it!
Was this a risk I should have known about? Can these radiators perish?
Also, does anyone know of a suitable mechanic in the Merseyside area?
Sounds as if you were unlucky with an old radiator.
for example:
http://www.mx5parts.co.uk/product_info.php/products_id/248
You could have a go at replacing it yourself.
I struggled to find an MX5 mechanic in Merseyside. There was a thread on it on the old forum.
Depends on where in Merseyside you are.
There are these in Neston
http://www.supercarclassics.com/
Otherwise any decent mechanic should be able to fit it no problem
Thanks for the reply.
I’m worried that it will take a lot of time to rip out all the old stuff and replace it with new! Not a lot of time available at present.
Also - what else will I break? 
Radiator is a straightforward job. Easier if you remove splash guard under engine.Drain coolant via cross head drain plug in bottom of rad. Remove top and bottom hoses and overflow hose. Disconnect fan electrics (or fans if you have air con) then slacken the lower fan bolts (no need to remove as the man mount is slotted) then remove top fan bolts an remove fan assembly. Then undo the two radiator bolts and lift it out of the lower rubber mount.
Refitting is the reverse of above, but if you are fitting a ne radiator you need to change the rubber mounts from one to the other. It is likely that the bottom fan bolts will be corroded into the “spring clip nuts” so give them a squirt of WD or similar.
All you have to do then is refill the radiator with a suitable antifreeze mix (typically 30%), leave rad cap off start the engine, top up coolant as required as engine warms up. Once up to temp refit rad cap and top up overflow bottle to between min and max.
Thats about a simple as I can make it. Hope it helps, should only take you about 1 to 1.1/2 hrs.
Thanks for the help.
Having just replaced the radiator in my MK1 today, the first real job I’ve done on any car for a long time, I can confirm it’s about 90mins of a job. I didn’t remove the underside shield either - all this was done from the top, but bottom two fan bolts were not seized up with rust. YMMV.
Mike P
Just jumping on the fan bandwagon rather then starting a new post. Today my fan broke, and is flapping around, so what do i need to get, has anyone got one for sale, and do i need to remove the rad to fit a new fan? any help walk thru would be helpfull. Im starting to wish id never bought this damm car. oh by the way the AC fan dont come on either.
cheers
Steve
Changing the cooling fan is straightforward. Disconnect the electrical plug, remove the two fixing bolts from the top, slacken the two lower bolts only as the fan frame is slotted and lift the fan assembly out. Depending on if the lower bolts are corroded or not you may have to remove the undertray to gain better access but that is also simple. I would suggest trying to obtain a second hand item from either MX-5 Heaven http://www.mx5heaven.co.uk/ or Autolink http://www.autolinkuk.co.uk/. I assume this is a Mk 1 as I dont know how different other Mk,s are. I have just looked and MX-5 heaven will do just the fan blade if thats all you need.
Thanks Phil,
Sound easy enough, the motor runs but the fan is all over the place. So perhaps a blade set is all that is needed, ill have a look.
Take care
Steve
These guys not mx5 men but good guys all the same S&K auto’s Esk Street Bootle ask for derek or con they might not remember me but tell them I alan yates (used to work for rockfield and tls) recommended you, its not the rizts of garages IF you go down MIllers bridge turn left towards town past the vauxhall dealers it the second on the left on the right hand side.
OOpps just seen the date
Can the bottom bolts be accessed from the top , or do i need to get from underside, i cant seem to find them from the top.
steve
They are a bit awkward (even more so with air con) to get to from the top but you can get to them. If you don’t know what you’re looking for I’d go from underneath it’ll probably be quicker in the long run.
Ill go in from underneath then, then its down to fixing the AC.
Cheers
Steve
Ok i can now drive a car i have had for almost 2 weeks, Fan on 
Now to the AC, ok the AC fan does not go on at all, from reading around here it looks like the fan will not come on if gas is low, is this correct? so the first thing to do is re gas?
Cheers
Steve
Correct, the air con fan will not work if there is not enough gas pressure in the system. Fix it dont sell it. All things mechanical will give up eventually, and it sounds like you are playing catch up for items that have previously been ignored.
Well i drove it for the first time today, after fixing the wheel bearing, and the fan. Now its got a Sticky caliper.
Anyone want a nice eunos?
The AC fan will also not work if the relay is faulty.
A little bit of TLC with some high temp grease and she will be fine.
Car now has a working fan, New breaks, new wheel bearing err and buckets of litttle mods. Always good fun fixing the bits neglected by previous owners. Anyway just bumped into this thread and I had not thanked everyone. So thanks everyone.
Steve
And still