Jump to content

Opinions and experience of radiators


Jon W

Recommended Posts

I need a need a new radiator for a 200tdi.

currently an all brass/ copper which is falling apart and is about 10years old. Was a cheap Isa rad at the time.

i have had a price to recore it of £235 or £275 for a better spec stronger core in it. Which I would like to do but budget is tight with everything else on the rebuild I am doing.

Has anyone had any experience of the aluminium/plastic rads available which are around £100. Are they any good? A friend had one but he didn’t rate it much after the oil cooler split and caused mixing of oil and coolant.

All aluminium rad there are some on eBay for about £185 has anyone had any experience of these. I know you get what you pay for but I can’t stretch to allisport prices.

Thanks

Jon

 

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

A mate had a plastic end tank split on him after one small overheat issue... it didn't get THAT hot.

But then it comes down to the quality of the end tanks and general build quality, which will vary from manufacturer to manufacturer. 

Personally I would save my pennies and get a more reputably-branded plastic tanked radiator. It will get you on the road, and may even last, if it does go bang in a few years, at least you have the truck on the road and working, and you hopefully won't be so tight on the pennies.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Allisport is the extreme end of the price spectrum, they are very pretty but you're paying a load over the odds. I'd go copper any day as it's robust and repairable. All-ali is a close 2nd, plastic tanks when they go, they're dead.

Also depends what you're doing with the truck - a fine-finned ali rad is more efficient than an open-cored copper one but the fine one will clog up quickly, be a bugger to clean and be more easily damaged.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I bought a budget all Ali rad off eBay. The quality is quite good but it's about 3mm taller than it should be therefore it's a bit snug in the frame. However the bigger problem was the bore of the oil cooler fittings I have had to drill them out from 5.5mm to 9.5mm because it was causing a low oil pressure issue. 

I've also had several plastic end rads all have been less than great.

Overall brass tanks or top end Ali rad is the way to go. But I would buy another cheap Ali rad as I now know what to look for before I fit it.

Mike

Link to comment
Share on other sites

It is as I thought then, most people say to avoid plastic.

Interesting mike, what did you buy and how much was it and if buying again, what make would you go for?

I May have to bend the credit card and go for the recore and for £40 extra go for the strong HD core

Thanks

 

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I put a "champion" plastic Alu radiator in the Camel Discovery (ebay purchase) and I was pretty impressed with the overall quality of it, I think it had stamps on the plastic eluding it was made in Italy, certianly could belive it, opened my eyes to plastic fantastic radiators, its probably 2 years on now and as far as I know its been fine.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

My issue with plastic tanks is they can fail in a way that's non-repairable:

plastic_rads_b.jpg

 

Whereas metal ones can be stuck back together more easily. Having had a brass header tank soldered up in a Russian back-street garage I've been kinda fond of stuff that can be fixed.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I had a metal one re-cored with 4 cores at a local firm about 3 years ago , 2 guys who do things the old ways. I think it was just over £200. However they sold Nissens plastic/ali radiators and reckoned they were OK, also thought they cooled better, and said it would be a cheaper than a re-core but they'd do either. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I have heard in several places that ali rads are better at cooling and the fins are more corrosion resistant than copper, but that the oil coolers are delicate and prone to cracking if the clamp between the oil cooler pipes isn't fitted.  I think I saw something to that effect on the Britannica Restorations YT videos, too.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I fitted the aluminium with plastic ends. It is all that cars are made with today. And today's cars are a lot more reliable than cars coming from the copper rad era. It is technically possible that they fail, but how often do you change rads on modern cars?

On 10/15/2018 at 3:39 PM, Jon W said:

currently an all brass/ copper which is falling apart and is about 10years old

Did you not just answer your own question?

Daan

  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Having had the plastic-tanked radiator in my D2 fail, and knowing of dozens of others with the same disease, I wouldn't touch anything with plastic in it. Over the years I have had a couple of rad cores from Bearmach which were not a bad price and were very solid, even had the proper metal bung in rather than the crappy plastic ones.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

As I said above, if you buy a cheap plastic tanked radiator, you will have a premature (ie before YOU want it to), if you buy a cheap brass one, it will also fail.

Buy quality version of either, and you will get a longer life out of it.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

15 hours ago, Daan said:

I fitted the aluminium with plastic ends. It is all that cars are made with today. And today's cars are a lot more reliable than cars coming from the copper rad era.

Yes but LR owners don't like modern reliable things, they like clunky unreliable things that are "easy to repair" every 5 minutes :SVAgoaway:

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Most (if not all) moderns are fitted with plastic/ali radiators, and seem to cope OK. Including LRs from the P38 on. I know the plastic can crack when pressurized, but I've equally seen old type steel and brass radiators leak and split open due to corrosion. Which you obviously don't get with plastic.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

We use cookies to ensure you get the best experience. By using our website you agree to our Cookie Policy