Daan Posted February 2, 2016 Share Posted February 2, 2016 I am looking for another radiator for my 300 tdi. Currently a standard copper one, that weighs a ton, but works well. I was originally going to buy a spare, and thought of one of the plastic ended ones. Cheap and light, but the stories of them splitting are not ideal. just over £100 buys you one. then I thought, why not fit one of those and have the copper one as back up spare. Then we have the allisport ones, £450. If money is no object, that's the one to go for. Then there are lots of ebay sellers that do allisport copies for about £150, fully tig welded. That sounds almost too good to be true, and that usually means it is. Has anyone actually used one of the cheaper radiators, or the plastic ended ones and what are the experiences? Regards, Daan Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bowie69 Posted February 2, 2016 Share Posted February 2, 2016 I have seen a plastic one crack under nothing more than an overheat due to fan failure, it was not old, maybe 2 years. I'm guessing that might happen in Croatia -they got many Lada's over there still? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
reb78 Posted February 2, 2016 Share Posted February 2, 2016 I had a plastic one in my old BMW, it split at the top hose connection and caused the car to overheat. I know its not a LR, but it has meant i will always stick with copper in the tdi. I cant afford allisport and don't fancy gambling my money on the cheaper ones (also not sure there is any benefit even on a mildly tuned tdi - if you offroad, i guess this might be different (?) but i don't do any extreme off roading). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bowie69 Posted February 2, 2016 Share Posted February 2, 2016 Above rad was in a V8 90 BTW. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cackshifter Posted February 2, 2016 Share Posted February 2, 2016 I have a TDI which recently needed a new rad, a lot of the fins had turned to dust.I went to the local specialist, who unprompted said there is a lot of rubbish out there, but recommended a NIssens plastic/aluminium rad. He said they had tried different makes, they weren't the cheapest, but these didn't give trouble and cooled better than standard. However I ended up getting them to put a new (4 core) core in the old one, but that cost quite a bit more. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aragorn Posted February 2, 2016 Share Posted February 2, 2016 Almost every single car on the road built in the last 15-20years has plastic/aluminium radiators fitted. We're hardly surrounded by vehicles with bust rads are we... 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sheffield Posted February 2, 2016 Share Posted February 2, 2016 Our 300 Discovery has had a Nissens rad for just over four years, running without a fan, and without any problems. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bowie69 Posted February 2, 2016 Share Posted February 2, 2016 Yeah but when a vehicle manufacturer complains to a supplier, they take notice, they don't give two hoots if Joe Public gets screwed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dangerous doug Posted February 2, 2016 Share Posted February 2, 2016 I had a plastic/Ali one on my 110 for 10 mins and it started leaking. Utter trash It was ****part though..... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JeffR Posted February 2, 2016 Share Posted February 2, 2016 Been running a plastic job in the family hack (200 Tdi disco) for the best part of 2 years with absolutely no problems Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mo Murphy Posted February 2, 2016 Share Posted February 2, 2016 Unlike everything else Jeff ? Mo Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JeffR Posted February 2, 2016 Share Posted February 2, 2016 Unlike everything else Jeff Mo OH so bloody true....... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daan Posted February 2, 2016 Author Share Posted February 2, 2016 I have a TDI which recently needed a new rad, a lot of the fins had turned to dust.I went to the local specialist, who unprompted said there is a lot of rubbish out there, but recommended a NIssens plastic/aluminium rad. He said they had tried different makes, they weren't the cheapest, but these didn't give trouble and cooled better than standard. However I ended up getting them to put a new (4 core) core in the old one, but that cost quite a bit more. Interesting post. Almost every single car on the road built in the last 15-20years has plastic/aluminium radiators fitted. We're hardly surrounded by vehicles with bust rads are we... What I thought. Daan Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
honitonhobbit Posted February 3, 2016 Share Posted February 3, 2016 Daan I just get mine rebuilt/ Arrow Radiators in Avonmouth charges 150 English for a 4 row core upgrade. They will put a threaded boss in above the outlet pipe for an extra 15 English. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
muddy Posted February 3, 2016 Share Posted February 3, 2016 I've had a ****part plastic one in my tdi 90 for nearly four years never been an issue only got warm once returning from kirton with caravan on but then it was blocked up with carp...... I too was hesitant at first but now I'd fit another. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
honitonhobbit Posted February 4, 2016 Share Posted February 4, 2016 That's what I said about my prostate examination 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Maverik Posted February 9, 2016 Share Posted February 9, 2016 I'm not sure the question is about the suitability of plastic, as like Mike had said pretty much every modern car has one, sounds more like the quality issues associated with a certain brand that sells the cheapest most prolific lr plastic radiators... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bowie69 Posted February 9, 2016 Share Posted February 9, 2016 Exactly ^^^ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Maverik Posted February 9, 2016 Share Posted February 9, 2016 I'm not exactly sure who Mike is by the way... sorry it was 3am... but my point still stands. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Defender Posted February 11, 2016 Share Posted February 11, 2016 Has anyone used/tried one of the Chinese aluminium one's that are about £120 of the bay? I need to replace mine and trying to decide between recore the standard one or aluminium one. Lots seem to have sold on eBay so I'm surprised no one on here has commented on them yet. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bowie69 Posted February 11, 2016 Share Posted February 11, 2016 That does sound good, also I would say more fixable in the field than a split plastic end-tank. When you compare these, they are quite favourable, price-wise: http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Aluminium-for-Landrover-Discovery-1-Range-Rover-92-95-Alloy-Radiator-NEW-pf1-/331573067719?hash=item4d334b7fc7:g:A2IAAOSwEeFVCjGY http://www.paddockspares.com/esr3687-radiator-assembly-v8-auto.html Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Retroanaconda Posted February 13, 2016 Share Posted February 13, 2016 Timely thread, noticed some small weeps of coolant on the front of my 200Tdi radiator this morning. There's a good radiator shop in town and I'll get a price from them for a proper re-core. Only problem with that is getting the thing to them and the car being off the road for a short while - not really ideal. So looking at new options as well, can then get the old one recored in the future for the other car. Currently this is looking like the best bet: http://www.island-4x4.co.uk/radiator-copper-brassgm-radiator-btp1823s-p-29130.html Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
reb78 Posted February 13, 2016 Share Posted February 13, 2016 Timely thread, noticed some small weeps of coolant on the front of my 200Tdi radiator this morning. There's a good radiator shop in town and I'll get a price from them for a proper re-core. Only problem with that is getting the thing to them and the car being off the road for a short while - not really ideal. So looking at new options as well, can then get the old one recored in the future for the other car. Currently this is looking like the best bet: http://www.island-4x4.co.uk/radiator-copper-brassgm-radiator-btp1823s-p-29130.html Word of warning there.... I tried to order one of these from island some time ago. Order went through fine online. A week later I enquired as to when my order would be shipped. Eventually got a reply to be told it was out of stock and the refund took almost another 4 weeks! By all means try them, but check their stock first! It's ironic as I'm sure they are practically next to the bearmach distribution factory! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dangerous doug Posted February 13, 2016 Share Posted February 13, 2016 After my last (similar)dealings with island 4x4 I can safely say I would rather use scorpion racing under their old management than island4x4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Retroanaconda Posted February 13, 2016 Share Posted February 13, 2016 I meant more the type and price point rather than the supplier, that said your points are noted all the same. While I am sure decent branded plastic/aluminium rads are of sufficient quality I prefer the welded copper/brass construction on a rattly old Land Rover that spends a lot of time on rough roads. Did LR themselves use the modern type on Td5 and later? If so then I guess my theory is nonsense, however Tdi vehicles came with the older type so I could at least play the originality card of sorts Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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