Which Brand of Radiator Do You Recommend?

[echase76]

I went Nissens this winter and the fit was great. Make sure and transfer all your clips over. New radiators don't come with the clips.

To get the bolts on the front behind the headlight area you will need a 10mm swivel socket on a 6 inch extension. Sears had them.

[Madhelpermonkey]

Many thanks for all the advice. I will share my experience as soon as it is completed. BTW I discovered the need for the radiator whilst changing all the hoses. I used Gates hoses. Also the petcosk will not now seal completely. is seeps and drips slightly now no matter what i do.

And theres that crumbling fin material too...

[quahog pearl]

The crumbling is almost certainly corrosion from salt. I've seen this several times. I replaced a Behr with a Nissens in my Benz years ago. Fit was perfect and cost about half. However, the Behr clearly had more capacity as the tubing allowed for more fluid and surface area. Runs a little hotter in midsummer but not much.

[Madhelpermonkey]

QUESTION: Rock Auto has a NISSENS radiator model

"NISSENS Part # 65535A Core Dimensions: 590 X 388 X 40 mm; Automatic Transmission; For vehicles with/without air conditioning; Aluminum, Plastic"

for $138.33 Shipped. Killer price

Is this the correct model for my 1996 base sedan N/A with auto? It seens to match up with the OEM # at FCP and eEuroparts. just wanna be sure.

Thanks

[jblackburn]

If it matches up with those, it should work just fine.

[Madhelpermonkey]

Ok 13 hour experience. Not what I bargained for. The passenger side anchor bolt was rusted froze and would not release even with Pb blaster. I ended up breaking the welded nut look from the body by accident.. It was awful. Had to cut the bolt with a small hand hack saw and drill/cut the radiator ear to get it all out. ( 2hours) BTW no one told me the rubber mounting grommets didnt come with the new one and the old ones were going to be rock hard and unuseable.... anyway the clips did not all fit right and i ahd to enlongate some of the holes on te radiator so the screws would pass though and the holed would line up.

The condeser was the predicted PITA. 'nuff said,

Best part was 3 hours in the junk yard on Sunday finding a car that i could get a anchor bolt off of. There was a bonus...got two soft mounting grommets with the meatl sleeves intact with the bolt (all for free) and the car I was picking from had an intact splashguard/ air diverter thing that goes uder the radiator that my son ripped off last year. The one with 3 clips and 2 10mm bolts at either end. Been looking and found this by chance and all for $10. Getting that allin and lined up correctly was surpisingly difficult and I discovered the tap in the middle fits into a slot at the bottom of the radiator... who knew?

To replace the broken welded nut I got a flanged nut of the right metric size at the hardware store. I put anti-sieze on the bolts and the new nut. Odd how the bolts go up from the bottom.

Anyway it is done and all is well. Got the thermostat in but had to loosen the fuel line to get to the hidden torx screw.


Thanks to all for your advice and counsel.

[cn90]

I need a new radiator as my Volvo OEM radiator with 7y/60K miles developed a crack just below the upper outlet (very very small crack).

For 1998 S70 GLT auto with 190K miles...

- Nissens is about $140 at FCP, LT warranty. Reviews on FCP website are mixed.
Reviews inside this forum seem OK.

- I came across model CU2099 (my suspicion is this is Spectra but not sure). Has anyone used this particular radiator on ebay? Reviews on ebay seem very good with no issues. Longevity = who knows?

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