VR6 Rad blown.

[macca 0]

Looks like I've found my water loss, weeping rad.

 

Whats the best way to replace it, recore original one( local rad bloke wants to put in a copper one, easy to repair ). Buy a new one (not from steallers £200).

 

Best way to fit it?

 

Is a copper one better than Aluminuim?? I thought Alu was better at cooling, heat transfere and all that.

 

all advice welcome

 

Cheers Guy. Colud be adding to that list, what u spent on u C :lol:

[corradovr6sc 0]

Not sure whether copper is better than aluminium but I think gsf or europarts sells them for £80. Cheaper than £200 from VW. You have to take the front end off to replace it-bump and slam panel. Whilst you have got the front end off change the oil seals on the oil cooler, two small coolant hoses and thermostat if they haven't been done. Saves hastle later on.

[Andi 2,147,483,647]

You do not need to remove the front-end of the car to replace the rad on a VR6. There is a method.... I'm sure someone somewhere has it written somewhere, else I'll try and hunt it down.

[BarneyVR6 0]

You do not need to remove the front-end of the car to replace the rad on a VR6. There is a method.... I'm sure someone somewhere has it written somewhere, else I'll try and hunt it down.

 

Would like to see how that's done, I've just dismantled my front end today and to be honest it wasnt that hard. Only took an hour with a basic set of tools and being very careful and lots of going back to my manual. If there is a method it will be risky in terms of injuring yourself and or damaging something and probably not much difference in time from lack of fiddling around.

[Andi 2,147,483,647]

Taken from the eGroup:

 

Hi, I have now successfully replaced may radiator. Here's what I found:

 

Price

 

VW charge £196 + vat for a new radiator

Euro Car Parts charge £87.40 + vat

 

I chose the Euro car parts one and can report that it is seemingly identical

to the VW one but without the VW/Audi logos. Running temperatures seem the

same.

 

Fitting

 

The Bentley manual advises that the front bumper and slam panel must be

removed first. This looks rather involved so I took advise from Jamie (on

this group) and used another method as follows.

 

1. Remove the battery so that you have sufficient clearance to withdraw the

radiator.

2. Drain the coolant (coolant drain valve accessed from below).

3. Remove plastic trim on slam panel (the one with the fan and HT warning

decals) held by 2 Philips screws.

4. Detach the top hose from the radiator (at this stage leave the

Radiator/hose adaptor in place). Tuck this hose out of the way (made easier

if you also detach the thin hose at the expansion tank.

5. The radiator is held in place by 2 locating pegs at the bottom and 2

brackets at the top which slot into the radiator and bolt to the slam panel.

Remove the 2 bolts from the slam panel and withdraw the 2 brackets from the

radiator.

6. It is necessary to remove the fan assembly before the radiator can be

removed. The fans, motor and housing all come out as one piece. First,

disconnect the plug on the fan motor. While your at it, also remove the plug

from the coolant sensor in the radiator. The fan housing is held on to the

radiator by four self-tapping screws (roughly one at each corner). Remove

the screws and remove the fan housing. Removing the fan housing is where

the fun begins! There is very little clearance. I found that the best method

was to manoeuvre the fan assembly so that the base was further towards the

engine than the top. The assembly can then be lowered slightly giving room

to turn it so that it can be removed from where the battery used to be.

Take thing easy when you do this, these is no need to use brute force, it

will come out if you persevere!

7. It's now time to remove the radiator. There is one more screw to undo,

it's a self-tapper that holds a piece of plastic cowling on to the radiator.

It's easy to miss because it's in front of the radiator facing the back of

the light unit on the battery side of the car. I couldn't get a socket in to

shift it but a 10mm spanner did the job easily.

8. Disconnect the bottom hose. You will probably need to access the clip

from underneath the car. Large Mole grips are good for shifting the spring

clips that hold the hoses on. Be ready to catch the remaining coolant as you

detach the bottom hose.

9. The radiator can now be removed using the same method that was used to

remove the fan assembly. Once again, patience is required!

10. Once the radiator is removed you need to transfer a couple of parts from

it to the new radiator. The first is the coolant sensor which simply

unscrews. The second is the radiator/top hose adaptor. This was a bit of a

pain on my car because the two bolts holding it down were seized. The nuts

are captive within the plastic at the top of the radiator so if you use

brute force all that happens it that the nuts split the plastic and spin. I

ended up chiselling them out because the old radiator was scrap anyway. But

it would be worth giving them a go with some dismantling fluid first. Above

all, you need to be careful not to damage the plastic adaptor because it is

very brittle and you need to re-use it on your new radiator. The adaptor

also has an O-ring which should be replaced (although I didn't and have no

leaks so far).

11. It is now time to re-assemble. When you do this don't forget the rubber

washers that fit on the locating pegs at the bottom of the radiator. I did

and had to start again. 12. Fill up with G11 coolant and distilled water,

and away you go.

 

The whole job took me five hours because I'd never done it before, and, as

explained above, forgot a couple of rubber washers and had to start again.

 

Hope this helps,

 

Jonathan Miles

[BarneyVR6 0]

Like I said took me an hour with regular ref to my manual to get rad off, recon I could replace the rad and put it all back on again within a further 2 easy. Probably more like 1.5, total time 2.5 - 3 hours against his 5 and much less "fiddling around" and "needing patience" and certainly no "lowering slightly to give room to turn it, etc..."

 

No offence meant here by the way but having just done it, I would advise following the manual and dismantling the front end it really is one of those jobs that looks much harder than it is.

[Andi 2,147,483,647]

Some people may not have the space to drop the front-end though - e.g. if the job has to be done roadside (no driveway or garage or whatever).

 

I suspect both methods take the same time and Jonathan was incredably slow - I can't see how it took him that long! And remember, you have his instructions - he was figuring it all out.

 

I can do a rad-change on the MX5 in 15 mins... lol.

[skygrowler 0]

just done the rad. 3 hours using the battery removal method a doddle , thanks all contributors.

one thing no-one mentioned , run all self tappers into rad before you have it in position makes life easier

cheers :D

[skygrowler 0]

actually thinking about it it was probably more like 2 hoursto change the rad cos i had a problem getting the spring clip off the bottom hose and had to go out to get a special tool ( crowbar!! )

[Guest]

Not sure whether copper is better than aluminium

 

Coppers alot better at transfering heat than alluminium, just theres usually a cost issue with using copper everywhere (and weight of course)

 

***Edit - spelling (stupid fat fingers) ***

[PhatVR6 0]

I just ordered a new one from German and Swedish, £98+VAT to me. £115+VAt normally.

[Supercharged 2]

Anyone know if a VR rad would fit into a G60 (with the appropriate dual fan setup) without changing the slam panel!

 

I don't know why my car has such a stupidly small rad :|

[Henny 0]

I don't know why my car has such a stupidly small rad :|

 

'cos a G60 doesn't need a bigger one... :roll:

 

If you think that your water temps are too high, dump the oil cooler and put in a nice Mocal one instead... That'll sort out your water temps, and if that doesn't drop 'em low enough, dump the original fan and get an aftermarket slimline one which have a higher flow rate and so should cool the rad better... 8)

[Supercharged 2]

Yeah, hopefully fitting the Mocal soon, the water temp is fine normally but I don't like how quickly it gets to 110 degrease when in traffic, saying that, as soon as you get moving it comes back down again so everthing working ok.

 

The other thing to try I suppose is a low temp fan switch - I still think the G60 rad is small tho, I'm sure the one on my mk2 was bigger :?

[Henny 0]

once you've fitted the mocal, you'll probably never get the temps to hit 110 anymore.... 8)

 

It is quite a small radiator, but it's pretty efficient... 8)