GSF/Eurocar parts radiators (are they any good??)

[stevie_f_2004 0]

As th etitle says are these any good compared to VW.......there's about £80 price difference and was wondering if it really is worth it to buy OEM...(purchased a heater matrix from GSF recently and it was the same as OEM)

[VR6 South 0]

I fitted an ECP one about five years ago and it's still going strong.

[boost monkey 0]

nooooooooooooooooooooo, the 16v one is ass!!

 

doesn't sit on the cross-member / rad support beam properly, the pins underneath don't line up with the holes.

 

I'd go 2nd hand for a genuine if you're looking to replace, shouldn't be too hard to find?

[Jim 2]

Personally i'd buy a VW one. I got a pattern part radiator for my valver last year sometime - yes it was cheap, but as I was fitting the new radiator fan switch, despite taking lots of care, the soft metal thread in the radiator started strip out and the fan switch never sealed properly. I ended up ditching it and buying a real VAG one.

 

To be honest the quality of the pattern one seemed ok - but I have always believed in 'you gets whats you pay for' - and I feel that very strongly about GSF stuff in general!

[scarlet_vr6 0]

I've had a pattern part one for a while and has been fine so far (fingers crossed...), at least I assume it's a cheap one since it was replaced by my local garage :?

[Supercharged 2]

Screwfix do some nice chrome ones...

[boost monkey 0]

Maybe pattern VR rads are better than the 16v items then.

[coolrado 0]

A mate of mine fitted a GSF rad to his Mk 2 16v gti and it kept blowing seals and popping pipes, after a while he discovered the small recirculation pipe at the top of the radiator was actually moulded over inside the radiator and was completely blocked, it was fine after he drilled it out.

so it seems they are not the best quality, its always worth checking out local radiator companies as they may have a better one in stock or will be able to make you one up for a decent price.

[boost monkey 0]

yeah my experiences are on my mk2 16v also.

[davidwort 0]

pretty much same experience as Jim for me, but I did eventually get the fan switch to seal

 

said this a lot of times before, but the 16v pattern ones are not the proper 16v items, i.e. they don't have as many cores as a proper VAG one, having said that it does cope ok on my 16v, although I find the fan has to work a bit harder in traffic.

 

rather than spending 50-60 quid on a pattern one I would recommend getting a VAG one for around 100 (if you can get 10% or so trade discount)

[boost monkey 0]

CCGB discount is 15%, or at least it is at my local dealer.

 

Agree that radiators are a dealer-only job, but as I always still suppor the underdog (to an extent!)

[Supercharged 2]

The main thing is the genuine (UK made) Marsden rads have more fins and are much more efficient at cooling these engines... My G60 is still on the original 15 year old one and my mums MK3, now 10 years old still looks new

[Jim Bowen 1]

i just got a new VW one for a VR6, is £188 including tax before any discounts

[stevie_f_2004 0]

Thanks for the feedback....I'll put the old one back on and get a VW radiator when fund permit...£188 is a fair chunk of cash when I'm already sitting with £450++ worth of parts in the process of being fitted!!!!!!!!!!

[Jim 2]

But at least it'll probably be a fit and forget item for the time you own the car - I personally wouldn't say the same about any GSF item.

[boost monkey 0]

LOL, not sure why Jim but I get the distinct impression you're not the world's biggest fan of factors? :scratch:

[Supercharged 2]

LOL, not sure why Jim but I get the distinct impression you're not the world's biggest fan of factors? :scratch:

 

It's just experience matey - you change 8-12 year old parts for new pattern stuff, it lasts another 2 years if your lucky then you go back to genuine - you'll learn :)

[boost monkey 0]

I was being sarcastic but thanks!

 

I'm not getting back into this (again) but I've used pattern parts on past Mk2's fine, although I don't like their radiators.

 

Did I mention that?

 

I learn just fine thanks, getting A's at the mo :cheers:

[CazzaVR 0]

From personal experience, the only pattern parts that seem worth the bother are Febi ones, which are excellent quality. I would only buy a rad from VW though...

[was8v 0]

Another vote for using genuine parts for critical bits.

 

I've had cheap waterpumps fail in 4 months and wheel bearings fail in 6 months. Just not worth the aggro of replacing AGAIN for the sake of a few quid.

[steve @ 0]

Had to replace my non-gen copper rad last year, it had lasted a whole 2 1/2 years. Replaced with a gen Aluminium rad, the quality is so much better.