correct radiator?

[dplum]

Hi,

Needing a new radiator for my 1988 1.9l petrol van I ordered the radiator labelled as for a 1.9 from Brickwerks - now it has arrived this evening I have checked it with my old one and they are different thicknesses. They have all the same connections in the right places but the new one is thinner and having rechecked the order its a 34mm radiator.

Question is will it fit my van if the old one was thicker? and do they work the same i.e. the same efficiency etc.? My van is in the garage at the moment so can't check for the next couple of days.

cheers

[shepster]

This will be of no help whatsoever I'm afraid but I've just ordered the same for mine.

My van is an '84 though and not having taken the old one out yet haven't compared thickness, what i can say though is my van has been running a 2.1 for over 3 yrs with no overheating issues at all so it can clearly cope with the bigger motor.


I would suggest posting on brickyard, maybe baxter will have an answer.

[California Dreamin]

My understanding was 'early and late types but also thin and thick...thicker for Turbo Diesel and 2.1's.

Martin

[dplum]

Yeh i'm wondering whether the thicker one is actually the wrong one for the 1.9 van.

could be mine was replaced sometime before i got the van and they put the thicker one in by mistake although it is a genuine VW one.

[Ian Hulley]

Standard practice is to fit the thicker (2.1/TD) rad as it should have greater cooling properties ... obviously you've specified a 1.9 rad so that's what Msr Baxter has sent you.

[shepster]

Mines off now and even though it looks like the original one, '83 stamped on it, and it's a 1.9 van mine is also the thicker one.

A call to Baxter I feel.

[shepster]

Called Baxter and as you can imagine they have no issues with a refund but are loath to send a new one out until they receive the original back, understandable to be honest, but as I need it asap due to now having the van in bits i've ordered the thicker one and i'll send the other one back as and when.

If i were you i would do the same and stick with the thicker one, as Ian says it can only be better for cooling.

[dplum]

Called Baxter and as you can imagine they have no issues with a refund but are loath to send a new one out until they receive the original back, understandable to be honest, but as I need it asap due to now having the van in bits i've ordered the thicker one and i'll send the other one back as and when.

If i were you i would do the same and stick with the thicker one, as Ian says it can only be better for cooling.

Ah right, looks like I'll probably be doing the same then if the thicker one is better.
just add on a few more days to the never ending fixing of cooling problems with my van!.............

[jeffdub]

i had the same issue with my rad the one i was sent was thinner than the original , fitted it an no problems with it at all dont think it makes much difference what thickness it is really , brickwerks said it was the right one and thats good enough for me maybe previous owners fitted a thicker one for some reason ? i wouldnt worry about it

[Simon Baxter]

Thinner one is fine on a 1.9l DG motor.
Fatter one is for TDs and 2.1l as well as 1.9l used in "tropical climates"
It won't do any harm upgrading to the bigger one but I wouldn't go the other way.
GSF used to only supply the thinner one to fit everything. Before I looked into it I had fitted the thinner one to a 2.1l and my own 1.6TD and had all manner of problems.
That's when I looked it up and realised what had happened.
That's when I searched out the hella Behr radiators so it didn't happen again.

[Aidan]

syncro 1.9 DGs also have the thicker radiator

[kevtherev]

shepster fitted the fat radiator, I helped with the heater pipes and stainless pipes to the engine.(it's a three hander really)
All went in with no drama (sheps prep of writing down what went where ensured this) and looks great.
Only issue was the 25 to 16mm reducer from the cyl head to the heater line, but ebay delivered.

I'm saving up for a new radiator from brickwerks now.

[California Dreamin]

The bigger rad certainly makes sense for anyone with heating issues and of course, vans that had them in the first place. Anyone with any doubts about the first speed of their fan coming in at the right time should also be looking at replacing the two speed (on all but the CS) thermo switch at the same time. These used to be a very common replacement item even when the vans were relatively new, back in the 80's.

Martin

[shepster]

As Kev says I also replaced the front to back water pipes (steel on mine) and the heater hoses, I have to say the quality of the stuff Baxter sells really is top notch and delivery is instant.

For anyone with the early metal pipes mine had two rubber hoses at the engine end, between the metal and where they go through the bulkhead, these are no longer available and i sourced some alternative flexible hose hoping this would do the job.

The new metal pipes incorporate this section so do away with these pipes and therefore something else not required to find again, all in all a well worthwhile upgrade.