Porsche Enthusiasts Club Forum

Hi my S4 radiator is leaking. I'm fairly sure the radiator is toast. I'll be taking the fan off tonight to get a better look but I couldn't see any leak at either of the water hoses. So assuming I need a new radiator what are my options? I have seen a HELLA radiator at Design911 for £399 and a used one one ebay for £350 which I think I'll pass on.

My S4 radiator came from OPC and was around £500, so the one from design911 sounds good. Maybe try and get a re-core price? Not sure who in central Scotland dies them?

Was that £500 including VAT? With vat added the £399 becomes £478.8. I didn't think it would be worth calling the OPC as Design911 are showing £1,259 for a genuine Porsche radiator. I may give them a call

Always worth a call, I've found.

Not sure if it was inc. VAT? I gave all the receipts away with the car when I sold it.

At least you have cheaper S4 radiator. The pre-digital dash years used a very expensive rad as it combined both transmission and engine oil cooler. From 89 on (maybe year later) the oil cooler rad was separate.

I suffered rad leak recently on my 1991 S4.

Was very fortunate to get replacement from Advanced Radiators (Adrad) in Newcastle. Delivered for under £500 inc vat and it was the Behr OEM part.

Very lucky as a few 928 owners have tried to get one since from same supplier and they had no stock. Worth giving them a call to see what situation is now.

With the fans removed should be easy to see stains around leaking area. The most common failure ist he joint between central section and plastic side tanks, though my leak looked like it was from core.

The radiator commonly fails around 20 years so even if you have to pay OPC price it will be good for another 20! But the Design 911 price is a good one and Hella radiator has a good reputation.

I know I am from the 4 pot circles, but with regards to recoring I was told by my local recorer that it would be tricky to recore modern Porsche rads due to the plastic tanks going brittle in time. Even if they did hold up, his price for a recore was the same/just as expensive as Porsche! I went to ECP in the end who seemed to give a 'genuine' rad (well, it was NRF/Modine branded, but the core and tanks had the Porsche logos scrubbed off them).

One thing to bear in mind is that Porsche parts do come with a 2 year warranty .

I bought the Hella radiator yesterday and it is on its way. I don't think I'll get a much better deal anywhere.

I drained the radiator last night and removed the hoses and the fan. It looks like the core is leaking. I didn't have any spanners big enough to get the transmission cooler lines off so I will have to nip out and get them from Halfords. I think it is a 32mm and a 27mm spanner that I need. Can anyone confirm?

Yes 27mm and 32mm.

I bought mine years ago used at a tool stand at a show for couple of quid, as I knew I'd need them for this job sometime (and on my old 88 you need to undo engine oil line to remove fan shroud)

I am no Tarzan and couldn't shift my trans oil line by hand (you need to arrange spanners in V and squeeze).

What did it wit ease was to set up spanners then use a spring compressor to squeeze spanners together. Really easy that way if you're struggling otherwise. On installing I couldn't get torque wrench in there to apply spec torque, so just did as tight as I could by hand. No leaks since from that line

At least it may run slightly cooler (even if the rad had no leak).

I know that on my modern after changing the rad it runs cooler and that was a very good cooling system (no corrosion inside the coolant ways, and always run on 50:50 longlife antifreeze). The old radiator I only remove due to a tank cracking and leaking badly, but it was cleaner inside than the vast majority of radiators I have removed from cars over the years. It runs cooler than it has done on the new item . It was a 1/3 of the price of your radiator, but it is also shared with another engine in the range (sort of (a diesel car which has an extra pipe (Although the rad kit comes with a blanking pipe))- the one for my car was over £300 and a Ford only part (the pipe outlet is not there))! That was for a 2005 Ford Mondeo 3.0 V6.

Thanks I'll get the 27mm and 32mm tonight and more coolant.

Hi, after scouring the UK for a reasonably priced, 6 connection radiator, I went for the all aluminium unit offered by 928Motorsports in the US. Imported price, including tax, was less than half the Porsche replacement (circa £1500) or the Behr replacement at £1000. The rad is built to racing spec for supercharged cars, is a little thicker, but fits with minor mods to the fan cowls. Check the images and exchange rate, you might get a rad that lasts longer than the car!

http://www.928motorsports.com/parts/alumradiator.php

Vince

PS my own car has just become steam driven, suspected blown head gasket. Anyone experienced trying to diagnose/resolve?

Cheers

Had mine re-cored for about £160

So got the radiator and have it mostly back in. One question though regarding the ATF cooler. Should I prime it with some Dex III?

I lost a bit of ATF when taking the cooling lines off the radiator and there may be a bit inside the old radiator. Is it enough to lower the gearbox oil any? Not sure what is in there already I would assume either Dex II or III.

As for the quality of the radiator it appears much the same as the Behr one that was in there. I notice Behr and Hella both mention on their sites that they have a strategic relationship and I have seen parts listed as Behr/Hella making me think that they are basically the same. Is Behr what was originally fitted.

Dex II was original spec so Dex III is fine also as backward compatible.

The original rad was Behr.

AT takes over 9L for your MY so won't matter if you've lost a little! If you notice shifts are harder than previously then by all means top up using the usual procedure (car level, level checked running in neutral)

Well done getting the old lines off - I was too feeble without spring compressor! Did you use any special technique?

Ok cool I'll probably just leave it.

No special technique other than sprayed some penetrating oil on them. The big 32 mm had plenty of leverage on it and I just used the 27mm (also big) to counter hold the joint on the radiator. They then came surprisingly easy.

Annoyingly both the ATF cooler lines have rubber seals on them which don't look in great shape. I'm sure I didn't see them on the parts diagram. I am having to put it back together with the old seals and hope it holds. I have to take the car for MOT tomorrow and then I'm off camping for two weeks. I'll need to take them off again and put the new seals in.

I've taken a few photos of the job and I'll post them up here once I'm done so someone else may get some use from them. It's an easy job but nice to have a few pics. Surprisingly I couldn't find any online.