New Radiator needed

vic swan · Post by **vic swan** » Wed Aug 02, 2006 2:18 pm

Got a leak on the radiator. Spoke to the chap who usually does my servicing but he was unable to locate a replacement but his supplier said he could rebuild the faulty one. Sourced a new one on evilbay for ?124.
Questions. 1.Any advice on which route to take.
2.What sort of price would a rebuild be.
3. Any one had experience of using a vacuum device when changing coolant on the Bongo? My chap says he always uses one to remove airlocks.
Cheers,
Vic

xjr1300 · Post by **xjr1300** » Wed Aug 02, 2006 2:46 pm

Hi Vic,
Sorry to hear about your rad problem. My rad was leaking from the top joint and I got one from Auto Jap Spares for ?158. The chap who looks after my Bongo thought the cheaper one on e bay might have been a recon one. I asked to be there when he bled the system and we did it according to the info I downloaded from the NZ site. Did 200 miles yesterday, motorways and A and B roads.No problems,and no drop in coolant level.After a cracked head when I first got the van I,m over cautious re checking levels etc.
Good luck with the repair,
Bill

Ozric · Post by **Ozric** » Wed Aug 02, 2006 3:00 pm

Hi Vic, I got one off ebay for ?120 and replaced myself. Done a couple of thousand miles with it and it's fine. IMO it's actually better then the original bongo rad as it's all metal no plastic crap.

white van man · Post by **white van man** » Wed Aug 02, 2006 11:10 pm

genuine arent much dearer than ebay and you know exactly what your getting,if the one you got has survived around 10 years,so should another!!!!

vic swan · Post by **vic swan** » Thu Aug 03, 2006 4:15 pm

Thanks chaps. The ebay one is on its way. I did a search and apparently they are of good quality and all metal no plastic tops. Most people who purchased one seem happy. I just hope it turns up today so I can get away for the weekend.

waycar8 · Post by **waycar8** » Thu Aug 03, 2006 5:38 pm

white van man wrote:genuine arent much dearer than ebay and you know exactly what your getting,if the one you got has survived around 10 years,so should another!!!!

maybe so but, my new all metal rad wont leak along the seem now where the plastic meets the metal

Ozric · Post by **Ozric** » Thu Aug 03, 2006 6:44 pm

The plastic bit cracked on my old one.

Harry · Post by **Harry** » Thu Aug 03, 2006 10:41 pm

See my contribution further down the forum headed 'Radiator replacement?' I bought the allmetal one off ebay....no probs.

good luck
H

vic swan · Post by **vic swan** » Fri Aug 04, 2006 4:34 pm

Just my luck. No weekend away for me. Nextday delivery took 48hrs. Rushed it to the mechanic at 11.30 this morning. Old rad out in a jiffy, we unpacked the new one to find the bottom had received a hefty wack at some point. All the locators etc. were pushed up inside the rad. Supplier was most apologetic, new one should be here monday morning. Bye bye weekend. Spitting chips. I say spitting chips.

Ozric · Post by **Ozric** » Sat Aug 05, 2006 2:04 pm

LMAO bad luck