the fickle (and inevitable) finger of fate

[DAK]

Hmm, I just mailed the two Nissen's back to Rod this afternoon! One of
them might have made a quick replacement for yours... Anyway, I'd just
order the AKG from Rod. I paid $235, which is only $16 more than he was
charging me for the Nissens. The bottom threads were *perfect*! I could
hand thread the mounts in. The radiator went in quite easily (compared
to the removal. The only hard part was hooking the condenser onto that
little lip. You pretty much need to secure the bottom mounts first
(which draws the radiator down), then hook the condenser on. I also
recommend the fender liner being loose and the hydraulic pump being
removed. Both are easy and if you just commit to doing that from the
start, the jobs is that much quicker.

David

Phil Rose wrote:
> This afternoon I drove the Lago sedan home and pulled into my garage.
> I shut off the engine and went inside--returning within a few minutes
> to check on whether or not the afterrun fan/pump would come on (I'd
> recently installed a new sensor). Instead, what I found was steam
> rising from the hood and coolant at my feet--the radiator's upper
> nipple had chosen just this moment to break off. Exquisite timing,
> don't ya think??
>
> I assume I can get around temporarily by clamping the hose onto the
> remaining 3/4" stub. Is Audi's brass insert/epoxy "kit" worth
> installing if only needed for a couple of weeks until a new radiator
> is available???  Speaking of which: after Dave Kavanaugh's experience
> with the Nissens metal radiator, I'm tempted to go with another oem
> radiator (i.e., plastic) for the replacement.
>
> BTW, it seems that my radiator's failure followed the classic
> pattern. Late last summer the fan's fusible link cracked, causing the
> coolant to "boil over". The radiator nipple broke about 3000 miles
> later. As far as I know the radiator is original and is at 140K
> miles. Seems to me that installing a new fusible link every few years
> would be a reasonable way to spend 75 cents on preventative
> maintenance. No, Bernie, I don't want to know your opinion. ;-)
>
> Phil
> --
>
> Phil Rose
> Rochester, NY
> mailto:pjrose at frontiernet.net
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