Radiator Advice

[Keith Lawyer]

Yahoo was uncooperative last nite when I tried to post
this so I apologize if it goes thru twice:  I got an
all metal CSF from Olympic Distributing for $135, $142
delivered - they're in the parts suppliers list at
audifans.com.  The quality seems fine to me and it
dropped right into my '89 200, no fitment issues.
  I agree that the OEM's can last a long time but the
cheapest OEM's I personally was able to find (I called
a lot of places) were $230-260.  I can't see paying
this when you can get an all-metal for $100 LESS.
  Searching the archives I got the general impression
people were pleased w/CSF's quality, it was also
suggested they make Modine's rads but I can't confirm
that.  I do seem to recall the box said made in
Singapore, could be wrong.  Also, again from the
archives, CSF apparently stands for Cooling Systems
and Flexibles.   That's all I know, FWIW.

Keith L.
--- jzwahlen at cerrejon.com wrote:
> Based on my experience with our old '85 Audi 5000S,
> and some
> additional anecdotal evidence, the plastic on the
> radiators 
> start to become brittle at 80K miles.  This caused
> my wife
> to blow the head gasket on this car when his was
> driving in
> rush hour traffic in Houston and couldn't get off
> the
> expressway.  She finally was able to limp the car
> off the
> exit ramp but by that time it had lost compression
> and then
> wouldn't restart. 
> 
> You can avoid damage to the head gaskets if you stop
> your
> car immediately after the radiator dumps, but
> sometimes this
> isn't safe to do.
> 
> My advice is to replace the radiator soon after 80k
> miles,
> it's a lot cheaper and easier that pulling the head.
> 
> I don't think this would be too difficult a job for
> most 
> do-it-yourselvers.
> 
> jazman
> 
> '99 VW Polo Classic 1.6L
> '94 Porsche 968
> '93 Audi 100CS (gone but in good hands)
> '87 Audi 5000CS TQ (best car I ever owned, also
> gone)
> '85 Audi 5000S (I think this car must have died)


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