[amoooocow]

Hi Guys,

Decided it was time to replace the thermostat and radiator on my vitara. Thermostat was done with no dramas, and picked up this radiator,

https://www.alphaautoparts.com.au/radia ... /aap13427/

However, it is too tall and was only after i realised there are 2 heights, 375mm and 425mm (LWB and SWB maybe?) Anyhow i rang around and found Natrad said they would repair my current one, which is denso branded, for $150 or i found this one at supercheap for $170

https://www.sparesbox.com.au/media/cata ... 4001-1.jpg

The supercheap one is plastic/copper and says for auto, but cant you just cap off the transmission cooling lines for it to be suitable in my manual? and am i better off grabbing the new one or will repairing at natrad be just as good as getting a new one?

thanks.

[Gwagensteve]

You won't need to cap anything off to use an auto radiator in a manual.

[Dan`]

fine to just leave the trans cooler as it comes if you have a manual, i wouldnt go putting the radiator back into an auto tho in future caus you will get dirt and crap in the trans cooler which would love to eat up the auto trans insides.

as for recore or new, mostly depends on the condition and age of your top and bottom tanks. if your tanks are in good nick a recore should be fine. my 30 year old zook rad was recored 15 odd years ago when i did the engine conversion and its still kicking along just fine. did you ask how much natrad wanted for a new rad? probably also worth asking them if your tanks are in good enough condition to rebuild

also depends on the quality of the supercrap radiator. they at least used to have quite a reputation for selling a lot of cheap junk, not sure if they have picked up their game recently

[amoooocow]

Thanks for the reply's, really appreciate it. Think im gonna go with the new one from supercheap just for peace of mind.

Lastly, i used radiator flush to flush the cooling system before swapping over to the new one and have taken the old radiator out. However, im going away next week and wont be able to put the new one in until next saturday. Is it bad to leave the radiator off for this long? should i put the old one back on for now and fill it up with water?

[Dan`]

will be fine to leave the radiator off, certainly wouldnt be topping it off with water if its had coolant in it until now.