[karlmarkiewicz]

Hi Guys,

My radiator has a leak in it as a result of overheating the vitara. I checked the Suzuki Store online and a rad is $475, which seems a bit steep, eBay sells rads for $120. Was just wondering if anyone has got on off eBay, and if they have had any problems (e.g. broke soon after, didn't fit etc)?

Thanks.

[coily96]

Being one of the people who delivers these ebay type rads to all of the spare parts, radiator shops, wreckers, auto shops, panel shops, wholesalers in australia i can tell you if its not full alloy or a custom job its all the same tiawan stuff. Sure there is the occasional faulty rad but most of the time its incorrect fitment or failure to flush the system

[karlmarkiewicz]

coily96 wrote:

Being one of the people who delivers these ebay type rads to all of the spare parts, radiator shops, wreckers, auto shops, panel shops, wholesalers in australia i can tell you if its not full alloy or a custom job its all the same tiawan stuff. Sure there is the occasional faulty rad but most of the time its incorrect fitment or failure to flush the system

Sounds good to me them, thanks for that.

[grafy82]

Got my alloy core one off eBay the other day for $93 delivered. Seems like good enough quality.

[karlmarkiewicz]

grafy82 wrote:

Got my alloy core one off eBay the other day for $93 delivered. Seems like good enough quality.

$93!? Wow, the ones I am looking at are like $150, although mine is a V6.

[laurie]

grafy82 wrote:

Got my alloy core one off eBay the other day for $93 delivered. Seems like good enough quality.

got my ebay one two weeks ago very happy with the quality but i paid $98 .

[christover1]

Mines been running a cheapy ebay rad for about a year, no probs so far.

[Dan85]

Bit unrelated in the sense is for my bike but I got a cheapy for my bike and is been going good for 8 months or so and my rad cops abuse due to the big bore narrowing the gap between the bores creating extra heat. Keeps the big girl cool and hasn't fallen apart.

[royce]

Been running one for a while in my old Vit, I just picked a local seller that had a nice ad and heaps of feedback.

But I hate to say, overheating didn't cause a leak, the leak caused the overheating, you are going to still need to check for signs of head damage.

[Abraxix]

^ agree with Royce ^

i took my radiator out of the X-90 (Vitara) and took it to nat rad they tested it foudnt eh leak and welded it back up again it's still perfect! (been 4+ years now.
however my Dads X-90 (vitara) radiator same problem took it to nat rad and they only wanted $180 for a new radiator anyway, so we just bought a new radiator and put it in ourselves!!

i think that your genuine suzi price is that becuase it's genuine maybe try some local radiator places???

[karlmarkiewicz]

Cheap eBay one sounds like a goer. By the way Coily96 I PMed you.

royce wrote:

Been running one for a while in my old Vit, I just picked a local seller that had a nice ad and heaps of feedback.

But I hate to say, overheating didn't cause a leak, the leak caused the overheating, you are going to still need to check for signs of head damage.

The overheating was caused by a dud radiator cap and about 3cms of mud caked over the entire radiator and AC. Since I ran it untill nearly dry the thing obviously expanded so I have a slight leak all around the seams of where the plastic top and bottoms connect to the rad. I got my head checked, no CO2 in the rad, and no milky substance under the engine oil cap. Plus it runs perfectly fine, which it probably wouldn't if it had a cracked head.
I think I got really lucky haha.

[droverdave]

That price of $475 seems exceptionally high. Have you rung an actual radiator shop to get a price?

A brand new copper/steel whatever it is radiator for my drover from the local radiator shop was around $285.

And my understanding is the plastic end tank with alloy centre radiators are always a bit cheaper than the full metal/copper ones.

[karlmarkiewicz]

droverdave wrote:

That price of $475 seems exceptionally high. Have you rung an actual radiator shop to get a price?

A brand new copper/steel whatever it is radiator for my drover from the local radiator shop was around $285.

And my understanding is the plastic end tank with alloy centre radiators are always a bit cheaper than the full metal/copper ones.

Admittedly I haven't rung around, mainly because I assumed eBay would be the cheapest, and since it is a minor leak, I am still able to drive on it, just means I have to top up the coolant. eBay have them for around $100, and by the sounds of it they are just as good as genuine, so I might go with them.

Thanks

[shakes]

One in my Cherokee is an ebay jobbie. $120 and next day delivery....

Been there for about 6 months now, bit of time towing, in swamps, lots of freeway lots of stop start inner city traffic.. Still appears solid.

Follow royces advice, and make sure you flush the system thoroughly before adding coolant.

[karlmarkiewicz]

shakes wrote:

One in my Cherokee is an ebay jobbie. $120 and next day delivery....

Been there for about 6 months now, bit of time towing, in swamps, lots of freeway lots of stop start inner city traffic.. Still appears solid.

Follow royces advice, and make sure you flush the system thoroughly before adding coolant.

Awesome, sounds good.
Ahh okay, will do.