Thread: D2 TD5 Radiator replacement OEM or full alloy?

Bought full alloy and decided to give it a go.
I manage to undo pretty much everything but failed to remove the transmission cooler lines. So, back to the original plan. A few things to note, I didn’t remove the viscous fan but the battery tray. The small bottom hose was very difficult to undo hence I followed the line and undo from the other end. I realise there was another small hose connection on the radiator but mine was not connected to anything. This is strange and need to find out why. Lastly, front grille had to come out as well.
MG

Originally Posted by janousek

....I realise there was another small hose connection on the radiator but mine was not connected to anything. This is strange and need to find out why.
MG

The radiators are made to fit both Eu2 and Eu3 engine types and your's being Eu3 the second small port is unconnected, it's Ok this way, it's visible in the attachment,

A = Eu3, B = Eu2


Coolant flow.jpg

So has anyone had success with alloy radiators?

Originally Posted by janousek

Bought full alloy and decided to give it a go.
I manage to undo pretty much everything but failed to remove the transmission cooler lines. So, back to the original plan. A few things to note, I didn’t remove the viscous fan but the battery tray. The small bottom hose was very difficult to undo hence I followed the line and undo from the other end. I realise there was another small hose connection on the radiator but mine was not connected to anything. This is strange and need to find out why. Lastly, front grille had to come out as well.
MG

Any chance you can or did check the volume of the new Ali radiator? First simple step to see if has a greater cooling efficiency. The greater the volume the longer the time spent in the radiator and hence greater heat reduction (cooling).
Interested to here how it goes. There a few forums saying they have installed them but nothing about if it actually is any better/greater performance. That I can find..

Radiator is installed hence I won’t be able to measure the volume. Car runs normal, I haven’t noticed any improvement. Note that there are other radiators in the market claiming better cooling performance. I will update this post if I find any problem with this setup.

Ok did you have any problems installing it? Like with the oil cooler mounting and the fan shroud?

I wouldn't fit a full aluminium radiator into my D2a unless I was confident that I wouldn't ever be travelling any corrugated roads.
IF however an old style Brass and copper built radiator was made available I would be tempted to give that a go
However after replacing my 13 year old original radiator a month ago with a genuine LR radiator I doubt that I will need to make any choices about which type of radiator to fit for quite a few years to come