951 Radiator

[BenEngland]

Hi all.

My cars radiator, (1988 944 Turbo), has a slight leak so I really want to replace it prior to the onset of winter & get some antifreeze into it.
I do not really want to fit a second hand unit as I would be just replacing the existing 27 year old radiator for another 27 year old unit

Has anyone had any experience of the Tig welded, all alloy radiators manufactured in China and advertised on fleabay for approx £185.00 ?

Rose Passion are £342.00 + Del, but are currently not available

Official Porsche Centre approx £440.00 (including club discount)

Any one know of any other reasonably priced suppliers ?

Ben England

 

[chrisg]

Ben

last time I replaced my radiator ISTR I got it from Eurocarparts or GSF, have you tried either of them before you try abroad or OPC ?

At £440 from an OPC I bet you could take your leaking one to a UK Aluminum fabricator and they produce a reliable hand crafted one for less !

Lets face it apart a couple of in/out pipes and thread for the temp probe theres not really that much to the S2/Turbo radiator - its flat and rectangular...... Not beyond the realms of competent aluminium fabricator !

Chris

 

[Waylander]

ring NRF radiators direct, I got mine from them and it was a genuine Porsche one (LRO) with the number ground off £216 inc vat and post

NRF (UK) Limited
Lamport Drive
Heartlands Business Park
Daventry, Northamptonshire?
NN11 8YH?
United Kingdom?

T. +44 (0)1327 300 242?
F. +44 (0)1327 300 225?
E. uk@nrf.eu

or ARAD
http://www.adrad.co.uk/prices/prices.php?id=PO310&model=944&make=PORSCHE

 

[bmnelsc]

If you are replacing with all metal radiator, I've read (Panorama, Excellence tech questions) that the original temperature sensors may not work correctly on the metal tanks and won't turn the fans on early enough. The recommended cure was to get a lower temp sensor from a VW or Audi so the fans will cut in at the appropriate temperature.

 

[CarreraRSR]

I have a spare new 944 turbo radiator from these Chinese suppliers. Cost me £185 plus import duty of about £25. Never used but I did try to fit it in my 924 which needed the top 3 rad fan tabs cutting off due to the way I mount a non OEM fan. They could easily be welded back on. I'd take £120 Plus postage or collect. I now have another of a different design which fits and has been in the car for 9 months without issues.

 

[944Scott]

Wow they have gone up in price at OPC, back around March they were quoting around £250

 

[BenEngland]

Thank you for your suggestions, Appears that no one that I have contacted currently has any UK stock?

Waylander, Contacted NRF, they were very helpful but only sell to trade - would not quote me due to their customer confidentiality, understandable really.
I will try my local car parts shop & see if they have an account with them or other route of supply.

Contacted Euro car parts, quoted £300.00 but again no stock.

Steve, thank you for your offer of the alloy rad but would prefer to deal direct with them as I would get some form of Guarantee, (for what it might be worth) and would have to find some one to re-weld the parts cut off.

Once again thank you all, still looking but not desperate and car still on the road although checking water level prior to each journey

Ben England

 

[Waylander]

Hi ben

ring them again and ask for Jason Sales (yes that is his name) he helped me out I had to beg and plead a little and he eventually caved in and let me pay by card over the phone, arrived next day

 

[Eldavo]

Advanced Radiators in Newcastle supplied mine, with the Porsche part number and logo half-arsedly ground off.

 

[BenEngland]

Just an update on this.

Finally got round to sourcing a replacement Radiator, Did a web search for NRF radiators & got a good deal from 'Mister Auto' £182.00 delivered.

As a few other posters have commented, the part Numbers, the Word Porsche & a triangle, (not Porsche crest ?), have been ground off, draw your own conclusions on that !

Not fitted yet but certainly looks the part.

 

[Richair]

Likewise I bought one from them recently, great price and I recommend them! Delivery was quick considering they're based in France.

 

[jellytott]

Well
I've taken the plunge and got one of these mig welded Ebay rad's ( china made?? supplied from Netherlands) at the time comparing prices to other rad's last year. Its installed I did found it a very tight fit locating into the car body, also had to reduce the size of the 2x bottom rubber mount to take into account the rad being taller too.
The fitment says all 944 in the ad, except for the smallest hose that goes to the header tank the original plastic threaded fitting doesn't thread into the new alli rad.
With this I took it too a local radiator specialist to get an adapter to fit, when he eye balled it,,, thought the welding was a bit like a amatuer'ish
but got it pressure tested and passed.
So:
Its a tight fit.
Smallest fitting off the old original rad doesn't fit in the new one, so you need to source a new adapter for the smallest hose for expansion tank.
The large hose are the right size and in the right positions
The Temperature sensor fits.
Original rad drain fits the new rad but came supplied with an alli bolt.
The fan fitting mounts/lugs are alot thicker and the orignal spring clips don't fit, I've bolted the fan mount to the radiator. Also has 6 mounting lug for a dual fan fitting as the 944S is single fan can't comment if the lugs will line up for dual fan mounting for turbo etc

I will update when its up and running and if Fan trip in temperature is OK still as mentioned above, Also, if its any difference being slightly larger and solid alli.
JT

 

[Richair]

...so in summary, just buy the NRF oem rad

Useful feedback though, good to know! Hopefully it all works out ok.

Rich

 

[jellytott]

Basically...yep and read forums posts too

 

[BenEngland]

Just Bumping this up as a member (Tommys86) was recently asking about replacement radiator & their is a lot of useful info here.

Unfortunately the price of the NRF radiators has increased to around the £300 mark.

Search for NRF - Ref: 51366

Good Luck

 

[robdimond]

Just bought one from fastrads.co.uk £210 including next day delivery. Was the cheapest I had found, advanced radiators was about £250. NRF branded with the usual half-arsed grinding off of the Porsche part number. Not fitted yet but looks very reasonable.

 

[Tommys86]

Thanks for the bump Ben!
I was and now finding myself bundling thru similar things. I went for eBay option but i didnt go for the cheapest as some were on for 160 mark - however didnt look like the ports and sensor etc were in the correct locations? Assume its for another 944 variant.

I bought mine from "tuningsupplies2016" not the most promising name "2016" but certainly by images looked the most similar. I'm now looking at speed/spring/fasteners, as like others have that issue the fan clippings dont fit - not the end of the world as they looked grubby!

Im hoping to fix tomorrow evening and get it back on the road to see if ive finally cleared the system, i ended up running cleaner and hosing thru several connections to flush out the block/head.

Definitely keep an eye on the fan switching on - il report back my findings!

Tom