Radiator replacement. Has anyone tried to do it themselves?

[philg25]

Radiator developed a leak today during the extreme heat. A steady stream was coming from the bottom of the unit.AA man reckons a stone has pierced it. K seal did the job to get me home but I fear a new radiator is required. Has anyine attempted this themselves? Have seen some eye watering prices for a dealer to do it.

[numskull]

Bloody unlucky there. I think it’d be possible to DIY but I wouldn’t attempt it. I’m guessing it’d be 4-5h job. ApatureS may know as he’s a VAG Tech. 

[ApertureS]

1 hour ago, philg25 said:

K seal did the job to get me home

Not sure why people ever put this stuff near their car, terrible stuff, yes its a quick fix but it can also block your cooling system up.

 

Regarding changing the radiator, you have to remove the bumper and sometimes tip the entire front end forward to get the radiator out making sure to not damage the AC condensor and other parts. If you have to do this, you then have to recalibrate the ACC radar on the front of the car, Depending on engine, if you have a tdi you need to run a bleed routine with a scan tool afterwards else you risk air locking the system and overheating the engine.

 

Basically it can be done at home yes but it all depends on skill level, engine, tools and if you are able to get it free without removing the front panel.

[pcspinheiro]

On 19/07/2022 at 19:46, ApertureS said:

Depending on engine, if you have a tdi you need to run a bleed routine with a scan tool afterwards else you risk air locking the system and overheating the engine.

 

Was just reading this out of interest and I'm like "really???" Aren't these things supposed to self bleed with the help of the expansion tank? Why do they keep making things so complicated??? I've renewed the coolant on my Opel astra several times and did a DIY radiator swap, no issues with bleeding and whatnot. There's a small bypass on the thermostat that leads to the expansion tank, any air coming through will be bled right out since the tank sits higher than anything else in the cooling circuit.

[ApertureS]

7 hours ago, pcspinheiro said:

 

Was just reading this out of interest and I'm like "really???" Aren't these things supposed to self bleed with the help of the expansion tank? Why do they keep making things so complicated??? I've renewed the coolant on my Opel astra several times and did a DIY radiator swap, no issues with bleeding and whatnot. There's a small bypass on the thermostat that leads to the expansion tank, any air coming through will be bled right out since the tank sits higher than anything else in the cooling circuit.

Cars are very different nowadays.

 

The coolant system on the diesels doesn't have a thermostat anymore, the coolant flow is controlled by a shroud around the water pump. Most modern diesels are too efficient to get the coolant above operating temperature at idle or high idle. This means the shroud will never need to flow the coolant fully. Meaning the one time the car is going up a hill under a lot of load and the shroud finally opens to flow coolant as it gets hot, there isnt any there as the coolant was never bled so its airlocked. On top of that to allow the cabin to be warmed up you have electronic water pumps which need to be activated using diagnostic to bleed this part of the system. Then you dont have intercoolers anymore and instead you crosscoolers/charge coolers which use coolant and a heat exchanger. This low pressure coolant circuit also needs activating to bleed it through.

 

Cars have changed massively and a lot of it is to do with efficiency and emissions, a lot of these 2 things are determined by heat so controlling the coolant is a huge factor.