# Nissens, you're bringing me down.



## VW Nevada (Feb 28, 2008)

I've owned my '86 QSW for about 6 years now and just over 30,000 miles. In that time I have replaced pert' near the entire cooling system. Thermostat, water pump, hoses, new radiator (Nissens through German Auto Parts.com), sensors, cap, and even the expansion tank. I should have been good to go for another 150,000 miles, right?! Wrong. A couple of weeks ago I noticed a small puddle on the garage floor under the radiator. After a little inspection I found the radiator to be leaking from somewhere around the bottom mount. 

There also was intermittent leaking apparent from somewhere near the top hose connection. I remember getting the Nissens radiator in the mail and I was surprised at how much lighter it was was than my original radiator. I chalked this up to the old radiator being full of crud and deposits, but I'm pretty sure it's just cheaply made. I really haven't been too pleased with the fact that paint on the Nissens radiator has been sloughing off over the past years either. Furthermore as I was removing the Nissens radiator the side mount broke the threads or backing nut off inside the radiator so now it appears that it is stuck there. RIDICULOUS! 

Luckily I kept the original radiator (which was removed because it was weeping when the engine was warm). However, my radiator repair man, an artist who had been doing radiators since the dawn of time (and hadn't raised his prices since he opened his shop), died in the interim. I never missed a guy so much. Managed to find someone who still repairs radiators one state over. Rebuilding the old radiator cost me $175 including shipping and I'm glad I have it. I'll reassemble it all this weekend and hope things work out.

In the process I also noticed the expansion tank was developing some expansion cracks on top. The brand is Febi and I purchased it through AutohausAZ and honestly it's never been great. The cap opening has always seemed oblong instead of round and there have always been leaks around the coolant level sensor.

AutohausAZ has two other brands up on their site now. One from Uro-parts and the other from Meyle. Anybody here have experience with either of those? These crappy aftermarket parts have to stop! :banghead:


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## VW Nevada (Feb 28, 2008)

*Keep your old radiator!*

The my original radiator came back from the shop and I got it installed (still waiting for my expansion tank from Autohaus AZ). Even after rebuilding (i.e. removing any crud) the original VW radiator must weigh close to three times what the replacement unit from Nissens does. (might help balance out the weight distribution on the front end) The coils on the VW radiator are much tighter and the mounting points are all much sturdier and well thought out. In fact, upon further inspection the bottom mount bracket is where the Nissens radiator failed, total crap. All the same, I'd still like to get the bad radiator repaired just to have a spare on hand. However, I'm not sure how anyone would go about repairing the busted threads on the side mounting point. Oh well problem for the future.


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## eurowner (Jan 26, 2002)

My Nissen all metal radiator did that too, brought it to the local radiator repair shop and they fixed that weld and went through the whole unit. $50 or so. 

I have been complaining about these overflow expansion tanks, from Autohaus AZ, for decades. Either the level sensor hole leaks around the sensor and or the fill neck threads become rounded and will not hold the cap. RTV fixes the sensor hole, but the threaded neck is the ultimate failure point.


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## flying_oliver (Apr 29, 2013)

Have you done the glove test for a broken head gasket by chance?


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## Snarkle (Jan 22, 2012)

*???*

Title to reply to a previously titled thread???
Oh well...So I tried to get a radiator rebuilt here in Oregon the dirty scoundrels wanted $500.00<---I am not kidding. This Rad is for a 71 One owner Pinto I picked up this summer. I ended up giving up on finding an exact replacement took dimensions to salvage yard and found an 84 Mazda one that works for $40.00.


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## VW Nevada (Feb 28, 2008)

*Glove?*

What is a glove test? Seems like if there was a head gasket problem I would notice some coolant in the oil or something in the coolant (I would hope anyway).


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