Valeo Radiators and Gearbox damage

[kevinpsw]

Some of you may have read Honest John's column in the Telegraph yesterday and the 3 tales of fearsomely expensive bills following the failure of valeo radiators in Mercs. Apparently, there is a growing epidemic of such failures in C, E and CLK class Mercs built 00-03.

My CLK 500 was first registered in Apr 04 but it would seem that it was built prior to Sep 03. I therefore believe it to have a valeo radiator fitted. Although I have yet to detect a fault, understandably, I fear catastrophic gearbox damage if this faultily manufactured radiator fails.

What are the options and would a radiator replacement be sensible? Has anyone had it done and, if so, what was the cost? Does anyone have experience of non-Merc dealer supplied radiators? I've found one as low as £125 on-line and suspect the Merc price will be £400 or more.

[Deva Link]

I think there's "only" a 50/50 chance it'll have a Valeo radiator - there's a way you can tell:
http://mbclub.co.uk/forums/showthread.php?t=41764


Also a fairly recent discussion about doing a pre-emptive change:
http://mbclub.co.uk/forums/showthread.php?t=30165

[kevinpsw]

Thanks but some of the information posted is confusing. The crimping on the side of the radiator in my car is straight edged and like gapped teeth so I fear it must be a Valeo as one of the posts says that a Behr has a wavy edge to the crimping.

How do you compare VINs and Engine numbers to the list posted? There is mention of a 722 gearbox.

Edited by kevinpsw on Sunday 2nd November 13:35

[Deva Link]

I find it confusing too, which is really why I posted links rather than attemping to explain it.

Try asking on the forum - they're usually pretty helpful.

By the way, you might want to delete your VIN.

[kevinpsw]

As best I can work out, it'll have to be replaced. The decision is now Main dealer prices or pattern part.

If there is anyone out there who has faced this predicament and wishes to share their decision making process, please do.

[Parrot of Doom]

The gearbox does not suffer any damage under these failures - only the torque converter and radiator are replaced.

There is much more information on this in threads like this: http://forums.mercedesclub.org.uk/showthread.php?t...

[kevinpsw]

I'm not entirely sure if I've made the right decision but I've decided to have a transmission oil cooler installed. The logic is that by routing the fluid through its own cooler rather than through a section of the dodgy (Valeo) radiator I should eliminate any risk of glycol coolant leaking into the torque converter. I'm told that this is a common procedure undertaken by auto box specialists, like the one that will do this work. Still a leap of faith though.

The bill will be about half that of replacing the radiator with a Behr version, about £220.

Not than I'm technically minded but, even without the risk of cross contamination of fluids, it seems crazy to route an oil cooler in a radiator that is effectively heated by the engine cooling system.

I'll post details of the result for the benefit of anyone else who owns a 00-04 Merc C, E or CLK class with a Valeo radiator.

[Parrot of Doom]

Oh I don't know - mine is through the radiator, and apart from a corroded union, works fine after 216,000 miles.

[Deva Link]

I've certainly seen that mentioned as a solution. I think it's separate in the ML's for some reason.

Will the whole bill be £220? You can pay in that area for an ATF change, which it might be worth getting done at the same time.

Edited by Deva Link on Tuesday 4th November 21:00

[kevinpsw]

Parrot of Doom, wow 216k! I'm not that lucky so I'm not going to take the risk. So I understand, only a proportion of cars built in the period will have the valeo and, of course, not all will fail. But even if only one in 25 fail, £220 is well spent if the repair is >£5k. Honest John quoted up to £11k for a repair.

[kevinpsw]

No I don't think an ATF change is included in the price, but I will ask.

Apparently, if it were water leaking into the ATF fluid it would go milky but with the glycol it mixes so you can't see the contamination without chemical testing.

[Deva Link]

I don't know essential it is, but MB now do a one-off change at 37,500miles / 4years and it's reckoned to be worth repeating if you're keeping the car for a while.

[Parrot of Doom]

Its easy enough to do yourself tbh. Not much different from an engine oil change.

[kevinpsw]

ATF cooler now fitted, a slim-line radiator mounted immediately in front of main radiator - looks like a neat job. I suppose on a hot day its presence might reduce the flow of air over the radiator slightly and cause the fan to kick in earlier - we shall see. I'm told such a mod is standard advice if you tow a caravan (heaven forbid, I hate the things as they slow the flow of traffic) with an auto box.