Valeo Radiators and Gearbox damage
Discussion
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.
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.
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.
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
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.
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, 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.
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.
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