I killed the Radiator w211 2008 (I am an Idiot)

[Paragon1970]

I feel like a total idiot, had one of those days I wish never got out of bed!

So, I borrowed an old trolley jack from my neighbour so as to jack the car up to so as to put axle stands under it. I used the centre front jacking point but needed to pad it out with 4x2 as the jack though heavy duty was old and had some issues at its extended range.

The damn 4x2 split and the car / jack slipped off the jacking point with an almighty bang, the jack slipped in between the rad and engine.
The cooling fan popped out the top and it split the plastic shroud in a number of places though I have now repaired this and it should be serviceable (thankfully).
I noticed a trickle of coolant coming from the rad bottom corner drivers side.... Grrrrr :-(

The rad is bent out of shape and needs replacing.

I have seen some new ones on ebay ranging in price from £59 upwards.
Does anyone have any thoughts on these after market radiators?

Additionally how much transmission oil will I loose when disconnecting the transmission coolant lines?

Any other tips welcome on diy rad replacement!

What a crap day, bring me some good news folks!

Cheers,
Paragon.

 

[renault12ts]

Didn't know there was a centre front jacking point...always thought it was between the engine and transmission.

 

[Flyinspanner]

Feel your pain buddy

 

[StuartK]

Loads of swearing!!!

Have to say for such a vital part I would want to fit genuine MB have you tried a breakers yard?

 

[notsofast]

Been there - done it. It makes one hell of a bang. Mine went through the undertray but missed everything else luckily. It did however graze the front of crankshaft pulley on the way though...
I would imagine you will need to need to get the gearbox topped off properly with the temperature setting etc. but you could try just measuring all the oil you drain out of the old rad and then add the same volume plus a little into the gearbox.
I did fit a Danish made aftermarket rad in my old car and to be honest it seemed at least as good as the German Behr unit that came out.

 

[Paragon1970]

Thanks Folks,

I was looking at the second had ones and many of them seem to be the older Valeo type which from my understanding after reading a number of threads had issues with leaking coolant into the transmission which caused damage to the torque converter.

I was considering buying a cheep rad (~£59 new) along with a separate transmission oil cooler such as those made by Hayden (~£45) and running the tran fluid through that since it would offer a higher degree of protection than even the stock design especially so in the case of the el-cheapo rad.

I think MB switched to BEHR rads after around 2004 due to the defective Valeo rads but I may be wrong on that account.

The el-cheapo rad: http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/151848430885

Thanks again!
The Idiot!

 

[Paragon1970]

Oh I forgot to mention the irony of all this is that I recently had the tran fluid changed.
Had an indie do it since it looked a PITA.

How precise does one need to be with the oil tran oil level?

Thanks.

 

[markjay]

I would have thought that if you carefully drain the ATF into a clean container.... then you should be able to just pour it all back in once the job is done, no level check required?

I did something similar with the engine coolant when replacing the thermostat recently.

 

[HB]

Nissens radiators are great and good value for money.

Olly uses them too.

 

[rorf]

Had the same incident on my SL except I cracked the engine sump:fail

 

[Paragon1970]

Thanks for the replies guys really helpful and sorry to those that had experienced a similiar disaster with their jack's.

I was coming to the conclusion that Nissens seem to be the go to replacement, thanks for the confirmation, seen one on ebay for around £155 does that seem about right?

A question with regards to removing trans coolant lines / hoses.
I understand that they should be plugged to negate contamination does anyone know what could be used to acheive this?
I have have seen some silicon cone plugs advertised on the net but I have no idea what diameter is required or whether they would even be adequate for the job since I have no idea what the MB connectors look like on this component from an internal point of view, does anyone have any suggestions?

Also I was considering the following when replacing with new rad and was looking for confirmation if this would be ok or even work.
When reconnecting the trans hoses, connect the lower one first then top up with trans fluid via the top trans radiator connector until level then reconnect the top trans hose. What do you think, should this get me close enough to correct fluid level without having to get under the car to top up? (this car is a 2008 model which from my understanding requires top up of trans fluid from beneath the car)

Thanks Again.

 

[Druk]

A question with regards to removing trans coolant lines / hoses.
I understand that they should be plugged to negate contamination does anyone know what could be used to acheive this?
I have have seen some silicon cone plugs advertised on the net but I have no idea what diameter is required or whether they would even be adequate for the job since I have no idea what the MB connectors look like on this component from an internal point of view, does anyone have any suggestions?

Also I was considering the following when replacing with new rad and was looking for confirmation if this would be ok or even work.
When reconnecting the trans hoses, connect the lower one first then top up with trans fluid via the top trans radiator connector until level then reconnect the top trans hose. What do you think, should this get me close enough to correct fluid level without having to get under the car to top up? (this car is a 2008 model which from my understanding requires top up of trans fluid from beneath the car)

Thanks Again.

I've only ever had the rad out a 124 or 107 but these airbed plugs fit into the end of the cooler line and stop the fluid leaking. Probably the 211 has the same size pipes.





.

 

[Paragon1970]

Thanks for the info, I will look into sourcing some.

Well I just checked the make of the Rad that is damaged, it turns out to be a Valeo which I thought strange as from my understanding MB started fitting BEHR after around 2004?

The rad is dated 2008 so suspect its the original guess Valeo ironed out the issues they were having and MB gave them another chance!?

Thanks again Chaps!

 

[grober]

Apart from the plugs your best bet is to use some form of catch tray to collect any gearbox fluid lost----- its then a simple task to measure the volume of fluid lost and top up by the appropriate volume of new fluid. If you lose less than a cupful you will probably be ok. Remember in autobox terms overfilling is as hazardous as underfilling. Does the car have a dipstick tube?

 

[E55BOF]

The part number for the original Valeo rad has been superceded; I suspect because once the problem was known about, the design was changed.

 

[notsofast]

I've only ever had the rad out a 124 or 107 but these airbed plugs fit into the end of the cooler line and stop the fluid leaking. Probably the 211 has the same size pipes.





.

I always seem to be able to find a wine cork or two. Easy to pare down with a craft knife.....

 

[notsofast]

Thanks for the info, I will look into sourcing some.

Well I just checked the make of the Rad that is damaged, it turns out to be a Valeo which I thought strange as from my understanding MB started fitting BEHR after around 2004?

The rad is dated 2008 so suspect its the original guess Valeo ironed out the issues they were having and MB gave them another chance!?

Thanks again Chaps!

Just had a look at mine and it is also fitted with a Valeo - dated end Oct 2007.

It also appears to have a separate oil cooler loop at the front?

 

[Paragon1970]

Yes I was thinking the same.

Part number A211 500 34 02 appears to be an updated version of the original poor quality Valeo which I think was something like release 'A211 500 03 02'.

My car also appears to have a separate oil cooler part number 'A211 500 17 00'
It seems curious to me why the ATF and oil cooler loop needs to pass through the main rad and rather than directly connected to the stand alone oil cooler, if it was it would make part replacement simpler. The only reason I can think of is that either the coolant or the oil acts to bring one or the other up to running temp faster. Who knows?

I aim to tackle the rad replacement sometime next week weather permitting.

The below shows the busted shroud of the coolant fan, I have since repaired it and it appears that it should hold, I hope!

Thanks

 

[Paragon1970]

Update and some Gotchya's that others may find useful if attempting to swap out the Radiator. (w211 2008)

Being the first attempt to replace this radiator I hit a few snags.
I would say it took me longer to remove and replace the air ducting and the intercooler then any other component. The reason for this is limited and tight access and not knowing how it all fits together to compound the problem I chose to not remove the front bumper since I understand it can be a real PITA to fix back on with correct alignment especially when working alone. But having said this removing the front bumper would have simplified the rad replacement due to increased access and visibility.

Seating the intercooler was a little arkward due to space.
The intercooler first slots into the radiator at the top brackets, once located a push upward is required while pulling the lower part of the intercooler towards the rad to locate the plastic locking clips and intercooler hoses.

A word on ATF oil cooler lines disconnecting / reconnecting.
They can be a little tight to free from the rad but with a little easing they came just fine.
I removed the bottom ATF line first (requires intercooler to be released from rad to gain access). Expect to loose around 100ml of ATF during the process, waited for drain to stop / slow before removing top ATF line. To protect against contamination I covered the ATF lines with nitrile gloves and fastened with zip ties.

A note regarding new radiator (Nissens Radiator 67102A)
Be aware that the plastic component that locks the ATF lines is removable.
This is the component that has the spring clip that lock the ATF lines into the radiator.
Check that the cutaway of this plastic component aligns with the cutaway of the brass inlets and outlets of the ATF connector on the rad.
The radiator I received had this plastic connector misaligned which before I noticed caused the ATF line to pop out when under pressure spilling out around 400-500ml of ATF even though the retaining clip appeared to be seated.
It took a while to workout what was going on to the point I called MB dealer enquiring about o-ring kits etc, I nearly was at the point of concluding I had been sent a faulty rad.
Once I noticed the issue and correctly aligned the groves for the spring clips all was well with the world and ATF leak ceased

Executed OBD2 fault scan and received a grey code 'P1636 Electric suction fan open' I am hoping this grey code fault was caused by starting the car with the fan removed and as such will clear up after a number of drive cycles since the fan appears to kick in.

The next task is to have my local indie check and top up ATF.

Thanks to all for your help and replies.