Valeo to Nissen radiator what do you think?

[touring50]

Hello Folks,

Just purchased a CLK320 2002 W209 55k and really enjoying it. All seems well apart from headrests that dont seem to adjust down properly, they do when putting seat forward but dont with the button , anyway all else seems good , gearbox smooth etc .

Reading up before purchase do you think it a good idea to change the radiator hopefully before the Valeo issue , have checked the radiator and it is a valeo as far as I can tell by the crimping visible which is castlated rather than wavy as per various posts.

Have had a price from Jay at Mercland that seems reasonable for a Nissen radiator. Seems a decent guy and knowledgeable .

Anyone any experiance of Nissen radiators , want to make sure I'm not jumping out of the frying pan etc

Regards
Touring50

 

[EDZ649]

Jay is well respected on here, he wouldn't try to sell you something that wasn't upto the job

 

[grober]

Nissen are Danish originally I believe. They have factories in Denmark Slovakia and alas like so many others- China. They have been around along time. Volvo owners swear by them. ECP and GSF have both used them in the past- pretty safe bet really especially from Jay.
http://www.nissens.com/Nissens/om_nissens_1_eng.html

 

[touring50]

Thankyou for the replies ,

Will probably get it done as a preventative measure , spoke to a main dealer who basically said it isn't an issue , didnt argue with him, he has to tow the party line I suppose.

Touring50

 

[Smiley]

I had my Behr replaced about 6 yrs ago with a Nissens - seems very good quality.
As said Jay knows what he is talking about and would not sell you a duff radiator.

 

[johnsco]

I have a Nissen in my E300TD.
It's obviously a replacement, so the original MB rad must have failed.
No reason to believe that there are any issues with it.

 

[chris846]

Are you sure your car is affected?
I was worried by this too - I have a castellated valeo radiator in a 2000 W208
After hours of internet searching I remember finding something that appeared to be a definitive list of affected vehicles - mine wasn't on it.

 

[moonloops]

Are you sure your car is affected?
I was worried by this too - I have a castellated valeo radiator in a 2000 W208
After hours of internet searching I remember finding something that appeared to be a definitive list of affected vehicles - mine wasn't on it.

Indeed, my W209 CLK has a Valeo and I've been told by a few people that the Valeos have not caused any problems on CLK's ??

 

[crankiejohn]

since reading this thread iv been checking my coolant level every day,not lost any coolant and the transmision seems to be ok .mine is a 2002 w203 2.0 with 63k on the clock,how do i know if its a valeo and what are the tell tail signs of trouble.i want to sleep again.

 

[Satch]

Alternative I have been toying with is to keep the radiator but bypass it (and thus the problem) by running the ATF through a secondary "dry" heat exchanger, just as in the additional coolers for towing, but a bit bigger.

Does that sound a possible or am I raving again?

 

[touring50]

Have booked my car in with Jay at Mercland for a replacement radiator as an insurance as I would always have that little niggle is the gearbox a bit jerkier than yesterday. I know the internet can make things seem worse but I have come over from owning porsches and they have lots of common expensive problems which the internet was always pretty right about (still love them though). Anyway decided 300ish+ vat is better than a few thousand or £600 odd for a decent warranty. Other than this I think our cars are pretty reliable , will let you know how I get on

Touring50

 

[chris846]

think I've found the thread that put my mind at rest over this:

http://www.mbclub.co.uk/forums/engine/60178-valeo-radiators-gearbox-failure.html

thanks to the original poster rpe2

 

[touring50]

Glad I carried out the rad change now as my car comes under the list affected. Mercedes really should have done a recall of those cars as it was an obvious defect in manufacture. Once the cars were out of standard warranty they have basically washed there hands knowing that a simple leak can cause such an expensive repair to the gear box.

I'm sure all the car manufacturers are as bad and Mercedes havn't exactly made a fortune over the last few years , it would be nice though if a car company would straight away own up to a problem.

Our CLK back on the drive now with a Nissen radiator and having had a service all ready for its next tank full of unleaded . Still a very nice car though just got to read through the war and peace Comand instruction book, bit of light reading for bedtime

 

[chris846]

Good call with the radiator then. I think that if you were to try and hold out for a secondhand car in the CLK bracket, without any known faults, then you'd be severely restricting your choice - maybe Lexus, or...Lexus? - could you stand the boredom?

Any fool can run a eight or ten year old merc into the ground and then slag it off for being unreliable. In your case, what's three hundred quid for the quality of car that you're getting to run around in?

The only disappointment is dealers who deny the existence of known problems. Why don't car manufacturers take a look at the aircraft industry ?