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Sun Sep 08, 2024 10:21 am

Good afternoon folks,
Just finished replacing my radiator and fan. Just wondering how to store the old radiator. If it is worth keeping. Did a flush of water through it and it seems pretty clean. There was very little debris that came out. The water was flowing out as fast as I put it in.
Thanks

Sun Sep 08, 2024 10:31 am

They can be deceiving, inspect the "tubes" from the thermoswitch hole, if possible with an endoscoping camera.
Tape the ends to avoid bugs to settle in.

Sun Sep 08, 2024 11:14 am

I think what you have there is a piece of scrap metal. It's difficult to assess flow/blockage by just looking at it and with some old (non-VW) radiators I've had they also lost efficiency as the fins were poorly in contact with the tubes.

Sun Sep 08, 2024 11:33 am

Very early T3 radiators were all metal. I don't know when the composite plastic/aluminum units were phased in. If your radiator is all metal then it can be taken apart, cleaned and reassembled. I had that done a lot a long time ago. The radiators resisted corrosion less after repairs. Time takes it toll.

With the advent of composite radiators they became more recyclable. There are not many radiator shops to rod out the all metal radiators anymore.

I used to live in Florida. There the thermal load was so high that you needed most of the capacity of the radiator. Back then radiators needed attention at 5 to 6 years of age. After rodding out they needed attention in 3 years or so.

Here in Western Washington most vehicles never need more than 25% of their capacity to reject heat. Only on the hottest days or pulling a pass do radiators show their weakness.

Sun Sep 08, 2024 1:23 pm

Yes, watercooled T3s from model years 81 and 82 had all metal radiators.
After that, plastic end tanks.
At the same time, changes were made to the radiator mounting, pipe/hose setup, fan temp switch location and number........

Mark

Sun Sep 08, 2024 5:28 pm

Ahwahnee wrote: It's difficult to assess flow/blockage by just looking at it and with some old (non-VW) radiators

Weigh the new one and weigh the old one.

I've swapped radiators out of old e30s (steel block) that still felt like they were full of coolant because they were so full with rusty sludge.

Sun Sep 08, 2024 6:12 pm

It's probably more money than it's worth to invest in the old radiator. While it may flow with a garden hose there still may be a good bit of crap and corrosion inside.

If you really want to make the investment you could take it to a radiator shop near you, see what it takes to boil & rod it.

Sun Sep 08, 2024 11:11 pm

hardway wrote: Very early T3 radiators were all metal. I don't know when the composite plastic/aluminum units were phased in. If your radiator is all metal then it can be taken apart, cleaned and reassembled. I had that done a lot a long time ago. The radiators resisted corrosion less after repairs. Time takes it toll.

With the advent of composite radiators they became more recyclable. There are not many radiator shops to rod out the all metal radiators anymore.

I used to live in Florida. There the thermal load was so high that you needed most of the capacity of the radiator. Back then radiators needed attention at 5 to 6 years of age. After rodding out they needed attention in 3 years or so.

Here in Western Washington most vehicles never need more than 25% of their capacity to reject heat. Only on the hottest days or pulling a pass do radiators show their weakness.

There's been lots of subtle manufacturing changes over the years.

83-85 for sure, radiators were made by AKG plastic ends.
Late 84 production date they switched to from copper to aluminum core, 068121253B, still AKG

Funny story, Westy VIN FH043727 production date 11/84-12/84 had an aluminum radiator, built the same month by AKG
My Westy VIN FH044596 with the same production dates, had a copper core radiator. (time capsule van with 15K miles on it).
I also found another radiator built 12/84 with a copper core. So that's confusing, maybe a transition period with mixed inventory? I don't see them switching from aluminum to copper then back to aluminum again but who knows.

An 87 Doka with 43K kms had a VW radiator with finer fins like a evaporator and tubes, not flat tubes like we all know.
Some radiators for hotter climate were thicker, some were thinner. I posted pics of these https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?p=10058607
All VW.
I have more data but I didn't put it in the correct folder, I can't locate it.

Check this thread for photos of plugged radiator flowing "ok"
https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?p=9424358[list=][/list]

Mon Sep 09, 2024 12:39 am

Here are some pictures of the tanks on the radiator out of my 91 Multivan, with ~300K miles on it. None of the tubes were clogged, but I have no regrets with having changed it out.

Mon Sep 09, 2024 1:13 am

Wildthings wrote: Here are some pictures of the tanks on the radiator out of my 91 Multivan, with ~300K miles on it. None of the tubes were clogged, but I have no regrets with having changed it out.

What's the part number on it please? Suffix "E" I believe? No 3 letter manufacturer code?

Mon Sep 09, 2024 6:08 am

My 1986 van had a copper/ plastic radiator from factory

Mon Sep 09, 2024 6:08 am

ALIKA T3 wrote:
What's the part number on it please? Suffix "E" I believe? No 3 letter manufacturer code?

No clue. Pretty sure it's moved on to the great junk yard in the sky by now.

Mon Sep 09, 2024 6:23 am

that white schmoo showing in Wildthings pictures of the core has a huge influence on heat transfer. sure, the core is NOT plugged but the heat transfer capacity is reduced. the Vanagon cooling system has quite a large over-capacity and can deal with reduced heat transfer but only up to a point. if you live in a hot area, obviously you want every BTU possible to leave the radiator.

that said, white schmoo probably would respond to a citric acid cleaning. but with the large hose runs of a Vanagon becomes a chore to flush it ALL out of the 2 heater cores, the block, and the rad. a new radiator in a 40 year old vehicle is a good thing, quality of replacement parts withstanding.

equally, if not more important if you have AC, is to make sure the space between the AC condenser and the radiator is not filled with dust and debris. i find that the case in just about every older car.