Which Radiator should I buy?

Hey guys. New to posting on the forum. I have a 1988 D-90 with a 19J turbo engine. The PO cracked up the front end and replaced the front clip and many of the engine bay components with those off a 200 TDI. This includes the radiator which needs replacement. My question is, should I replace it with the same radiator that is there now (200 TDI on 19J engine), or swap it back to the earlier larger radiator. The intercooler is still there, but obviously not hooked up. If I go back to the earlier radiator what happens to the oil cool lines that I currently have hooked up? Don't recall the earlier radiators having oil cooler lines. Thanks for your advice.

19j radiators have built in oil cooler like the 200. The 19j rad is large to cope with the heat coming direct from the turbo and I would think rather expensive today. I would connect up the intercooler as this lowers the in going air temp. I think the 19j would have been a more reliable and longer lasting engine had it had an intercooler when new.

tottot said:

19j radiators have built in oil cooler like the 200. The 19j rad is large to cope with the heat coming direct from the turbo and I would think rather expensive today. I would connect up the intercooler as this lowers the in going air temp. I think the 19j would have been a more reliable and longer lasting engine had it had an intercooler when new.

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That would be the common sense approach, and I think it would have been better if the 19j had been designed to have an intercooler.

But in practice, people that have done this seem to have found it ended up more gutless than a standard 19j. The 19j Turbo is quite small, and runs a low boost pressure. I am not sure if that is the reason or not.

Theres two types of rad for the tdi, the all metal/brass variety which is what I have had fitted for at least 5 years with no issues, or the cheaper alloy/plastic variety, I ve read a bit about these leaking and my supplier said they had a lot back under warranty and I see loads of the same type leaking at work on the trucks, so I would personally avoid.

Got to be worth lashing up some pipes for the intercooler to see if it makes any difference?

With an intercooler on more air would be going into the engine as the air is now colder and denser. So fuel would need to be uped some to match. I would not increase turbo pressure.

lynall said:

Theres two types of rad for the tdi, the all metal/brass variety which is what I have had fitted for at least 5 years with no issues, or the cheaper alloy/plastic variety, I ve read a bit about these leaking and my supplier said they had a lot back under warranty and I see loads of the same type leaking at work on the trucks, so I would personally avoid.

Got to be worth lashing up some pipes for the intercooler to see if it makes any difference?

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tottot said:

With an intercooler on more air would be going into the engine as the air is now colder and denser. So fuel would need to be uped some to match. I would not increase turbo pressure.

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Another possible issue might be that the routeing of the pipes may not be easy, there is actually a very small gap between the turbo outlet and the inlet manifold, so both intercooler pipes would contain at least one right angle bend, which is probably sub optimal for air flow.

I would be interested to hear reports from someone who has actually done this. In real life I only know one person who has done it, and they found the results dissapointing.
Several people have talked about doing it on LZ, but I don't remember anyone coming back to say what results they got.

Some alli ones on fleabay about 100 quid, I've had two for different vehicles and they are excellent

I had one with brass end tanks reconditioned by Applied Radiators in Burton-on-Trent. They did a really good job. In the interests of full disclosure, it was for a charity build and they did it at cost - but regardless, the workmanship was excellent.

All good advice- thank you very much. A friend just called to say he was cleaning out his garage and found one of the old big 19J radiators. The price is right (free), so I'm going to give that a go.

Why don't you get the rad recored. I bought a replacement rad for mine a couple of years back. I paid about £85 for a alloy one. Its no where near as good as the one I took out. I have kept the old one as I will get it recored when the new alloy one goes. The old rad lasted about 25 years, the new one won't.