P38A Advice on Diesel Radiator Replacement

Hi All,

Mom's P38 radiator is leaking. I've advised not to drive until I can go and replace on the bank holiday weekend but I'm trying to work out what radiator to buy. Obviously I know I need to buy one that fits a '97 diesel automatic - that's not what I'm uncertain about. What I am uncertain about is which brands have a reliable reputation... Anyone had any good/bad experiences they fancy sharing to help with my decision process? Need to get something on order in the next few days to be certain it will be delivered in time for me to fit it.

Options for standard plastic tank design seem to be brtipart/allmakes for around £130 from rimmer bro's or paddock spares, 'OEM' from rimmer bro's for around £250 (on back order so probably not actually an option for me this time), Genuine from rimmer bro's for £400. I've found welded aluminium ones offered by Direnza for around £250 with no idea where they are made and no reports on the longevity or alternatively Alisport which I'm certain would be brilliant but are about £550.

I'm pretty certain that I've ruled out the Allmakes/Britpart ones as the current one I only fitted about 3 years ago; it has never seemed great and now it's leaking from tank joint. I like the idea of aluminium welded versions as being a robust choice, but the Alisport option is a bit pricey! Genuine seems like an obvious safe money choice but still pretty expensive and who knows whether they're quality ones like the one that lasted from 1997 to a few years ago, or the same cheap new parts as Britpart at 200% price because they're in a Land Rover box?

Cheers in advance,

Richard

Nissens seem to be the rad of choice for those in the know.

https://www.island-4x4.co.uk/radiat...issens-esr2270-pcc108460-pcc108470-p-385.html

Search for the Nissens ones most on here use them and make sure it has the baffle fitted

I bought a nissens rad when i changed mine ,It comes with a cooler for manuals fitted just blank that ,i used them for my air con rad as well , but the engine rad at the time were around £125 ,...might have been island 4x4 ,,With a bit of jiggery pokery it all fits ...

Well that's reassuring that some of the reasonably priced aftermarket parts are actually usable quality! Nissens ones seem to be available about the same price as britpart ones so perhaps the aftermarket options from paddock's and rimmer brothers aren't useless crap after all in this case. I think I should have an easier time persuading her that I might as well change the weeping oil cooler while I'm there at that price.

Cheers for the quick responses! Any other opinions are definitely still welcome as I won't be ordering for a few days.

Rich

+1 nissens. Nearly two years on after nearly a blinding accident and no issues

If your changing the engine oil cooler ,Mind that one of the bolts has a tophat so the cooler can slid when heating and expanding ...

nearly all the rad have the cooler for the manual in the bottom of the rad dont worry about that and no need to blank it of as it it is a pipe in and out so wont leak. my nissens rad must be about 8 years old now and no worry's

If your doing the engine oil cooler do rad and pipes as they dont like coming apart with buggering the threads on the connections

brianp38dse said:

If your doing the engine oil cooler do rad and pipes as they dont like coming apart with buggering the threads on the connections

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+1 again there.... It'll remove the alu threads from the cooler. Undo the pipes from the oil filter housing, slide the cooler out of the channel and bin the assembly. If your going that way as well in the near future.

brianp38dse said:

If your doing the engine oil cooler do rad and pipes as they dont like coming apart with buggering the threads on the connections

Click to expand...

Agreed on this one - Same for the trans oil cooler. Not even worth trying to take them apart in my experience. I did realise that the oil cooler had a top hat bush at one end last time I had it apart and thought that was a lovely little detail showing proper engineering that went into these cars. You wouldn't know it from how unreliable they seem to be in practice, but I genuinely believe that Range Rovers are some of the best engineered cars I've ever worked on.

brianp38dse said:

nearly all the rad have the cooler for the manual in the bottom of the rad dont worry about that and no need to blank it of as it it is a pipe in and out so wont leak. my nissens rad must be about 8 years old now and no worry's

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Never bothered to blank the holes for the manual gearbox oil cooler on the rad that's there at the moment so glad others agree that there's no reason it would make any difference. I imagine the only reason that LR ever had specific auto versions of the rad made without that cooler is that the material and complexity saved would have added up to a cost saving on the production line. The difference in terms of chance for it to leak or lost cooling capacity must be negligible.

Rich

RAW111111 said:

Agreed on this one - Same for the trans oil cooler. Not even worth trying to take them apart in my experience. I did realise that the oil cooler had a top hat bush at one end last time I had it apart and thought that was a lovely little detail showing proper engineering that went into these cars. You wouldn't know it from how unreliable they seem to be in practice, but I genuinely believe that Range Rovers are some of the best engineered cars I've ever worked on.



Never bothered to blank the holes for the manual gearbox oil cooler on the rad that's there at the moment so glad others agree that there's no reason it would make any difference. I imagine the only reason that LR ever had specific auto versions of the rad made without that cooler is that the material and complexity saved would have added up to a cost saving on the production line. The difference in terms of chance for it to leak or lost cooling capacity must be negligible.

Rich

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A friend of mine bought a aluminium radiator of the Bay the seller had racing in their name, sorry I can't be more precise. The rad was very well engineered and good quality. Whatever you buy check it has the baffle fitted,roll a marble from one outlet and see if it doesn't come out of the other.

+1 on the baffle main point but Nissens are top dog

RAW111111 said:

Hi All,

Mom's P38 radiator is leaking. I've advised not to drive until I can go and replace on the bank holiday weekend but I'm trying to work out what radiator to buy. Obviously I know I need to buy one that fits a '97 diesel automatic - that's not what I'm uncertain about. What I am uncertain about is which brands have a reliable reputation... Anyone had any good/bad experiences they fancy sharing to help with my decision process? Need to get something on order in the next few days to be certain it will be delivered in time for me to fit it.

Options for standard plastic tank design seem to be brtipart/allmakes for around £130 from rimmer bro's or paddock spares, 'OEM' from rimmer bro's for around £250 (on back order so probably not actually an option for me this time), Genuine from rimmer bro's for £400. I've found welded aluminium ones offered by Direnza for around £250 with no idea where they are made and no reports on the longevity or alternatively Alisport which I'm certain would be brilliant but are about £550.

I'm pretty certain that I've ruled out the Allmakes/Britpart ones as the current one I only fitted about 3 years ago; it has never seemed great and now it's leaking from tank joint. I like the idea of aluminium welded versions as being a robust choice, but the Alisport option is a bit pricey! Genuine seems like an obvious safe money choice but still pretty expensive and who knows whether they're quality ones like the one that lasted from 1997 to a few years ago, or the same cheap new parts as Britpart at 200% price because they're in a Land Rover box?

Cheers in advance,

Richard

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Nissens on mine for 7 years and it has been fine so far. You might want ro do Datatek's mod to pull in the aircon fans for backup like the post '99 cars do while you're about it.

tomcat59alan said:

A friend of mine bought a aluminium radiator of the Bay the seller had racing in their name, sorry I can't be more precise. The rad was very well engineered and good quality. Whatever you buy check it has the baffle fitted,roll a marble from one outlet and see if it doesn't come out of the other.

Click to expand...

GPI racing was the company,

Thanks for all the responses. Nissens radiator ordered from advancedfactors.co.uk - never used them before but they seem to have a decent website and reasonable prices. Ordered the oil cooler along with o-rings and both lines from rimmerbrothers as I already had a load of items in my basket with them for the LSE. Hopefully everything will arrive int time and it should be an easy day of spannering. Think I'll order a gallon or so of degreaser and maybe have a chance the engine bay will be sort of oil free for a few minutes.

I'll report back if I have any issues with any of the parts but given all your experiences I'm hopeful they should all be fine.

Rich

Dont forget to do the marble test on the rad before fitting just to be sure the baffle has been fitted.

RAW111111 said:

Thanks for all the responses. Nissens radiator ordered from advancedfactors.co.uk - never used them before but they seem to have a decent website and reasonable prices. Ordered the oil cooler along with o-rings and both lines from rimmerbrothers as I already had a load of items in my basket with them for the LSE. Hopefully everything will arrive int time and it should be an easy day of spannering. Think I'll order a gallon or so of degreaser and maybe have a chance the engine bay will be sort of oil free for a few minutes.

I'll report back if I have any issues with any of the parts but given all your experiences I'm hopeful they should all be fine.

Rich

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Maybe just wipe the metal work down instead of degreasing it? It goes a short way to protect it a little.
Happy spannering

RAW111111 said:

Thanks for all the responses. Nissens radiator ordered from advancedfactors.co.uk - never used them before but they seem to have a decent website and reasonable prices. Ordered the oil cooler along with o-rings and both lines from rimmerbrothers as I already had a load of items in my basket with them for the LSE. Hopefully everything will arrive int time and it should be an easy day of spannering. Think I'll order a gallon or so of degreaser and maybe have a chance the engine bay will be sort of oil free for a few minutes.

I'll report back if I have any issues with any of the parts but given all your experiences I'm hopeful they should all be fine.

Rich

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Might as well flush the intercooler while you're about it.

Mark Piercy said:

Maybe just wipe the metal work down instead of degreasing it? It goes a short way to protect it a little.
Happy spannering

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I definitely get what you’re saying on rust protection but personally I draw the line at engine oil everywhere as it makes it such a horrible place to work. I do try to make sure that everything has a decent coat of a suitable anti corrosion wax normally which I’ll have to reapply after I’ve degreased the engine bay.

Grrrrrr said:

Might as well flush the intercooler while you're about it.

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That might be an idea. Any suggestions on what to use as its not something I’ve ever bothered with before on this or other cars?

Richard