shmark

This is exactly what I may end up doing, considering my options right now. I know the plastic tank can be replaced but I really don't like it in any case. Anyone want a manual Behr radiator with a cracked tank, only has about 10k miles on it? What's it worth to you?

SharkSkin

Carl is not selling the C&R. His radiator has the oil/trans heat exchangers welded, which eliminates another possible point of failure, the o-rings where the heat exchangers penetrate the side tank. I think it has its extra core thickness on the front instead of front and back, to leave a few extra mm for superchargers(don't take my word for that, check with him).

I have the C&R BTW, and think it's an awesome setup. If Carl had been offering his at the time, I might have gone with that due to the lack of o-rings.

shmark

Just checked with Carl and here's what he said.

"If you look at the plastic end tanks on your radiator, you will see that the core is a little narrower than the end tanks. On ours, the core is even with the outsides of the end tanks. "

Going to give mine the onceover tonight and decide what to do. I'm leaning towards Carl's radiator and if I do that, then an electric fan conversion while I'm at it, but it means postponing some other goodies. I guess that's how it goes.

GregBBRD

"Behr radiators suck." There's an educated statement.

You actually think that there are a bunch of original "Chevy" or "Ford" one piece radiators still around in 25 years old cars?

BTW...the C&R radiator thing is not a whole bunch of fun, either! The thicker core moves everything back, in a really tight area. They don't fit, unless you start "trimming" things. I'll be interested to see if these radiators make it 25 years...the "Devek" ones sure didn't!

SharkSkin

Greg actually there are:

My '76 Ramcharger -- no issues(33 years).
My dad's '36 Ford P/U, custom radiator fitted in '65 along with the 64.5 289 -- no issues(44 years).

I think that with an all-metal radiator, longevity is directly related to regular maintenance, and the absence of physical damage. That physical damage can include doing a lot of coastal driving. I put a new radiator in my '74 Z and it rotted out in 2 years of driving to/from Pacifica daily. It wasn't 100% painted and the salt ate it alive.

The Devek radiators were a whole other story. Clearly the idea of epoxying the side tanks on was not very well thought out.

ew928

Later version of Devek's radiator was an all welded affair.
Don't ask me how I know.


Guess what's in the car right now.
A crappy useless Behr with resealed side tanks.

I broke one of the useless POJ AL/Plastic radiator that was in my ex-Audi 5000.
I didn't realize one had to replace coolant hoses and kept tightening the top hose clamp so much I cracked the plastic hose connection. Had that car for about 9 years. Don't know how old the rad was when I bought the Audi used.

blown 87

I can not say about the Behr in the 928, other than I have had the problem that every one else has had.

We have had really good luck with them on other cars, MB and Volvo's, some I have put in have over 15 years on them.
As we say in the Auto repair bizz, that is way past the warranty period.

I really think that the big killer of cooling system parts is the lack of fluid changes, and electrolysis due to not using distilled water and other factors like how much heat the engine makes and how hot it is under the hood.

So change the coolant at no more than every 2 years, check it hot with a volt meter every time you open up the cooling system and try to get the voltage as close to 0.00as you can, if it is over 0.25, you are going to have reliability problems, and soon.

I do have some Experience with all aluminum radiators in other cars, just not in the 928.

shmark

Ok let me rephrase that. "My 10k mile Behr radiator sucks and any other Behr that fails in a similar manner also sucks, with plastic side tanks contributing to the relative level of suckage." I would expect any radiator to last more than 10k miles, and my car has received very regular maintenance. I've owned 30+ cars (most at least 15 years old), used some of them *very* hard, and other than one jack incident, have never replaced a radiator.

Anyone want a good deal on a low mileage Behr?

dr bob

Mark--

Let me know what you need for it. I'm not in serious need at the moment, but time is not on the side of my original. I can take yours, add new tanks, my coolers, and maybe have some good years from it yet. There's also another local whose car is disabled due to failed radiator and concurrent cash flow problems. It will get him on the road if I can get it repaired using the excellent tips shared so far.

So far (knock on plastic...) mine has done really well with just the regular (annual) coolant changes. Use the right coolant, distilled water, change regularly, and there really isn't much that should go bad with the core itself. Right? Passed 90k this week. The 'new car' aura is diminishing just slightly.

JHowell37

To the original poster, how can you be sure that the radiator was replaced with a new one? The reason I ask is because that end tank looks very old. The plastic is faded/oxidized. The core is black. IIRC I remember reading somewhere here that the cars came originally with black radiators and that replacements were silver. I don't know how true that is, but I'm skeptical about the age on yours.

When did you get the car? Something tells me the radiator isn't as new as you may think.

Going on that belief, I'd say there's nothing wrong with the Behr radiators. They're not the only company that makes them that way. If you get 20 years of reliable service from one, what more can you ask?

blown 87

One thing is with out question, when a similar sized radiator, made by the same company, with the same basic materials cost 250 bucks, and the one we need that is so freaking close is 1200, well, ain't no doubt that sucks.

blown 87

See post #26, that is my bitch about them.

JHowell37

I was actually starting to mention that, but I remember pointing out in the past, that I thought the price was bull**** for the very same reasons. The response I got was laden with copious amounts of Porsche masturbation. You know, things like "it's unique, special, limited production, etc." But I agree with you. There ain't $1K worth of limited production in it. It's all about the P-tax.

shmark

I have the word of someone I trust that it was replaced, and 25 years of receipts and I'm sure it's in there. I'm going to stop sniping, just will say I'm not happy with the design, the mode of failure and especially the price of a new one. Definitely with Greg on that score.

blown 87

It is all about Behr being the only source for many years.
Not about small runs, special or unique, they had a captive market and knew it.

In the other cars you have Behr, Nissan and for the life of me I can not remember the third one right now, that were the oem for the car makers.