need a new radiator

[zeebenz]

where to begin. lets see. well the other day, my sister was driving the 95 c280, and i get a call hearing that the car was smoking; terific i thought. i get out there with a friend, and indeed, the all the coolant had leaked out. she told me that earlier the cars temp gauge was well passed 120, upon which i wondered why she continued to drive. long story short ( as if that werent too late ) the radiator does have a leak, right above the driverside, where hose comes out. in the past, on other cars i have tried used bars stop leak, but i'd rather simpl replace the radiator this time around. if anyone can let me know were to get a new one and at what cost, it would be greatly appreciated. also if anyone has an idea what would have caused the car to overheat, i has seen the car ealier and it wasn't leaking originally. the car has about 108k and i have had the headgasket replaced twice, among other htings. thanx


zee

[Andrew C280]

i would take it to the dealer to make shure its worth fixing they could have fryed the engine if she let it over heat past 120 for a while. before i spend about 1400 on a new radiator

[MBDragracer]

www.buymbparts.com sells a radiator for a little over $300 (not an authentic MB part as far as I can tell but it should do the trick).

I too would take the car to a dealer or independent MB service shop (after topping off the water level, of course) to get a diagnosis and estimate for the repair. They may charge a small fee for the diagnosis but think of it as preventative maintenance. At that point, if it's just the radiator, walk away and do it yourself.

Best of luck!

Sorry to hear about the head gaskets. Twice? ouch:(

[kameraguy]

I believe an OEM MB radiator for the 202 is around $300 from mercedesshop.com. At least that was about two months ago last time I checked. They are a great place to buy parts.

[Denlasoul]

you could always check bekkers.com discounted items. might have one there too.

[Rocky]

There's a new updated rad resevoir cap part if you choose to grab a new one as well. I did this morn.

[zeebenz]

well, i had driven the car home from werever she had stopped on the highway. the engine seemes fine. ofcoarse i filled it with water. even as she sits, when i topp it off, water comes out from that leak. still no ideas on why it would overheate causeing it to blow? or could the radiator simply be shot. from what i remember the car would always run between 90 and 100 in traffic and such. and it is set, shes no longer allowed to drive it, im probably going to have to give up my car since i am the only one in the house able to keep up with it.


zee

[SLAMMED_C]

I was just that the rad was old.. those plastic fittings (where the rad hose goes onto) on the rad get brittle over time and eventually crack and or break off... thats why u eventually overheated.. lack of coolant.
Ive seen a couple 124's with that problem, and now Ive heard of a 202!

[zeebenz]

thanx for the replies, now i just gotta get a new rad, and find a day to do it.

thanx again


zee

[martattack]

Ahh. That happened to me 2 months ago while I was out of town in Eastern Washington. It cracked right at the radiator hose fitting. It is a common problem I hear. I ended up getting it shipped to me overnight for $315 from http://www.thebenzbin.com. It is normally 320 for the radiator alone excluding shipping, but the guy hooked me up when I called.
I ended up changing it in a parking lot.

Martin

[kameraguy]

Boomin, is it pretty easy to swap the radiator out?

After the swap, what is the operating temperature of your engine now? Is it lower, or the same?

Just curious as I am thinking of changing mine for preventative maintinence. But I was also hoping a new radiator would drop my engine temps a bit lower...to like 82-85 degrees rather than 87-98

[martattack]

Installing the radiator wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. Pretty much just used a ratchet set and normal tools. Once of the hardest parts was getting off all the plastic clips that hold on the shrounding without breaking them. After that, pretty much just dettached any hoses/ transmission lines and pulled the thing out.

The temperatures stayed about the same. Nowadays in the summer heat with the A/C on they run around 85-95ish.
If you're having problems running a little hot, you might want to look into making sure the mixture for your coolant is correct.

[zeebenz]

ok,
finallt got around to getting a new radiator. surprisingly, i got it from the dealership for 310+ tax. i went to two dealers, the first being rally who quoted me 400 something, and the competition who quoted me 310 and it they would have it the next day. (both dealerships are in long island new york.) so picked it up yesterday, now i just need to make time to install it. i was playing around with the fan shrowed, turn right to release, but it would'nt budge. once i get a chance to really get "under it" i will see if it is actually challenging. hopefully once this is done, the car will run well, but right now its all hopes and dreams. classes let out next week so hopefully then i will get a chance to get this out of the way and move on to the head rest problem.

zee


(while i was there i also got the cluster removal tools. take my advise and dont get them, they can easily be fabricated out of any thin meatal rod that can hold up to a little abuse. i tried the hanger bit, gave up and splurged for them. oh well)