NRF radiators (360)

[Ride_on]

I got a new NRF brand rad from ebay £116 but it didn't fit well and I've had to return it. The expansion tank pipes seemed to be in the wrong place by about 6mm (middle one 6mm high and the top one 6mm too low). I could just about get the pipes into the holes in the panel but when I did it wasn't touching the mounts at the bottom.

Anyone else bought one of these, did it fit ok or are they all likely to be faulty?

A recore sounds like it will be about £140 (local) but they couldn't give an accurate price, and a Nissens about £170 (+silly delivery). I had originally planned to get a recore but the company that did them has not changed what they do and are no longer 'making' cores but buying them in ready made. Their prices have almost doubled since I last used them, but that was maybe 10 years ago.

All a bit annoying, and compounded by losing an ebay auction for an unused Nissens for £40 bought incorrectly by a 340 owner who then had to modify it.

[trabitom99]

Hello

That pretty much matches my experience with a Skandix radiator. The expansion tank pipes didn't fit through the hole in the panel and I had to send it back So it's not just a problem with NRF radiators.

The thicker radiators for the 360 seem to be getting hard to find. If you have a radiator that you know fits perfectly a recore might be the way to go ...

Cheers

Tom

[Ride_on]

Well Skandix don't actually make anything AFAIK, so maybe it was a Skandix branded NRF.

They have replied as if I've said its not the right part for the car and obviously didn't read the message, just can't get the service!

I'm vaguely aware there are different thickness, do you know the dimension options? I think my core was 33mm from memory, is that thick or thin?

[trabitom99]

360 radiators are 34mm thick if I remember correctly ... There were thinner "A/C" versions I think, but the other commonly sold radiator for a Volvo 300 is a 17mm one for 340s.

This is the cheapest one this side of the water:
http://www.parts2go.de/Kuehlung/Wasser- ... -2819.html
... but I don't know how good the fitting is.

The thinner 340 radiator is no good in the long term for a 360 - my GLT had one fitted when I first bought it. It was fine at low outside temperatures and at low speeds but in summer you noticed something was wrong. The car never boiled over or anything, but the water temperature needle moved too far off centre for my liking.

It took several system flushes and water pump changes till I discovered the problem though

Cheers

Tom

[bogbasic]

Ditto. The fit of the small pipes was very tight (I remember knocking it into place with a block of wood!!) but the rad OK works as a rad and hasn't cracked yet!! I thought it was just my fitting skills or lack thereof till reading this.

Hey man, I've just logged in to ebay to check and it is a case of Bingo....

NRF 505405 7510 RADIATOR FOR VOLVO 360 2.0 PETROL 1987-1988 £116.50

.... OK great I'm glad its not just me who thought the fitting was dodgy. Mind you, I didn't find the rad as annoying as ebay is.... its totally rubbish - it hammers your computer like nothing else and makes itself and your computer virtually unusable, comes up with infernal amounts of cr*p and you end up buying sh*te.

[trabitom99]

Can you remember what make of radiator it was you fitted bogbasic?

Skandix just lists their radiators as "Hausmarke" which basically means "own brand". Unfortunately, I never checked on the radiator itself to see if there were any part markings.

In my time I've changed three Volvo 360 radiators:

a recore of an original radiator by a local firm (lasted about 7-8 years of daily use)
the Skandix one (didn't fit)
an aftermarket Auradia one (not sure of the part no): perfect fit

Cheers

Tom

[bogbasic]

Hello Trabitom, NRF innit?? That's what my purchase history on the bay says. I too noticed that it didn't fit at the base so I bulked-up one of the rubber mounts with silly-con sealant (arf!!). Anyhow it is still working fine after 6 months or so of regular summer use.... My old one just made it through the winter and was over'eating well-bad in the early spring innit.

[trabitom99]

OK, good to know

Cheers

Tom

[Ride_on]

Sounds like the NRFs are a waste of time, although if you are prepared to cut the little top hole out a bit it would drop down onto the mount. I didn't want to do that for originality and it was also going to interfere with the intercooler mount that I had made.

[Ride_on]

I think I need to correct this, just noticed my original rad is NRF, so they are the OEM. Pretty sure this eBay one is a fake, its not the same construction and very inaccurate.