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I received my OE radiator today from Tasca. Unlike Travis's (1990Volvo240) experience, it was well packaged, with the radiator box padded inside a larger box (however, I had also ordered new hoses, so that may be why). The radiator is, of course, Valeo (Made in Spain), even though the top has "Volvo SWEDEN" stamped into the metal. Seems like false advertising to hide the "Made in Spain" sticker on the bottom and stamp "SWEDEN" on the top.
And sure enough, and unbeknownst to me at the time of ordering, it had an extra hole with nothing to plug it. I spent an extra $30-$50 for OE, expecting that I would not have any one-size-fits-all nonsense to deal with, and that's exactly what I got.
I checked with all the local parts stores, and they had nothing like what I needed (which doesn't make much sense, because they sell radiators with the same hole). NAPA had a 3/4" expansion plug that kinda worked. Has anyone else found a good solution besides ordering the plug?
I seriously considered going out and buying an electric fan and thermal switch, both to fill the hole and to get rid of the giant fan shroud which I hate so much. I may still do this one day, even though I like the fool-proof function of the engine driven fan.
Took the opportunity to remove and clean out my expansion tank. The brown slime on the inside was a combination of precipitated minerals and oil. Muriatic acid did a lot to loosen the gunk and eat away deposits, and a lye-based degreaser took care of the rest (don't mix the two). I also used a trick of mine for cleaning out old bottles: pour in a handful of small hex nuts or BBs and shake around with the cleaning solution. Best part is, that if you cannot remove all of the nuts or BBs, you can fish them out with a magnet. Looks like new, inside.
Just thought I'd report on my findings. I think I'd go with a Nissens if I had it to do again.
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