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1995 V940 B230FD (NA), 260k Miles
Today, I experienced a moment of desperation when I found the culprit behind the latest "vanishing coolant" caper. The left shoulder of the radiator was cracked at the side-tank junction and coolant was escaping rapidly.
Due to this car being a daily driver, and my #3 (1994 854) being in for inspection and alignment, I had no choice but to fix the car ASAP. Can't get a new replacement on the weekend, even Next Day Air wouldn't show up until Tuesday
So... I went the Junkyard hoping to get *really* lucky. I ended up grabbing a very nice-looking OEM Blackstone radiator from a Junkyard 1992 740 Turbo. It did not look like the original unit on the 200+k donor (but I have no idea how old it actually is). My original Blackstone was dead around 160K This was really the only option, so I bought it and installed it. I was pleasantly surprised that a turbo radiator fit my NA - and lacked that stupid blow-out plug on the side.
So the car's running fine now... but I'm considering it to be running on borrowed time.
The busted radiator was a Nissens that I installed just over 8 years ago on Spring Break. That seems to be in line with the expected lifespan of those units.
At 260K and still going strong (with lots of updates and upgrades) I'd like to put a better (lifetime) unit in next time. Where do I find an all-metal unit? and is there a really good reason to NOT install an all-metal unit? I know 960/90-series have issues with it.
Thoughts?
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