MY99 Radiator
 

Just spotted wisps of steam & a few drops of coolant, and when I looked closer I discovered a pinhole in the plastic tank down the driver's side of the radiator. (The car didn't overheat or anything - it's a very small leak and I discovered it about 1km from home.)

Is that a replaceable part, or will I need a whole new radiator including the tank?

I have 5L of subaru coolant and new top and bottom silicone hoses, and was intending to swap them over so digging the radiator out for repairs is something I can manage. I don't even need to use the car - we have three of the things hanging around.

Just wondering whether it's better to try and find a new replacement for the whole thing, a (hopefully) working 2nd hand one, or just the part of the tank which has the tiny hole in it.

It's an MY99 WRX.

Even entire brand new radiators aren't that expensive.

Are the ebay-spec aluminium radiators any good? ASI performance has one for about $200 plus delivery, and their silicone gear looks all right.

E.g. something like this: [url]http://cgi.ebay.com.au/2-ROW-45MM-SUBARU-GC8-95-2000-ALUMINUM-RADIATOR-/250669502282?pt=AU_Car_Parts_Accessories[/url]

apparently a few gc8 rads have done the same recently,reaching the end of their life i guess, mine got an end tank split about 3 weeks after i got my new engine, one heart attack i didn't need, and i replaced it with an ebay alu one.All good so far, six month, mms did say it look very average/crap and didn't fit too well, but it in and works i will just keep my eye on it.

Id buy a genuine subaru one. The plastic tanks have a service life, and they are all proberly near the end of it. They are about $650, so not too expensive. Seccond hand on some parts is a bad idea.

There's a guy on here that sells aluminium radiators, can't remember the name though.

Bought a radiator off TACKTICS I went with the alloy core and plastic end tanks again. So far so good. Bought brand new for $220~

Very common problem in all WRXs, I have replaced a GC and a GD one myself...

Afaik Taktics radiators are round the $330 mark.

I bought ebay aluminium ones for $200, and fitted them with virtually no issues. Have been great.

Jezza he must be getting rid of them cheaper now mate. Maybe $330 for full alloy??

[QUOTE=SPEC IV;484301]Jezza he must be getting rid of them cheaper now mate. Maybe $330 for full alloy??[/QUOTE]

Yeh Daz, sorry it was 330 full alloy.

Thanks - I just sent a PM to ask about radiators. I'd rather pick one up locally, but if not I'll order one in.

I might araldite a little patch over the hole while I'm waiting. Not so I can drive it, just in case I need to use the car in an emergency, or in case I hop in and drive off after forgetting it's stuffed.

Alot of the Forester boys use the Gopher ebay radiators with no issues, whether they fit as good as on GC's I don't know.

I've been using an ebay full alloy radiator for the past 2 years now. No functional issues but as stated above the fitment was on the average side. Would still do it again.

I've located a radiator listed as 'Subaru Impreza GC8 STI Ver 3-6 92-00 aluminium radiator' - can anyone tell me whether the STI and the WRX use the same part? It looks the same in the pics (no extra pipes/holes/etc) but I just want to make sure.

different part numbers but the same radiator

Great, thanks for the reply. They all look the same but the supplier couldn't confirm.

Sayers...

Sabre branded from Flying Performance (for memory) have a good product. :) And the fitment was absolute schmick. Id recommend them in a heartbeat. Mines 42mm, I did a heap of research, and I found the consensus was too thick was adverse... So bigger is not always better.

That said, its a 42mm core now, (OEM 20mm), and works great behind a fair sized FMIC. I paid about 400ish? :confused:

Brent.

[EDIT] Excuse blurro-vision pic, but so you can visualise. 42mm is not OTT.

[IMG]http://i489.photobucket.com/albums/rr257/rexploit/mini-035.jpg[/IMG]