Radiator Prices?

[AdamGardner]

Hi all,

Well the plastic tank on the right hand side of my radiator finally cracked on Monday. Today i took it to NatRad, and old mate there reccomended that both plastic tanks be replaced as well as the radiator itself. All up he quoted me $420 installed and with a flush. Having a search on the forums this seemed a bit steep... I'm pretty keen to take it to my local guy to get a second opinion.
Can anyone on JC reccommend a Radiator specialist that will do a good job for the right price? I'm located in S.E suburbs of Melbourne, but happy to travel if there is anyone highly recommended.

[TonyJZX]

$400 odd is the std. rate

you can probably shop around and get a corner shop garage to do it for less or so but yeah... how much is your time worth?

[monkeys437]

That seems mad steep. Don't know bout the plastic tanks, but for a Natrad radiator with warranty cost me bout $100 plus under 2 hours of my precious time to put it in and flush the coolant when I had to replace one on my VS last year. Id say a radiator expert could do it much faster than me because I'd never replaced one before. I think anymore than $250-300 is getting a bit steep

[TonyJZX]

you bought a new/reco radiatior for $100???

[Rusty]

Have a look on ebay, i got a 52mm alloy radiator for a 5L for $160 delivered. It eats the old radiator and should only take about half hour to swap and flush. Buy a carton of beer, do it yourself and save $200.

[monkeys437]

you bought a new/reco radiatior for $100???

It was just over a hundred I forget the exact amount. 12 month warranty in a box that said adrad or natrad or something like that on it.

[Rusty]

vt/vx hsv alloy radiator | eBay

This guy is in Melbourne somewhere

Edit: In Melton sorry

[TonyJZX]

Holden VT VX Commodore LS1 GEN3 5.7L V8 Alloy Radiator | eBay

hmmm

didn't know they were that cheap

they give you a #### n bull story about how the 5.0/LS1 radiator is more expensive than the v6

[DLFHUB666]

Get an alloy tank radiator, it wont crack like the plastic tanks do. like this: Holden VT VX HSV Commodore V8 GEN3 LS1 Radiator Alloy | eBay

Sorry you never said if it was a v6, 5L or ls1 so i just linked the ls1 but you get the idea.

[AdamGardner]

Thanks for all the info homies.

Unfortunately mine's only a 6 cylinder.

Last question, when talking to the guy from Natrad, he said that because the plastic tanks are wearing/fatigued its most likely the radiator is on the way out as well... Is this true? I'm no mechanic but i gave my radiator itself an inspection and it seemed to be fine.

[DLFHUB666]

I would just replace the lot, you dont want to have to pull it apart again in a couple of months.

[Vsfan95]

Up here in brissy the cheapest I found was $300 at northside radiators followed by Red Devil Radiators at $325 that includes supply, fit, flush and a 2 year warranty and that is just for a VT S2 Auto sedan

[HSV5L]

In sydney you could buy 5 recod fitted radiators for that what a rip is that ferrari or lamborghini your getting it from ? ....

[Vsfan95]

After getting those quotes I went to a mechanic out of curiosity to see what they would charge and they all quoted me at nearly $500 goes to show going to a specialist will always save you money. Mechanics are nothing but lying money hungry scum

[HSV5L]

Yep rip offs never use them try e.t radiators in sydney they might frieght i paid $75 recod.

[aaronevolution]

After getting those quotes I went to a mechanic out of curiosity to see what they would charge and they all quoted me at nearly $500 goes to show going to a specialist will always save you money. Mechanics are nothing but lying money hungry scum

I got a new radiator in my VZ 6.0 a few months ago for $338 for radiator, thermostat, coolant, and install plus 12 month warranty.

[Drewie]

A lot of the price difference would have to do with the quality of the radiator, there is some pretty crap stuff out there. I have not bought a radiator for some time but last time I went shopping I was surprised to find a brand new one from Holden spares was about the same price as some of the radiator places.
So I bought a genuine one as a replacement, that was several years ago though.

[bricat]

I found this site so you can check to see the price of radiator only. Nationwide Auto Parts - HOLDEN COMMODORE VT/VX RADIATORS COMMODORE VT/VX RADIATOR cheers

[umair]

My radiator also cracked from the plastic side. A untrusty mechanic unplugged the fans and it cracked. The radiator is good but a side is cracked and I also got it cleaned. So I am ordering a plastic side from china and I am just going to put it on my radiator. You can find it on alibaba.com.
plastic radiator tank for HOLDEN LUMINA/CAPRICE/COMMODORE,auto parts tanks ,gasket products, buy plastic radiator tank for HOLDEN LUMINA/CAPRICE/COMMODORE,auto parts tanks ,gasket products from alibaba.com
Just give them a picture of your orignal radiator tank and they will give you one for cheap. From my experience if its just cracked from the side just buy a plastic side. And when you are installing it clean the radiaor with a long wire by inserting it into the holes and flush it with water. When you are putting the side on, remove the gasket and use sealant. It works really well.

[troykinsvt]

i live on the goldcoast and picked up a brand new copper core for 220 the last radiator wich was an aluminium one lasted 2 years , copper is more heavy duty... dunno why everyones sayin 250+....

[ucwepn]

I need one too my right plastic tank has a small dribble, can't see where its coming from. probably going to go the ebay alloy 55mm jobby and get my mechanic to fit and flush.

[kizza50]

Straight up springvale road, railway road black burn, nationwide auto parts. Brand néw radiator with 12 month warrantee, $115, fitted myself in 30 mins. Perfect

[MrSirWantalot]

Hi all,

Well the plastic tank on the right hand side of my radiator finally cracked on Monday. Today i took it to NatRad, and old mate there reccomended that both plastic tanks be replaced as well as the radiator itself. All up he quoted me $420 installed and with a flush. Having a search on the forums this seemed a bit steep... I'm pretty keen to take it to my local guy to get a second opinion.
Can anyone on JC reccommend a Radiator specialist that will do a good job for the right price? I'm located in S.E suburbs of Melbourne, but happy to travel if there is anyone highly recommended.

I just paid $70 for mine. Brand new & suits a 5.7lt auto....altho I dont need it now......wanna buy it? $50 to who ever whats it.....I decided to go all alloy!

[ucwepn]

I ordered one of ebay same as standard for $115 with a 3 year warranty gonna fit it myself after looking into it further it doesn't look very difficult, I have a seperate transcooler fitted too so even easier.

RADIATOR HOLDEN COMMODORE VT VX V8 5.7L auto&man 99-02 | eBay