China radiator opinion

Saw this on Ebay : http://www.ebay.com/itm/70MM-High-Flow-aluminum-radiator-Jaguar-XJS-V12-XJ12-A-T-1976-1996-/142232966853?fits=Year%3A1989|Model%3AXJS&hash=item211dbed6c5:g:jkYAAOSwImRYa5Da&vxp=mtr

Does anyone have an opinion on this?

I say go for it. eBay gives you pretty good protection if you get junk, or get nothing.

There is a plug on the left side about 1/3 of the way down from the top. If
you look closely, you can see that just above that plug is where the divider is
welded in that separates the upper 1/3 of the core from the lower 2/3.

I’ve never seen a plug in that location before. I dunno what it’d be used for;
perhaps bleeding air out of the lower header?

Otherwise, this rad looks pretty good to me. The fittings all seem in the right
place. And if it’s made like other aluminum rads, the tubes will be an order of
magnitude less likely to get plugged up than the brass rad. And the price is
good.

I’d still prefer to convert to single-pass, but recognize that’s more alteration
than some are comfortable with doing.

– Kirbert

Those alloy V12 rads have been advertised for sale on Ebay by a number of
parts shops here in Melbourne for maybe the last year.
They are pretty cheap, typically AUD245 to AUD300, about US$185 to US$225.

They vary a bit in design, have not seen one with a plug in the 1/3 from
top LHS side.
Some have a weld seam there, others not.

I don’t know anybody who has tried one.
Would be good if a forum member tried one and reported back.
Of course, his may be from a factory that makes a batch and then no more,
The Melbourne ones may be from other factories in China or Asia.

​They could be good, but then copied by others who cut corners.​
​I bet they do not work from OEM drawings, ​more likely from a sample.
You do not have much leeway in some of the dimensions and features to make
sure it really fits well.

Richard Dowling, Melbourne, Australia. 1979 coupe + HE V12 + manual; 1989
convertible; 2003 XJ350.

The radiator I put in my car cost twice as much as this one. The only difference I see is that mine was polished, and this one is painted silver, and I’m not sure about the size of the spigot for the heater return line on the lower hose connection. Looks a little big, but could be the photo, I guess. Mine also had the “plug”, which you can’t use as there is no space around it when installed. Buy two, and then you’ll have a spare! What ever you decide to do, if you want to use the original electric cooling fan/shroud ass’y, make sure it will fit around the upper (port) side hose connection, BEFORE you put the rad. in place and hook everything up. I installed the (Wizard) rad. and then found that there was interference and the shroud had to be modified.

My plug is for the new electric cooling fan’s sensor if your changing over to electric fans. Simply move the wires from the water pump sensor to the new rad sensor. Wizard supplied a sensor with the aluminum rad. I don;t know the fan’s on/off specks though.

The
only difference I see is that mine was polished, and this one is
painted silver…

That might not be real. There’s a practice of painting metal parts silver for
taking a good photograph. I certainly don’t see any good reason they’d paint
an aluminum radiator silver in production.

and I’m not sure about the size of the spigot for the
heater return line on the lower hose connection. Looks a little big,
but could be the photo, I guess.

It was 5/8" on my '83. Do you think this one looks bigger than that?

Mine also had the “plug”, which you
can’t use as there is no space around it when installed.

Your rad came from a different source yet had that same plug? Curiouser
and curiouser. Plugs cost money; they don’t put them in for nothing.

I don’t recall what blocks that area; been too long, I guess. Header tank?

– Kirbert

My plug is for the new electric cooling fan’s sensor if your changing
over to electric fans. Simply move the wires from the water pump
sensor to the new rad sensor. Wizard supplied a sensor with the
aluminum rad. I don;t know the fan’s on/off specks though.

OK, that makes sense! I presume the OEM sensor in the pump inlet is a
different thread or something, you can’t just swap it over?

Can you provide any info on that sensor, for the benefit of anyone who got
this rad and didn’t get a sensor with it, or for anyone else who might want to
know?

Is it difficult to access with the rad in place? We’d already heard the location
was unusable!

It would certainly be handy for a dual-electric-fan setup, as you could use the
OEM sensor to run one and the sensor here to run the other.

Functionally: On paper, this is the same location as the pump inlet; it should
be sensing the temp of the coolant coming out of the rad, meaning the
coolant at the COOLEST it gets during its cycle through the system. It
should be very cool indeed, quite a bit cooler than the coolant at the gauge
sensor or the EFI sensor on the thermostat housings, which are at the
HOTTEST place in the cycle.

There is one, perhaps significant, difference between this spot and the pump
inlet, though, and that is that the pump inlet should have coolant flowing past
it at a pretty good clip while this plug is located at a relatively dead corner of
the header tank. It might, under some conditions, even collect some air or
steam bubbles during operation. I dunno if any of that would make any
difference at all to its operation, as presumably it’d still sense the outlet temp.

– Kirbert

I was literally looking at the same eBay listing just earlier today.

I think I’m going to pull the trigger. The difference in price is so far and they have such great reviews.

Anymore opinions would be welcome.

I’ll report back once I get it.

The new aluminum rad sensor on the left USA driver side is easy to get at since I don’t have the stock shroud. I’m using the whole aftermarket kit, fans, shroud, rad and sensor. I never took the water pump sensor out. Its just a “plug” in the water pump now. Don’t know about the sensor thread size, same or not but its a lot bigger than 5/8. I would assume the water @ the rad sensor is cooler than @ the water pump sensor, meaning the fans will turn on less. I also bent the terminals flush on the water pump plug/sensor. It gives a little more room between the sensor & fan.

The ad on e-bay describes the finish as “Silver spray” whatever that means, and I remember the 5/8 connection- this just “looks” bigger to me!
The extra hole on the port side had a plastic plug in it. I got hold of a couple of aluminum plugs from Summit, thinking that I could put an extra temp. transmitter in the system. I drilled and tapped a plug and then found that the electric fan shroud would clear the plug ok, but not the sending unit. The plug is a #10 7/8x14 BTW.

Don’t know
about the sensor thread size, same or not but its a lot bigger than
5/8.

I wasn’t talking about the sensor, I was talking about the heater return line
which connects into the lower radiator hose connection a few inches below
that sensor. It was 5/8" on my '83, I would hope it’s the same size here or it’ll
require fiddling to connect the hose up.

I would assume the water @ the rad sensor is cooler than @ the
water pump sensor, meaning the fans will turn on less.

Why would you assume that? They’re seeing exactly the same coolant from
the outlet end of the radiator.

I also bent the
terminals flush on the water pump plug/sensor. It gives a little more
room between the sensor & fan.

Mine were flush when I got the car! You mean they originally stuck straight
out?

– Kirbert

Sorry I don’t know that hose size.
I assume that the water pump sensor , being in the higher temp block would be rated to let the stock fan come on faster, I’m not using that sensor so it’s irrelevant, just a though. I’m very satisfied with the new relocated rad sensor in relation to the fans on/off cycles even though they operate at one speed.
Yes the terminal’s on the water pump sensor pointed straight out toward the front of the car. Bending them gave me a little more room. That extra inch helps when r&r the fans & shroud as one unit.

I assume that the water pump sensor , being in the higher temp block…

It’s not in the block. It’s in the water pump inlet elbow.

would be rated to let the stock fan come on faster…

I think most here have been upset that it doesn’t come on fast enough! With
the OEM setup, there’s a belt-driven fan that provides most of the airflow and
that switch and the 11" fan are only supplemental, so it might be expected
it’s rated to ONLY run the electric fan when temps are starting to get out of
hand. When one switches to an all-electric fan setup, sometimes the feeling
is that a switch that brings at least one fan on sooner is in order, something
more in line with normal running rather than waiting until temps are soaring.

– Kirbert

Well gentlemen, I purchased the radiator and a wait it’s arrival from China.
I will get back to everyone once I install it and see how it works out.

It is surprisingly easy to fit twin electric fans if you are removing the radiator. Down under we have 6 cylinder Ford Fairmont and the twin fan shroud is close to a perfect fit on the jag radiator. This setup MUST be the same as another 6 cylinder Ford available in the USA. Some slicing to remove unwanted plastic bits and a few pop riveted aluminium plate and it is permanently attached to the radiator. Very tidy. Gets rid of the yellow fan exploding, one belt drive and no roaring fan on start up. You do have to bend the temp sensor tabs on the pump inlet sideways to fit it in.
Matt

It is surprisingly easy to fit twin electric fans if you are removing
the radiator. Down under we have 6 cylinder Ford Fairmont and the twin
fan shroud is close to a perfect fit on the jag radiator. This setup
MUST be the same as another 6 cylinder Ford available in the USA.

Actually, I’m betting not. You guys down under have had inline-six RWD
Fords forever, but I don’t think the US has had any for decades. And it’s
unknown whether any of the popular V6 FWD Fords have a twin-fan setup
that would work.

That said, I’ve never considered the idea of converting to electric fans to be
all that difficult. IMHO, the biggest problem people run into is that they head
for aftermarket electric fans rather than OEM fans from some common
model car at a breakers. There are several good reasons NOT to trust an
aftermarket electric fan, the first being that it has only been designed to
lighten your wallet, not necessarily cool an actual automobile. I’ve personally
seen some that you could watch running yet you couldn’t feel any air
movement with your hands. Another issue is that many (most?) of the
aftermarket fans come with a grille to keep fingers out, and those grilles
block airflow whether the fan is running or not.

Here is my installation as well as a couple of others:

http://www.jag-lovers.org/xj-s/book/ElecFan.html

– Kirbert

Can anyone help with the correct transmission fitting for the new radiator to existing transmission cooler
lines?

This is old radiator connection.

This is the new fitting. I believe it’s 06 AN but not sure

I’m hoping this would be the correct fitting.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/6-AN-6-AN-Female-Swivel-To-3-8-NPT-Pipe-Thread-Fitting-BLK/262946345048?_trksid=p2047675.c100005.m1851&_trkparms=aid%3D222007%26algo%3DSIC.MBE%26ao%3D2%26asc%3D40130%26meid%3D0bd480a8debd442c9e07c7ba2a87f61f%26pid%3D100005%26rk%3D5%26rkt%3D6%26sd%3D391600737017

The 6 AN female swivel end fits but not the 3/8" end to the existing trans lines for the cooler connections.
Also just discovered the banjo bolt on the right and bleeder bolt on the left side don’t fit the threaded insert of Chinese radiator