Well, you start going on one of these MB's and it becomes a treasure hunt.
Yesterday I was bolting the rt frt fender back down after body repair and paint and I began eyeballing the whole inner wheel area for issues and noticed the major rust and rot along the under bumper apron/valance strip.
That of course led across to the left frt fender and the same rust rot condition.
So I removed fender liners and bumper end rubbers which exposed the rusting bumper rubber brackets.
I spent the rest of the day doing rustoration with POR 15 products.
Today, I began body and final paint work and noticed a puddle of antifreeze beneath the rad.
I think my demo and prep of the rust may have shaken or somehow moved and stressed something in the rad and opened a small crack or hole.
Which leads to my question.
Should I just buy new or is a local recore a good option?

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1981 240D 143k 4 spd manual -SOLD

2004 VW Jetta TDI 5 speed 300k -still driven daily

much easier and cheaper to replace.

I would replace with a Behr radiator. Lot of the aftermarket radiators look good until you try to fit them in. Maybe even a used one that has been pressure tested.

There are local shops that take the rad end tanks, clean and recore them.
I know a friend has had this done on his heavy equipment
But being Saturday PM I can't call around to find out prices and the like.

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1981 240D 143k 4 spd manual -SOLD

2004 VW Jetta TDI 5 speed 300k -still driven daily

The radiator had green coolant in it and I bet it has had green for many years judging by the rest of the PO service.
Would that have eaten away the core?

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1981 240D 143k 4 spd manual -SOLD

2004 VW Jetta TDI 5 speed 300k -still driven daily

What's wrong with green coolant?
It's the Dex-Cool yellow that eats stuff.

Statistically speaking, I would bet that the plastic tanks on the MB radiatiors are more problematic than the cores.

I don't think you can rebuild a Mercedes radiator with plastic ends. It takes a special process to bond plastic to metal; the rebuilders use a soldering process on metal tanks, which are all brass, I think.

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"Buster" in the '95

Our all-Diesel family
1996 E300D (W210) . .338,000 miles Wife's car
2005 E320 CDI . . 113,000 miles My car
Santa Rosa population 176,762 (2022)
Total. . . . . . . . . . . . 627,762
"Oh lord won't you buy me a Mercedes Benz."
-- Janis Joplin, October 1, 1970

My car has a manual trans and does not have auto trans line fittings on the lower tank. It is the original Behr rad.
The new Behrs I have seen for sale all have the AT fittings.
Is there a manual trans rad or do they just use the same one for both trans?
What is the thread size of those fittings and where would I get caps to plug them?

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1981 240D 143k 4 spd manual -SOLD

2004 VW Jetta TDI 5 speed 300k -still driven daily

I can't speak for Merc radiators, but every other manual car replacement radiator I have dealt with tends to be available only in the auto versions. There is almost always some little plastic plugs in the transmission cooler fittings, and they can just be left there.

I wouldn't count the radiator out just yet. many a small hole in the core can be fixed by old-fashioned radiator shops. Radiator repair is a dying art, and if you still have such a shop near by, I'd let them have a crack at a core leak.

Even a crack in the plastic tanks on a Merc radiator are not always a death sentence, as M-B has a repair kit just for fixing them. Somewhere out there, I have even seen a metal repair collar that takes care of cracked plastic radiator necks for Mercs.

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- K.C.Adams

'77 300D Euro Delivery
OM617 turbo / 4-speed swap
404 Milanbraun Metallic / 134 Dattel MB-Tex

Current status:
* Undergoing body work

My '77 300D progress thread

Buy a nissens,the behr usally break at the necks.

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1999 w140, quit voting to old, and to old to fight, a god damned veteran, deutschland deutschland uber alles uber alles in der welt

There is no real need to plug them.

I'd start contacting shops (and online) there may be an aftermarket all metal
['much more desirable than the "Plastic Tanks" Nightmare.]
They're ReCoreable and ReBuildable.

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'84 300SD sold
124.128

A re-core is fine. The trick is finding a small shop that does some high volume. Most of these shops take the time to do it right the first time because they do not want rad's. coming back.

The tanks are crimped on and use gaskets. The most common failure is a split or cracked plastic tank end. It is also possible to bump the tanks or bump one of the crimps. This can cause a small leak between the tank and the core. These leaks are easily fixed as long as the core is in good shape.

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AJ

1985 300D (SOLD)

With Aftermarkets is there a choice between Aluminum and Brass/Copper cores?

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84 300D, 82 Volvo 244Gl Diesel