Hi Guys-

This is my first visit to your forum, and am in need of some advice.

My car - 1981 Mercedes 300CD.....it has the non-turbo motor. I bought it with 200K miles, and a fresh rebuild on the motor. It now has 240K miles, almost 5 years later. It runs good.

I have noticed over the past year or so a tendency to run a little bit warm....not hot, just warmer than it used to run. At a stoplight, the needle will rise above the line on the temp gauge that indicates 100 (only 80 and 120 have numbers) As soon as I take off again, the needle moves back to it's normal position.

So, being the frugal person I am, I found a rebuilt radiator on eBay, purported to fit my car.
The fittings on the replacement radiator for the transmission-cooling lines seem to be missing, although there are two plugs on the underside of the bottom, facing straight down. I can see that these two plugs only lead to the general reservoir, and must be for draining.

The radiator in the car now has fittings that come straight out the back at the bottom of the radiator. Hoses have about 6 inches of rubber flex, surrounded by wire wrapping.

Did I get a replacement for a manual transmission?

Can I make this new one work?

Did I get hosed?

Regards,
Searobin