cameron1292

Ive looked at all the threads discussing it and how to identify. its pouring rain right now and looks like it will be for a day or 2 but i went outside and couldnt see much of anything. im doing a flush soon so i guess i can check it out then. but in the bulletin it stated the chassis numbers that were affected. i have an 02 c320 made in 10/2001... so im guessing i have a valeo because they were used until 09/2003? anyway in the bulletin it said the chassis numbers affected and if im correct it has the numbers in your vin.. my vin is WDBRF64J02F201570... so the last six are 201570.. it didnt have that in the list so does that mean im not affected? i figured all pre 03 c classes would be affected with the same radiator.

marcanders

Who is doing your flush? Are you doing it or someone else? I am pretty passionate about fixing Valeo radiators as I had one in my 2003 C240 and I was also having transmission problems. If I didn't catch it and fix it when I did, I would have had to replace the tranny for around $4,000. I agree, it was a headache to identify, but a Valeo radiator has straight toothed crimping of the radiator end tanks while the Behr has a wavy strip of metal crimping around the end tanks. See the attached link hat shows a Valeo one. http://forums.mercedesclub.org.uk/sh...42&postcount=3 I wouldn't trust it either has on or doesn't have one based upon a VIN check.

Let me ask you, why are you asking? Are you having transmission problems or just being on top of things? If you have a Valeo radiator, you would you would want to replace it and do the flush AFTER they replace it. A flush uses a lot of expensive tranny fluid, so don't do a flush and then find out you have a Valeo radiator and then do another flush.

cameron1292

i just like to make sure shes running at her best and if i can stop anything from happening then i sure want to i saw all the threads and stuff i just thought it was weird that my chassis wasnt in there i figured all w203s before 2003 had the faulty one but anyway i was going to do it im going on a trip in a week or so and i was going to do coolant oil and tranny because its a long drive lol

C230 Sport Coup

If you aren't sure, swing past a dealer and ask to see new radiator, and compare to yours.
More informed reading.
https://mbworld.org/forums/2254029-post59.html

cameron1292

yea i think i might. i mean its not in the affected chassis but that doesnt mean anything. is there a time frame that things start happening or is it random?

samaritrey

Not all early w203's had the Valeo radiators. My very late 01 has a Behr and an 02 I looked at years ago also did and it was a mid 02 build.

cameron1292

thats good to know. i wonder what made mercedes switch to the valeo. or maybe it depends where the car was made. mine is bremen, what about yours? maybe certain factories used them and some didnt...

mtnman82

Yep, my early '03 has the Behr radiator. Quite some time ago I posted some pics when I was trying to figure out which one I had - if I remember correctly one identifying feature was the crimping on the side of the radiator.

cameron1292

Yea I've heard about the crimping on the radiator. I need to get outside and really look at it but from what I saw the other day I'm not sure how ill find out it seems like its hard too see Because of the fan

mis3

My understanding is not all Valeos have the leak issue. If I have knew about this issue a few years earlier, I would certainly change it. My w209 (2004) is almost 10 years old and has 270k km, I think my radiator is probably ok.

My indie and I tried to look at my radiator last year but because all the hoses and trims, it was very hard to tell if it was a Valeo or Behr.

cameron1292

That's what I'm saying the time I tried to check it was hard to see. And yes from what I've read there not all bad

marcanders

Mine went out after 9 years and 120k miles. They aren't all bad, but it I look at replacing it as insurance in case it is a bad one.

cameron1292

Damn that long??? I'll defiantly check mine out