New to MBWorld and new owner of a C32
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From: North Aurora, IL
2002 C32 AMG, 1997 C5 Corvette (sold)
New to MBWorld and new owner of a C32
Hello everyone. Just joined the forum today. As of last Saturday I am a new proud owner of a 2002 C32, 39K miles 
. Love the car so far, although I've been reading a lot in here as far as the typical things that could go wrong with the car - mainly the IC Pump failure and Valeo Radiator. I purchased an extended warranty for the car so am wondering if I should be proactive and replace these items before they malfunction or wait and then let the warranty take care of it. Thoughts? Thanks in advance for your comments.
Regards,
Francis
. Love the car so far, although I've been reading a lot in here as far as the typical things that could go wrong with the car - mainly the IC Pump failure and Valeo Radiator. I purchased an extended warranty for the car so am wondering if I should be proactive and replace these items before they malfunction or wait and then let the warranty take care of it. Thoughts? Thanks in advance for your comments.Regards,
Francis
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From: Plano, TX
2002 C32 ///AMG
Hello everyone. Just joined the forum today. As of last Saturday I am a new proud owner of a 2002 C32, 39K miles . Love the car so far, although I've been reading a lot in here as far as the typical things that could go wrong with the car - mainly the IC Pump failure and Valeo Radiator. I purchased an extended warranty for the car so am wondering if I should be proactive and replace these items before they malfunction or wait and then let the warranty take care of it. Thoughts? Thanks in advance for your comments.
Regards,
Francis
. Love the car so far, although I've been reading a lot in here as far as the typical things that could go wrong with the car - mainly the IC Pump failure and Valeo Radiator. I purchased an extended warranty for the car so am wondering if I should be proactive and replace these items before they malfunction or wait and then let the warranty take care of it. Thoughts? Thanks in advance for your comments.Regards,
Francis
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W221
Hello everyone. Just joined the forum today. As of last Saturday I am a new proud owner of a 2002 C32, 39K miles . Love the car so far, although I've been reading a lot in here as far as the typical things that could go wrong with the car - mainly the IC Pump failure and Valeo Radiator. I purchased an extended warranty for the car so am wondering if I should be proactive and replace these items before they malfunction or wait and then let the warranty take care of it. Thoughts? Thanks in advance for your comments.
Regards,
Francis
. Love the car so far, although I've been reading a lot in here as far as the typical things that could go wrong with the car - mainly the IC Pump failure and Valeo Radiator. I purchased an extended warranty for the car so am wondering if I should be proactive and replace these items before they malfunction or wait and then let the warranty take care of it. Thoughts? Thanks in advance for your comments.Regards,
Francis
Congrats on the car - don't forget to post some pics! We need to meet up to catch up on things - should be fun.
I think we might have another Chicago meet soon, everyone is getting ready to jump to summer rubber!
Enjoy your car, I hope to see you soon!
Eugene
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Joined: Nov 2006
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From: Ottawa, Ontario
C32 AMG - in Pewter
Francis, since the extended warranty is fairly expensive, I would use it to cover things as they break. One caveat though. By doing things productively you are paying money that you should not (with the warranty) but you are possibly saving much time and frustration having to deal with dealerships.
If I was to go proactive, change the rad first as leak may have bad consequences to the transmission. As for the I/C pump, get the most of your pump and wait until it breaks. If you change now, the after another 40k miles you may have to change again.
If I was to go proactive, change the rad first as leak may have bad consequences to the transmission. As for the I/C pump, get the most of your pump and wait until it breaks. If you change now, the after another 40k miles you may have to change again.
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From: North Aurora, IL
2002 C32 AMG, 1997 C5 Corvette (sold)
Thanks everyone for the quick responses. I think I'll probably go ahead and replace the radiator to head-off any problems with the transmission. I'm not too mechanically inclined...anyone know of a reputable technician in the Chicagoland area that would do the install for me (including flushing of fluids) once I have the radiator? Perhaps an MB Tech that does some side jobs? By the way, I think I'm going with a Behr Radiator...any concerns with this?
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From: North Aurora, IL
2002 C32 AMG, 1997 C5 Corvette (sold)
Hey Francis, I'm glad you decided to join!
Congrats on the car - don't forget to post some pics! We need to meet up to catch up on things - should be fun.
I think we might have another Chicago meet soon, everyone is getting ready to jump to summer rubber!
Enjoy your car, I hope to see you soon!
Eugene
Congrats on the car - don't forget to post some pics! We need to meet up to catch up on things - should be fun.
I think we might have another Chicago meet soon, everyone is getting ready to jump to summer rubber!
Enjoy your car, I hope to see you soon!
Eugene
See you soon.
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From: Southern Cal
a C32 AMG & S-Works Tarmac
Thanks everyone for the quick responses. I think I'll probably go ahead and replace the radiator to head-off any problems with the transmission. I'm not too mechanically inclined...anyone know of a reputable technician in the Chicagoland area that would do the install for me (including flushing of fluids) once I have the radiator? Perhaps an MB Tech that does some side jobs? By the way, I think I'm going with a Behr Radiator...any concerns with this?
Welcome aboard.
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From: North Aurora, IL
2002 C32 AMG, 1997 C5 Corvette (sold)
Thanks for that tip Scott. I'll definitely check it out. Maybe I'll get lucky and have one that already has the Behr.
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From: Ottawa, Ontario
C32 AMG - in Pewter
My early 2003 model has the Valeo 
I hope you are lucky as my car was at the dealership today for coolant loss issue and they could not find anything.
I cornered them asking if they checked for I/C core leak as well as doing glycol contamination test on the trany fluid. They were avoiding a straight answer and later said yes (I wonder now what they have really done). I will see the paper later when I get my car.
Great car though and I missed it while it was there
I hope you are lucky as my car was at the dealership today for coolant loss issue and they could not find anything.
I cornered them asking if they checked for I/C core leak as well as doing glycol contamination test on the trany fluid. They were avoiding a straight answer and later said yes (I wonder now what they have really done). I will see the paper later when I get my car.
Great car though and I missed it while it was there
Thread Starter
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From: North Aurora, IL
2002 C32 AMG, 1997 C5 Corvette (sold)
My early 2003 model has the Valeo
I hope you are lucky as my car was at the dealership today for coolant loss issue and they could not find anything.
I cornered them asking if they checked for I/C core leak as well as doing glycol contamination test on the trany fluid. They were avoiding a straight answer and later said yes (I wonder now what they have really done). I will see the paper later when I get my car.
Great car though and I missed it while it was there
I hope you are lucky as my car was at the dealership today for coolant loss issue and they could not find anything.
I cornered them asking if they checked for I/C core leak as well as doing glycol contamination test on the trany fluid. They were avoiding a straight answer and later said yes (I wonder now what they have really done). I will see the paper later when I get my car.
Great car though and I missed it while it was there
I'm also a previous owner of a '97 C5 Corvette. I definitely prefer the refinement of the C32.
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From: Plano, TX
2002 C32 ///AMG
It's a little tough to find where it says valeo, but just take a flashlight and look down through the cracks on the top driver side at the radiator. That view is what made me see it.
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From: North Aurora, IL
2002 C32 AMG, 1997 C5 Corvette (sold)
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From: North Aurora, IL
2002 C32 AMG, 1997 C5 Corvette (sold)
Ok...any other tips on this? Just tried looking around the top driver side of the radiator with a flashlight and couldn't see anything. The only thing I saw was a number stamped on top - 61515; not sure if this is a part no. or what?
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From: Plano, TX
2002 C32 ///AMG
What you were actually looking at was the top of the radiator, right (it's right in front of the fans)? It's kinda small and says "valeo" if it is in fact a valeo. Who knows though, it could have been traded out already by previous owner? Maybe someone else has insight on what that number means.
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From: North Aurora, IL
2002 C32 AMG, 1997 C5 Corvette (sold)
What you were actually looking at was the top of the radiator, right (it's right in front of the fans)? It's kinda small and says "valeo" if it is in fact a valeo. Who knows though, it could have been traded out already by previous owner? Maybe someone else has insight on what that number means.
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From: Virginia
2002 C32
You probably already have it.
Regards,
Pete
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From: North Aurora, IL
2002 C32 AMG, 1997 C5 Corvette (sold)
I don't want to get your hopes up here, but that stamped number is the same one and location on my new Behr radiator. The Valeo radiator has a sticker in the same place that stamp is that says "Valeo". FYI, on the Behr radiator I bought it was labeled "behr" on the side of the radiator (can't remember which side).
You probably already have it.
Regards,
Pete
You probably already have it.
Regards,
Pete
Thread Starter
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From: North Aurora, IL
2002 C32 AMG, 1997 C5 Corvette (sold)
I don't want to get your hopes up here, but that stamped number is the same one and location on my new Behr radiator. The Valeo radiator has a sticker in the same place that stamp is that says "Valeo". FYI, on the Behr radiator I bought it was labeled "behr" on the side of the radiator (can't remember which side).
You probably already have it.
Regards,
Pete
You probably already have it.
Regards,
Pete
Regards,
Francis
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C
Welcome, I'm in the same boat, got a C32 with 32,500 miles like a month ago. So far so good, but I did replace the radiator and coolant/tranny fluid to be proactive and prevent any failures. And yeah, the IC pump is supposed to fail around 40k miles? I will probably get that replaced soon too. One thing I learned, this car likes to go fast, that's why when I'm daily driving it, I put it in "W(inter)" mode, so it starts in 2nd gear, prolly saves me some gas too.
This caught my eye. In the UK the two gearbox modes are S(port) and C(omfort). Is this different in the US??
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From: Southern Cal
a C32 AMG & S-Works Tarmac
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Hey Francis, I'm glad you decided to join!
Congrats on the car - don't forget to post some pics! We need to meet up to catch up on things - should be fun.
I think we might have another Chicago meet soon, everyone is getting ready to jump to summer rubber!
Enjoy your car, I hope to see you soon!
Eugene
Congrats on the car - don't forget to post some pics! We need to meet up to catch up on things - should be fun.
I think we might have another Chicago meet soon, everyone is getting ready to jump to summer rubber!
Enjoy your car, I hope to see you soon!
Eugene
hey Eugene, u need to set up another meet this summer. also, we need to find a place where we can
