How long are LR3 radiators good for?

[SoCal LR3]

i've owned bmws for a long time. a while back bmw went from all metal radiators to plastic ones. the metal ones would last a long time; the plastic ones crap out around 100k miles.

what's the story on LR3 radiators? last forever or change out on a preventative basis?

 

[kwlr3]

Good question. I have been on this forum since Nov. 2005 ('05 HSE) and have never heard of a radiator going bad. But, every other vehicle (Maza, Isuzu, BMW) that I have owned with a plastic/aluminum unit has gone bad at about 100,000 miles or six years.

A good way to see what parts are going bad on LR3's is to look at the catalogues of the aftermarket suppliers. If they are stocking it, someone is buying it. By that line of reasoning, you'll replace your thermostat before the radiator, and air compressor before the air springs and a transfer case or differential before the engine or transmission.

Let's cross our fingers that no one has had to replace one and this is the end of this thread. (Ha!)

 

[Disco Mike]

If you use distilled water and good coolant, maybe a bottle of Water Wetter or Purple Ice, you shouldn't have a blockage issues, then all you have to worry about is the heat fatigue on the plastic.

 

[hell pie]

An old thread, but...

I put in a new radiator last weekend at 160,000 miles. The radiator had developed some stress cracks where the upper radiator hose connects. Coolant had been leaking there for at least a few thousand miles. The plastic that the hoses attach to had gotten brittle way before that, to the point of crumbling. All that plastic in the engine bay constantly heating up and cooling down is not good. A couple of weeks ago I needed to change one of the turn indicator bulbs in the headlight assembly, which involves removing the grill. When I squeezed the plastic tabs to remove the grill, most of them snapped in half!

 

[Houm_WA]

....are the plastic hose-connects part of the radiator? Can they be replaced with brass ones?

 

[hell pie]

Yes, the plastic hose connects are part of the radiator. I don't think they could reasonably be replaced with brass ones. They are located too close to the edge of the radiator. One fellow on the disco3 site did this to the expansion tank hose connect to provide additional support:

Oddly enough, the transmission fluid hose connects on the radiator are made of metal.

 

[Houm_WA]

So to your original question, I don't know how long the radiators last, but yours got 160,000 miles, and mine has 126,000 on it. So those are a few data points....

 

[SoCal66]

My radiator has 132,000 miles on it if that helps (2006 LR3).

 

[catman]

I have 151,000 on my original 08 LR3 radiator, but my wife's 08 FFRR is on its third radiator and she has 122,000 miles....

 

[gabrielef]

My original radiator made it to 177K miles. The replacement made it to another 98K miles, and I am replacing it this weekend.