Another victim of infamous radiator leak problem

[shutterfly]

The red coolant warning light first came on 2 years ago, and recently it got worse. It happened twice in the last a couple of months and I had to stop on the highway to pore water into the tank.
Then I discovered on tdiclub it's a notorious problem. Just to make sure, I tear down the car and this is what I found:
In the lower middle part of the radiator, I found the leak point:

And this is caused by the wiring harness installed on the radiator shroud:

Since the harness was not installed flush with the shroud:

The part sticking out knocks/rubs the radiator from the vehicle vibration, and over time it penetrated the radiator.
I ordered a Nissen radiator online and plan on working on replacing the it. I saw some posts telling removing one of the hoses being painful, but with no details.
Here I just want to ask if anyone can share the experience replacing the radiator? The more details, the better.
Thanks!

 

[JLMurphy]

Getting the radiator out isn't too bad. The tricky bit is the passenger side radiator coupling. First you have to release the bail on the quick connect, then pull the connector off. Problem is you don't have a lot of room and the connector tends to be sticky. The air conditioner dryer is in the way and prevents accessing it from the bottom. Access from the top is worse. If you remove the passenger side tire and fender liner you may be able to get your hand up in there and yank it off.

If that doesn't work, you can do what I did since you're replacing the radiator anyway:

http://forums.tdiclub.com/showpost.php?p=4556669&postcount=30

I actually had a recurrence of the leak a while after I posted that, so obviously adding some spacers didn't help. I ended up repairing the radiator and zip-tied a piece of plastic over the problem area to hopefully prevent future issues (sorry, no pictures.) It's been 6 months since that repair, so far so good.

Jim

 

[shutterfly]

Jim,
Thanks for the reply. Your description is very useful. I am going to get a saw handy to go your way in case I can't quickly pull the connector.
To prevent the shroud from knocking/rubbing the radiator fins again, I plan to use some weather strip (those foamy strip with sticky taping on one side, you can find them in walmart), to stick them on impact areas on the shroud. That way it helps to damp the impact and avoid damaging the radiator.
UPS shows the radiator will be delivered tomorrow, and it looks like a busy weekend ahead. I will share my experience once done.

Thanks,