Just discovered I have a leaky radiator so it's time for a new one. I have looked into the Champion that is known to be more or less a direct fit for the 3rd gens and is now about $230 on ebay. This is not an unreasonable price but I've noticed a lot of similar units (seemingly) being sold on ebay for less and my question is are they worth it. If anyone has any experiences either way with any cheaper radiators out there I'd be interested in hearing about them.

Also, my current setup does not have a transmission fluid cooling connection so my newb question is, should this be setup now that I'm already having to replace the radiator (among other things)?

 

The sticky at the top of the Cooling section has lots of information about the Champion radiators. I have the 3 core Champion myself and included some pictures of it in the sticky. They work well. Not the easiest fit. But they do fit.

You have no need for a transmission cooling line in the radiator since you have a manual transmission. I have an automatic, but don't have the transmission line hooked up to it. (I'm running an external transmission cooler)......So for you, it doesn't matter if the radiator has a transmission cooler or not.

 

Ill sell you a perfectly good stock rad, and even thrown in 1 that just needs the drain plug sealed.

-lmk

 

Thanks for the info. I'll probably end up getting the Champion unless someone out there knows of something comparable for less. I do have one final question, is the coolant volume going to be the same with the Champion radiator as it was for the stock radiator? I'm assuming I can just use my stock overflow tank and fill normally...