Check Your A3 Golf Radiator Mounts

[Dave Zaslow]

I had a small leak at Pocono and did a pressure test on the radiator. I heard the pssst of water leaking out. After taking the nose off I discovered that the passenger side mounting foot had broken off the radiator and it is part of the plastic end-tank. The break left a very small ctack in the tank, as well as leaving the radiator unsupported on that side. The two feet are not shown in E**a or in the manual (!). There is a foam rubber isolator the that fits into a mounting hole in the foot. There is a bolt/washer/ bushing assembly that goes through the bushing and locates the radiator on both sides. I hope this was just a one-of-a-kind incident, but be aware....

The picture below is before it broke off.

DZ

[JamesB]

Dave,

You have had some of the oddest issues with that golf. Generally in street trim that is not an issue, but thinking about the flex of the front end under corner load during racing, it might warrent upgrading to an all aluminum radiator to avoid that plastic failure.