Technical Radiator change for Seicento 1.1 (sporting)

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Technical Radiator change for Seicento 1.1 (sporting)

OwenCr

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Hi there.

I'm in the process of buying parts to service my 2003 Seicento 1.1 sporting (lovely little car, just reaching 30K miles!) and one of these is replacing the radiator.

I've looked online (ebay and so on) and I have noticed that they come in two sizes:

One has a core width of 248mm and core height of 465mm ... this I think is the dimensions of the current one of my car... autodoc.co.uk/nrf/2392009

the other has as slightly larger core... width of 285mm and height of 450mm ... autodoc.co.uk/mahle-original/15294802

What I would like to know is does it matter much about what size to get? If it doesn't matter, would a larger core be more efficient in cooling?

Thanks in advance. :)
 
46558704 is listed in ePER for the MPI
Your 2003 car should be MPI, so that is the correct rad for your car.

Hi David. Yeah my car is the MPI version (FIRE engine). I've looked for that part number and have found many on ebay, though the dimension is the larger one (285mm core width) ... so I'm hoping this will still fit my car. My question still stands though ... does the core size really matter that much on these Seicentos?
 
I can’t see the dimensions being that far apart, so it could be a case of different people measuring it differently.
ie overall rather than just the Aluminium core.

Yeah, good point. Dimensions described on these ebays items could mean the entire thing itself.
Ok, thanks for your help.
 
See if you can find a drawing of the radiator... a lot of sellers paste the diagram with the dimensions.

If everything else about the radiator is the same then the size doesn't matter but the wrong radiator for your car can have the hose outlets in a different place, or the hose stub may be in a location where it fouls the headlamp, or bodywork etc.

I only opted for a bigger radiator in my old Alfa 155 (v6).. I fitted a radiatore from a 2.5 diesel which was exactly identical (including the locating lugs) but the diesel radiator was just 5 cm wider at the end in the middle of the car.. so perfect.

It didn't affect the car 99% of the time, although I guess it must have been able to cool down more quickly during the 1%.. :unsure: 😅


Ralf S.
 
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