hi all - so it turns out that got a small leak from the passenger side and it point out to the radiator so far. researching how to remove the fans for further inspection, it doesn't look to be the drain petcock nor the front intercooler radiator. At this point i e change every single cooling hose this car has and just got a new ac delco water pump so may as well go ahead and change the radiator. Rock auto sell a niessens brand unit- has anybody had any good or bad experience with that brand or any recommendation on a different brand?

 

I had a so-so experience, at best. Nissens radiator came a bit bent. The fit to the fan shroud was just OK, but nowhere near as air tight as the original. There was an unplugged bleed port on the top driver side, which as not been used since '98, I believe. It was somehow left to me to plug this up. Double check the transmission line fittings as they change over time. Overall I should have sent it back. Disclosure: this model somehow came up cheaper in the search, with just 1 left, so maybe it was old stock. Or a model for the early years fitted with transmission line adapters. Did not look to be a return though. Not sure there are many cheap/available alternatives to Nissens though...

Best of luck, keep us posted.

 

Thanks for your feedback fmertz;
That port you mentioned is used on the xkr for the coolant degas bottle. looked at previous posts here regarding the transmission cooler fittings, it seems for the xk8 may need an adapter but not for the xkr.

Anyways, will have to buy one and see how it goes. strange enough partsgeek.com has multiple models that fit XKR all niessens and that is interesting.

 

Heres an update: radiator came in yesterday 3 days ahead of schedule and via 7.99 fedex shipping so im very happy.

It was very well packed have to say and came with the adapters as it has been mentioned by other member. As of now it looks like its a perfect fit for a XKR - i've threaded the fitting adapters provided into my upper transmission lines and it fits . Did not see any side seals on my unit but the oem had a top foam seal that i may be able to reuse and if not can find inline. Haven't put the fans yet so will inform on that soon.

Hence , tentatively will say that for my application it looks plug and play. It wasn't easy to remove the old one but doable.

 

After some time fumbling with hoses and condenser was able to remove and install the new radiator. It can be done without removal
of condenser.

Fitment is pretty good, only drawback is the Nissens radiator does not come with the top foam air seal or side seal that mine had. The left driver side seal could have removed and installed but didn't want to re-use and don't seem there may be a difference. The Nissens replacement radiator does not have the top finisher were the seal goes all you have is the cooling fins. For the price paid, seems a bargain to me. The adapters that came in fitted perfectly on my transmission line coolers however because i've disturbed the hoses to make space now got the dreaded fitting oil leak. waiting for the new transmission cooler hoses, haven't tested though noticed for the short time that had the engine on to check for water leaks that it warms up faster.

Overall satisfied so far with fitment, a bit bummed by the transmission oil leak and researching how bad changing those lines would be. Once im done installing my realgauge may see how efficient my new cooling system is.

 

Yeah I had the same problem on my 2000 XK8. I used a Nissens radiator and it fit and works fine except for a few issues. The original radiator had more structures on it (rails) to support the weather stripping to seal up the engine compartment. As I wanted to get more air circulating in the engine compartment this was not an issue for me.
Regarding replacing the radiator I took mine out in pieces leaving the AC unit alone. I would look at the workshop manual procedure as I think it would be easier to do. However they have you open up the AC system and it will require two people to pull the radiator and fans out as one unit. Putting the hood into the "service" position will also make the job easier.