The OEM radiator was about $300 at the Volkswagen dealership but worth it. That long plastic seal up top fit perfectly back on the new radiator. There is a thinner bottom seal with the same black plastic material that slides on the bottom fins. It came with the new radiator. Also, I recommend you pick up some new O-rings, 1 upper and 1 lower. They were a $1.99 ea. and worth the peace of mind knowing there would be no leaks reusing the old ones. You have to dig out the old ones from about an inch deep inside the old couplings and put the new ones in the same groove. Burger Town, I really appreciate you posting this originally, it really helped this DIY'er not feel so intimidated to take this on. I am straight up 190 degrees, no leaks and fans working great! Thank you!
I'm glad I could help! Yes, I had the choice between OEM and amazon, and the only reason I went Amazon is because of cost reasons. Good idea on the o-rings though, I hadn't thought of that, but haven't had any issues yet, 3k miles later. But good to keep an eye on it anyways. Thanks for the comment!
Replaced the radiator in my daughter's 2015 CC this weekend. Thank you for the video - was super helpful!! A couple of things I'd add: 1. Getting that electrical connection for the fans to come apart felt like it took me an hour. In addition to pulling the red tab back, I also wound up having to insert a small flat head screwdriver into the slot created when the red tab slides up, and gently lifting the tab. At that point it came apart easily. 2. Getting to all the screws took a bit of creativity. Wound up using a combination of screw driver, ratchet, and ratchet swivels (all with Torx bits of course). Found cussing a bit helped as well... lol 3. Be careful taking the top hose off the radiator. There is a small (guessing 1/4") vent tube that is part of the radiator hose connector. If you put pressure on that vent tube trying to wiggle the hose off the radiator, you'll break it off and get to ride around town trying to find someone that has a replacement (O'Reily wound up being the only one here in the New Orleans area, and only at one specific store). Thanks again for the video - wouldn't have even attempted this without it, but figure you saved me a thousand bucks or so!!
While watching your video, I had a thought, tie a wet rag around the lower radiator hose connection point with a long tail of the rag hanging down into the catch-pan, to control the coolant flow into the catch-pan.
Really can't understand why you didn't video your struggle while pulling the radiator out of the vehicle without removing the grill and other parts, as many other VW radiator install videos show many more parts being removed, before the radiator can be pulled out.
I honestly didn't struggle, as with the fans removed, the radiator kind of just slid right out. But I wish I had taken a video of the process to show how easy it was.
