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BEHR/Hella Condenser not fitting

leeshephard

Well-known member
Joined
11 Jan 2009
Messages
85
Morning, I am (finally) sorting my AC at the moment and currently replacing the condenser but the d*mn thing wont fit into the metal bracket/housing. I don't want to force it in case it gets scratched then needs to go back.

I measured the old rad and it is about 39mm thick - the new one is 45mm.

Anyone had this issue?


Cheers

Lee
 

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I have heard of and read of this issue so before I recently bought one for my C4 I went to ECP and tried both the Hella and the NRF condenser in the "cassette".

As you state the Hella condenser was wider. I understand that the Hella condenser can be made to fit - you just need to be a bit more persuasive with it.

However I felt that in the unlikely event of a problem with the Hella condenser it would difficult to take it back if it showed signs of a reluctant fit.

Whilst I would have preferred to purchase the Hella I went for the one manufactured by NRF which slide straight in and cost me £98.62 plus vat
 
I hadn't heard of that before. I was under the impression the hella was OEM. :?:

You have me worried now as I've had a new one in the cupboard for over a year now which I've been meaning to fit. Let's hope they have only recently changed production.
 
Just wanted to update this as I have just received the NRF rad. It fits perfectly and just slides in! much better.
 

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Good result.
Last year I bought a condenser and dryer from Advanced Radiators. Price was very good and the dryer was perfect fit but the condenser was a bit too wide and didn't sit fully down in the "cassette".

There was time pressure as the mobile air conditioning chap was standing by to fill the system so I squeezed it in.

But I feel slightly ill whenever I think about it and occasionally wake up in a cold sweat. :nooo:
 
kerb scraper said:
Good result.
Last year I bought a condenser and dryer from Advanced Radiators. Price was very good and the dryer was perfect fit but the condenser was a bit too wide and didn't sit fully down in the "cassette".

There was time pressure as the mobile air conditioning chap was standing by to fill the system so I squeezed it in.

But I feel slightly ill whenever I think about it and occasionally wake up in a cold sweat. :nooo:

I done the same myself, 2 years later I was swapping it out as it rubbed against the cassette and bore a wear hole in it. The next one I purchased fit perfectly! Hopefully mine was a one off and you wont have the same wear problems.
 
Ugh

Got myself into this mess now.

Have a hella/Behr condenser that's too big

Around 5-8mm too long and too thick

Is there actually a proper way to get it to fit or is it just the wrong size and for the wrong car? Surely it's way off... is there a different bracket?
 
There seems to be 2 different manufacturers making these for Hella some fit some don't. Mine was ok but several reports of fat ones from Rennlist.
 
If possible, send the non-fitting condenser back and get another that does fit.

As mentioned in the thread, three years ago I squeezed in the slightly too fat one by messing about removing bits of bracket to make it sit a bit lower and then sawing a bit off a bolt protruding down from the headlight pod to give extra clearance. Not pretty but over three years later it is still working very well. If it fails I'd definitely use the fright size next time.
 
I fitted a Behr condenser about 4 years ago and had to replace it about a year ago due to leakage. The garage doing the swap (a well-respected independent specialist) said they'd had a number of reports of the Behr units failing, and recommended the NRF unit as a replacement.
 
Just bought the NRF receiver condenser and dryer based on this, thanks for the heads-up.
 
Bought the condenser and dryer from buycarparts.co.uk. Was about £90 for both iirc
 

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