Volkswagen Caddy Radiator: Specs, Fitment & Common Faults

If your Caddy has an EA888 TSI engine, VW has legally admitted to using "inferior thermoplastic materials" in the water pump housing — a real class-action settlement covers this.

Illustration for editorial purposes

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OEM Part Number: confirm via VIN — radiators (aftermarket) Nissens 65281A / Valeo 734332

Accuracy note: Covers the Volkswagen Caddy (2K 2010-2020) as listed in the UK aftermarket catalogues. Radiators are sold by engine, gearbox and air-conditioning fitment, and one model usually has two or three different cores — a thicker core for diesels and automatics, a thinner one for small petrols — with different hose positions, so a radiator for the wrong engine will not connect up. The references below are UK aftermarket listings whose fitment lists name this generation, labelled by brand with the core size in mm; genuine numbers are those quoted against the listing. Check your engine code and whether the car has air conditioning against your VIN, and replace the coolant and bleed the system after fitting.

Radiators (aftermarket)	Nissens 65281A (650 x 452 x 34 mm, with sealing cap, without expansion tank, without gasket/seal); Nissens 65277 (650 x 415 x 23 mm, without gasket/seal); Nissens 65280A (650 x 416 x 34 mm, without cap, without expansion tank, with gaskets/seals); Valeo 734332 (650 x 415 x 23 mm, for vehicles without oil cooler, without coolant regulator); Valeo 734333 (650 x 454 x 34 mm, for vehicles without oil cooler); NRF 53404 (650 x 415 x 23 mm, with gaskets/seals); NRF 53406 (648 x 388 x 26 mm, with gaskets/seals); NRF 53425 (647 x 440 x 32 mm, with gaskets/seals)
Core sizes & variants	650 mm wide; the 23 mm core is the standard fit and the 34 mm core is for the 2.0 TDI with higher cooling demand and DSG versions.
Genuine (OE) numbers quoted	None quoted in catalogue listings — order a genuine unit against your VIN
Fitment notes	The Caddy III (2K, 2004-2015) uses the same radiator family, so these cover most Caddys on UK roads.

Accuracy note: genuinely worth knowing: automatic gearbox Caddys typically need a radiator with a built-in transmission oil cooler that manual versions don't have — ordering the manual-spec part for an automatic car will fit, but won't cool the gearbox oil properly.

Confirmed: A Genuinely Serious, Class-Action-Level Design Flaw on TSI Engines — Volkswagen Caddy Radiator

If your car has a TSI turbo petrol engine (particularly the EA888 family used across much of VW's range from around 2015 onward), this is genuinely the single most important thing to know before anything else on this page. The water pump and thermostat are combined into one integrated plastic housing, and this plastic becomes brittle and develops hairline cracks after thousands of ordinary heat cycles — leading to a coolant leak that's often difficult to spot at first. This isn't a minor manufacturing quirk: VW has confirmed through legal documents that "inferior thermoplastic materials were used" in these water pump components, and the issue has been the subject of multiple class-action lawsuits.

What VW's settlement genuinely offers: a Technical Service Bulletin extends the warranty on this specific part to 8 years/80,000 miles, and the class-action settlement goes further still — up to 10 years/100,000 miles warranty, reimbursement of qualifying repairs, and crucially, reimbursement of up to £3,300 for consequential damage if the leak went undiagnosed long enough to damage the turbocharger or EGR system. If you've paid for this repair or suffered related engine damage, it's genuinely worth checking whether you qualify before assuming the cost is yours to bear.

Watch for a low coolant warning, a sweet smell in the engine bay (especially after motorway driving), or fault codes P00B7, P2681, P1889, or P0128 — any of these are worth investigating immediately rather than topping up and continuing, since this failure can escalate from a slow leak to sudden, severe overheating within minutes. If this does need replacing, the entire water pump and thermostat housing assembly must be replaced together — never just one part of it.

Volkswagen Caddy Radiator: The Part That Keeps Everything Else From Cooking

Few parts get less attention than this one, but on the Volkswagen Caddy, a neglected cooling system is behind the vast majority of avoidable serious engine failures. Noticing the early warning signs costs nothing and can save a genuinely large repair bill down the line.

Volkswagen Caddy Radiator: Watch: Replacing It

🎬 Watch: VW GOLF MK 5 COOLANT RADIATOR REPLACEMENT (sister (vw golf mk5, pq35 platform shared with caddy 2k))

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No Caddy-specific radiator video

Volkswagen Caddy Radiator reference plate

Before you buy: radiator size and design vary significantly by engine size, transmission type, and whether your car has air conditioning. Always confirm against your VIN before ordering.

Volkswagen Caddy Radiator: What It Does

On the Volkswagen Caddy, coolant runs through the radiator to shed engine heat into the airflow, keeping temperatures in check. On many automatics, a separate internal circuit inside the same unit also cools the transmission fluid — one more reason a mismatched part number causes more than just a cooling problem.

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Volkswagen Caddy Radiator: Faults, DIY Difficulty & Aftermarket Advice

These are the same regardless of make or model — see our full Radiator Guide for the three common failure modes, confirming fitment against your VIN, and OEM vs aftermarket guidance.

More Volkswagen Radiator

The same part, covered across other Volkswagen models.