Hi,

I am a first time poster on this forum, even though I have owned (2) Avalons over the last 5 years. The car is wonderful for the money and is my daily commuter. The car is a 2001 XLS.

I recently had the misfortune of hitting a deer in our town and as a consequence, the grill, condener, and radiator were broken. I have no problem ordering the condenser replacement, and will do so.

What is puzzling is that the parts manual shows two different radiators for the car. They are designated as Oa17 and Oa18. I'm told that I need to find that designation on the old radiator in order to get a correct replacement. The problem is that I cannot locate either of those designations on the old radiator. I have it out of the car and have stripped off the fans, so that I can see every area on the part, and there are part numbers molded into the plastic top and bottom tanks on the radiator, but noe of them are either of the two designations specified in the catalog.

Since my choice is to go OEM, but to order on line from a discounter, I'm in a pickle. I could take the radiator into the local dealer and have him match it up physically with a replacement, which would be awkward if I weren't to buy the part from him.

So, any advice one can offer in this forum would be greatly appreciated.