MikeT 88IROC350

I called my local GM dealer, and they told me an UNASSEMBLED replacment ALUM radiator was $350. Mine has been leaking for a while now, so finally pulled it last saturday. The bigger plastic side tanked was cracked (and expanded) severely. There were several little smaller cracks as well, in both side tanks. My Dad is taking it to a local rad shop for repair, hopefully will be less than 100 bucks.

Is there a better solution? (Than fixing it?)

Boxeat2469

AutoZone. They sell brand new replacement radiators for $140. I just put one in my car Friday night. The plastic tank on the drivers side of my original radiator cracked. The one AutoZone sells is identical to the factory original and they have them in stock.

MdFormula350

yeah i had to buy a new one for my 1988 iroc-z 5.7 a couple of years ago and it cost about 135 bucks. that it not expensive at all for such a major part in the cooling system. but 350 bucks would be considered expensive but you dont need one from them. Thats the beauty of smaller local parts store.

SSC

Get a 3 core all brass/copper radiator from Azone, thier cheap and work well. I have mine for sevral years and it cooled quite well compared the the stock aluminum one.

Danno

The stock GM Harrison radiator is a very high quality unit as compared to most aftermarket parts store units. That is why it is so expensive. At $350 you are getting full popped. Get the part # and try www.gmpartsdirect. If the part # is 52453813 which I think it will be you can purchase an OE from them for 147.54+ship. Over the years I put in quite a few rad's and unless you go with a high performance unit the garden variety part's store units never hold up as well as the OE.

MikeT 88IROC350

Thanks for your posts, fellas. That aftermarket unit from Autozone must not be aluminum. Yes/No?

Don't have Azone near me, but Napa and Advance Auto. I was just in there, forgot to get price on one. I would prefer replacing it with GM as much as possible. I think the al units work better getting the heat out.

I got a message from my dad today saying the shop is going to fix my existing unit for $90. That ain't too bad I guess. But I think they are just replacing the larger (pass side) tank. The other side tank wasn't leaking, but I found some small cracks along the tank near where it meets the core.

PS, putting in a 180 Stant Superstat, 60/40 new coolant, WatterWetter, flushing out, etc. I had a 170 AC stat in it, just think that was a little too cool.

breathment

Yes, autozone has both aluminum and copper radiators..

the stock aluminum radiator, the autozone radiator, and alot of aluminum radiators which u will find at local radiator shops are pretty much the same. i have examined stock aluminum, autozone and specialtly radiator shop radiators, the difference being nothing.. if u wanna spend the extra $150 on a GM radiator that isn't gonna cool any better, its ur money.. but tahts just my opion, GM parts are always overpriced, WHY? because they know people will continue "genuim GM parts", while Sometimes yes GM parts are better... if u don't need to spend the extra $, then don't.. just my $.02

Xenodrgn

I have a mom&pop shop Aluminum radiator... I don't know what they built this thing out of, but for a lifetime guarantee radiator of such a good quality, this thing cools excellently... hundreds of times better than the stock one... My friends car will be extremely hot to the touch just about anywhere after a cruise at night... at dusk on a warm night both of my friends V6 thirdgens will be spinning thier fans... My car won't need the fan unless it's very hot outside and I'm letting the car idle for a long time...

Granted this advantage can actually work against me... this past winter I don't think I had one instance where my TC would lock up... only at brief moments after a WOT jolt...

We've all got stock thermostats... this winter I'm going to put a piece of cardboard infront of a large portion of the rad... hopefully that'll help my heat out a little, and the MPG...

All that said... shop around, buy new, and buy Aluminum...

LBSZ28BLOWN

"Looking for a stock Radiator."

I just upgraded, and my stock radiator is like new, only has 45000 miles on it, Its clean and dosen't leak.
I will sell it for 75.00

MikeT 88IROC350

Well here is the end to this story. Got my REBUILT OEM radiator back in my IROC today. I picked it up yesterday from a local radiator shop. Cost $125 to fix. He put both new tanks on the sides of it, cleaned and tested it. Would have cost $90 for just the bigger tank, but I kind of wanted both sides replaced. No sense messing with just one, then having the other crack and leak a year later. That side did have some small cracks in it anyways.

Another good thing that came out of this, got an upgrade to my tranny oil cooler. The original one was a "single plate" design, so the fella at the rad shop stuck in a better "4-plate" cooler just to help me out. Said that should help cool the tranny better. Looks like it has much more surface area to cool the oil inside the tank.

I went with a Stant 180 SuperStat, and new fresh 60/40 coolant. Today's road test showed the temp running around 187 deg cruising normal, with air temp mid-80s. At idle and low-speed cruise, never got about 195. I think I am good to go. May have to tweak the primary fan turn-on in the PROM a bit to match the new t-stat.

jwhit217

Anyone looking for a radiator should checkout radiatorbarn.com.. they are quick, have great prices, free shipping and the quality is excellent They shipped me a hard to find import truck radiator in 2 days and i checked T/A radiators are $108--out the door.notax-and no shipping fee--i saved a least $35 over any other price local or online--and no i don't work for them
--Joe

MdFormula350

glad to hear everything worked out well!!

and thx jwhit217 for the rad place..

Ryan_Alswede

YES The all metal radiator from autozone $140 is the best, it's 3 row and you never have to worry about that plastic crap. It has brass ends and copper core.

Danno NO WAY the stock GM Harrison radiator is POS, small and undersized. It costs that much because they want to make PROFIT, not because it's good.

Anybody who puts new plastic ends on their old one is wasting their money.

mechanicalmehem

alright da*n it i'm tired of this! you can get a gm side tank----the PLASTIC part-- for like 35$ take a screwdriver split the tangs up, then take a pair of waterpump pliers to tightten the new tank back down, I'm tired of this GM parts is crap BS, they designed them to work for thier specific purpose, and guess what, it worked well sure mods can make it worthwhile to change it but it worked for what it was intended also have any of you looked at the october issue of car craft? go to page 102 look at the alum rads there lets see hmmm as low as 139$ gee sounds like a hell of a deal to me, oh and it looks all aluminum to me. sorry i just had to vent at all the people that think GM parts suck, well they dont sure they may not work for what you want but they worked for what they were needed.

Ryan_Alswede

Why screw with plastic crap that was designed to make GM money LOL, GM parts are cheap *** thats WHY SUMMIT STAYS IN BUSINESS!!!! Everybody heads to summit to get good after market parts instead of GM crap. A good ALL Aluminum or copper core radiator will cost you $140 or so and YOU WILL NEVER have to worry about a crimp going bad or that cheap plastic cracking. Hell it may even be the last radiator you buy for your Camaro.

mechanicalmehem

okay, well I have replaced about 4 tanks all on different vehicles 2 of which were my own and one of them, 5 years later is still good, the other just did it about 3 months ago, I have never had a problem doing this as others may, but the GM radiators are ewxpensive yes, and you are paying for the GM name/quality I am going to buy an aftermarket one when i get my car going, untill then I have only repaired side tanks(replaced) no need to replace it all when it is not all broken, just my .02 so take it for what it is.

Ryan_Alswede

Hey come on down to Houston, we eat GM radiators for lunch dinner, snack, supper, and breakfast. LOL why keep putting band aids on GM junk when you can go aftermarket and fix the problem for good.

kid camaro

iTrader: (1)

i got one from http://www.radiatorbarn.com/ and it seems to be holdin up real good. it was only 140 bucks i think delievered to my door.

Danno

You do huh? Used to travel to Dallas and I preferred a Kansas steak. First of all I don't work for or am in any way connected with GM. Your blanket statement about OE parts is totally ridiculous. While the aftermarket can and does supply decent replacement parts is some instances the better or high quality ones are usually on a par pricewise with OE. You can buy an OE radiator for the same price as an aftermarket from a number of sources. My original radiator lasted in excess of ten yrs. Whether it's a starter, water pump etc. 9 out of 10 times an OE part will last just as long as the original. The fact that it is all metal is irrevolent. Modern plastics are many times as strong or stronger than thier metal counterparts. One of the reasons OE parts for cars or in my business are more expensive is the cost of warehousing. Consider the product line of any car manufacturer, then look at what they have to inventory to be able to supply parts on a timely basis. The cost's are astronomical. Sure if you walk into a dealer he will charge you full list price, but you can buy online darn near dealer cost. In order to compare quality of anything you have to be able to supply some proof. How do you know any part will last longer than an OE? I read all these testimonials about how great an Autozone part is or whoever supplies it, but on what is that statement made-longevity, I'll have to wait ten years in my case. Does it look or feel better made. You would have to crack it apart to see. I can't tell you how much aftermarket stuff gets replaced during it's so called warranty period. Many times all you pay for in so called premium aftermarket parts is in fact a warranty. Doesn't do much good in winter when you have to crawl under the car and replace a starter that's only 6 mo's old. Manufacturers such as GM, Ford take great pains to provide quality replacement parts, it is not in thier best interest to be selling junk. They are not always perfect but considering the sheer volume they must control they do a pretty good job.

Ryan_Alswede

Well I guess you have better luck then me, I'm on my 3rd AC Delco Starter and my 3rd AC Delco Alternator. GM parts are junk, I'll give you some examples OF GOOD OEM parts. My dads honda has 242,000 miles and still has the orignal starter, his ford Aerostar has 170,000 and still has the orignal starter AND Alternator and has done nothing to the engine at all. NOW MY CAMARO on the other hand has had every sensor know to man replace. YES my radiator also lasted 10 years, but if it had been metel it would still be running. My buddies 1985 LTD that he uses as a work car has an all metal radiator and it's still going. At least with metal you can soder or weld it shut. IF I DIDN"T LOVE MY CAMARO like I do it would be gone but I LOVE the looks of the car so I put up with it.

Twelvz

My sidetank is cracked as well and I need the radiator to have the fittings for the transmission lines.

If I get the sidetanks replaced with something other than plastic and my stock aluminum radiator is flowing fine I think this should be good enough.
BUT if the cost difference is small then I guess I'd go with AZone for the warrenty...one question...does the Autozone have all the fittings...I want it to drop right in...no modifications necessary.

Danno

You have a good point Ryan. I got my 89 iroc 5.7 in late 91. Was a private sale, garaged almost showroom with 19k miles. Woman who sold it was late 40's and told me she was getting rid of it because of the maint headaches, mostly electrical. However it really came down to a few simple things. The relays for the fans, blower, and MAF power and burnoff were crap. I still don't know the vendor but they failed sometimes within weeks after installation. My neighbor and fellow motorhead is a mechanical engineer. I built a test fixture to simulate current draw such as the fans require and we found out this. The relays didn't fail because of contact burning, the spring steel used to hold the contact would warp from the heat of the current and it would cause the contacts to eventually misalign causing intermittent operation. It happened after as few as several hundred cycles. GM finally has a redesigned unit that eliminates that problem. I changed every relay and have not had a problem since. That is a prime example of what you talk about. However, it is not peculiar to GM only. My dad worked for a Chrysler dealer for 30+ yrs., his 97 caravan has had 3 transmissions. No question about it, in many cases having a TG is a labor of love. What I have found is that many of the problems can be attributed to just a few things. The only part I have replaced(excluding relays)has been the TPS. Also the ground at the rear of the engine gets dirty and causes all sorts of funky problems. My point is that many of the bad raps a car gets is because problems sometimes never really get fixed and I don't think it's strictly a problem of GM. It's a little easier to start a small displacement engine than to spin up a V-8, hence the starter works a lot harder. Alternators on the TG's, attribute a lot of that to the dual fan models and the people who put in lower fan switches or hardwire the fans on all the time. Look at it this way, if they were perfect what the heck would we do on the weekends.

JOHN/88IROCZ

Ryan most imports have mini high-torq starters and the mini high-torq starters we can get for our camaros are a off a toyota. I guess your dad is very lucky cause the Ford,Licoln or Mecury starter is the most frequently replaced part (You might want to go check under that Fords hood to make sure it doesn't have GM starter on it LOL) Are you buying Brand New A/C Delco starters from the dealer or are you buying Rebuilt A/C Delco starters from Autozone or other parts stores. Most of the rebuilt starter are around 30-60 bucks compared to 100-200 brand new. You get what you pay for, you buy rebuilt from Autozone or other parts stores like Autozone you usually get the shaft (POS) Just my 2 cents from personal experiences. John:lala:



:hail: TO GM FOR THE ALMIGHTY CAMARO IROC Z

Ryan_Alswede

I got the Duralast remanufactured starter from Autozone(i don't buy rebuilt sh*t) , real nice all new parts, runs about $85 dollars and comes with a life time warrenty which i like. I think that the problem that GM has is they need a heat sheild on the solonoid. On the 1993-1995 3.4L Camaro engines they DO have a heat sheild on the solonoid and I'm going to get one, then I will probley have the same good luck that you have. As for my Alternator, my first one turned into a fire truck siren, it didn't fail, but the rear bearing was a siren. I tryed rebuilding it myself so I really shouldn't count that because those rebuild kits are for sh*t, only lasted 4,000 miles. I now have a Duralast Alternator life time warrenty and I think it has better bearings in it then what GM uses so we will see. Yeah I have a fan switch at 195 so it may shorten the life BUT i think it's of benifit because the cooler it is, it should extend Alternator life.

JOHN/88IROCZ

I agree about the solenoid I instaled a remote solenoid on the firewall of my '67 chevy p/u cause the heat from my headers wasv killing my starter, most of the time when i drove it i would be stuck somewhere if i kill the truck now since i relocated the solenoid i have not had any more problems turns over fast and efficient

Ryan_Alswede

No I'm talking about the solenoid that pulls to level to push out the gear, that is the one that fails.

JOHN/88IROCZ

You lost me i was under the impression a starter only had the solenoid on the side of the starter and the bendix is what opperates the teeth of the starter.

mean 5.7

to the guy who states he does not use rebuilt ****. what do you think remanufactured stands for? answer REBUILT

Ryan_Alswede

WRONG!! rebuilt they only replace the parts that are bad. remanufactured they use all new guts and redo the windings.

JOHN/88IROCZ

Well it sound like to me that the Remanufactured **** is not any better than the rebuilt ones from Autozone and they probably use cheap brand new Junk to replace the guts with. A big chain autoparts is kinda like getting a paint job done at Macco for $100 or $200 or a good quality paint job for $1,000 or $2,000. Big chain autoparts like to sell quanity instead of high quality.
End of Discussion!!!

Ryan_Alswede

LOL well hey the GM dealer won't give you a lifetime warrenty and they charge twice as much. So those Remanufactured parts do the trick. Most rebuilt parts they only give you a 1 year warrenty, thats another difference worth noting.

JOHN/88IROCZ

Yes but you lay under you car replacing the parts with your lifetime warranty instead of driving and enjoying it like it should be LOL. Ok you win time to end this argument and start helping people with their Q's and getting advise like this forum is for. Later, John
:lala:

breathment

i agree