My radiator's sprung a leak- looks to be on the passenger side tank around the outlet hose. While the radiator might be repairable, I'm thinking of replacing the whole thing. It's not the original, but a replacement that's been on the car for about 4 years. I'm not too happy with it - looking at the seams and plugs for the auto trans cooler (I've got a 5-speed) I can see deposits that have built up over the years from seepage. I have a feeling that even if I did have it fixed, it'll just spring a leak somewhere else- it's just not worth saving....

So if I'm going to get a replacement radiator at a parts store, is there any decent brands out there I can look for? Or would I be better off just biting the bullet and buying a radiator from the dealer?

Thanks!

 

Griffin 3 core aluminum. $180 in Summit. Worth every cent.

 

Mark- will it fit a stock setup w/shroud, though? I'd rather not do any mods, just a 'drop in' stock replacement would be fine....

 

I know the stock support cover didn't fit all the way down, but i still used it, but then I had to get a cover that had a shroud as the stock one didn't. Sorry can't answer it for sure.

 

Griffin doesn't make a 3 core radiator, only a single and double in the Summit catalog.

 

Yes they do, I bought one. Damnit, don't have the catalog here, but it's in there.

 

Really? That would be sweet. I knew about the single and the dual 1" rows and the big dual 1 1/4" row radiator but never a three row......

 

MODINE! They make a perfect copy of the OE radiator, very high quality. Works just as good also. Advance Auto carries that brand, they had mine in stock for my 86 IROC tpi for $117.99.

 

Modine...... they make radiators,too? I know they make fan clutches- I've got one and while it wasn't cheap ($75) it works great. If their radiators are as good as the clutch and it doesn't seep like my old POS replacement, I'm sold!

P.S. Who else other than Advance carries it though? I don't have Advance Auto around here. Got NAPA, Pep Boys, O'Reilly's (where I got the POS radiator), Autozone for chain stores. Or will I have to order it from one of the independant stores?

PPS- just realized that my clutch is Hayden, not Modine. But still, if Modine's as good as Hayden...

 

This may help:

http://www.advanceautoparts.com

 

Hmm, that's strange there's 4 around here (northern IN) with the farthest being about a half hour away. But yeah justr follow MX265's link you can order from theresite. But if your like me you want it Right Now!

 

Thanks, guys- I'll check out their website! (now why didn't I think of that?? )

 

I had to replace mine and I just got one from autozone. Has a lifetime warranty which gives me no worries on if it goes out. But to go all out the "Be Cool" radiators rock!

 

I just put in my auto zone radiator too! Haven't went past 200, And i live in sunny cali. Best rad for 100 buck! The core is aluminum and the outer is some king of plastic material.

 

I got the modine rad from advance for mine. about 115 and it sure is nice. plastic end tanks though. autozone carries one, not sure on brand, that has metal end tanks. it was about 130.

 

Got to talking to this one radiator distributor about the Modines- they said they stopped carrying them because they had too many returns on them. They said that the tanks would seep around the joints.... which is what I'm seeing on the radiator I've got now....

Now this was for the brass version- but what about the plastic version? Are they any better? I'm kinda leery about going with a radiator that uses plastic in it....

 

btt

 

Modine has worked well for many of us in the desert heat.

 

GM used Aluminum and plasitic radiators! If yours is not, it is not original. The Modine I have in mine is identical to Gm's. JTR (Jags That Run) the v8 s10 conversion people also highly tought Modine for there conversions as being the best to an OEM alternative.

 

Anybody use the Griffin radiators in the desert? I know Mark Shields is very happy with his, but he's in Maryland.

I know that in Maryland there are many over night lows that don't dip below 90*! Here's a "When I saw young I had to walk 10 miles to school, up hill both ways" story...

I spent the night in Phoenix one day about 12 or 15 years ago and the over night low was 101*!!!!!!

OUCH!!!!

I like the extra capacity of the Griffin and I am hesistant to buy something from a "Chain" discount autoparts store b/c of the record I've had with those places. I just don't want to sink $200 bucks into a radiator that isn't going to do much for me.

 

Granted it's no AZ, but in the Summer there are some 100* days, and the humidity here I'm sure is worse than AZ, making it feel a lot hotter, still probably not as hot as AZ though.

 

I would like to replace my radiator with a griffen but I wonder how well it will work with the dual fan tpi setup. Anyone have experience with this? The ones I see with the griffens are the single fan setups...

 

Bralgar- I'm positive my original radiator is all metal. I've owned the car since it was brand new. Plus, I've kept the original radiator- in fact I pulled it out of storage today to see if it was plastic or not and it's all metal, too.

Now that's not to say you're wrong- it's possible the radiator got switched by the dealer at one time. Back when I first got the car, I had complained about the car running bad in the summer after it was run then left to sit for a while. Apparently this was a common complaint as eventually GM came out with a fix where they removed the original electric fan and installed a engine-driven fan with a fan clutch. It COULD be that they swapped out the plastic radiator for this one at that time, I don't know.

If there's someone out there that still has the original setup on their T/A (or Z28- I'll bet they had the same setup too), please let me know what kind of radiator it is. I'm contemplating changing back to the original electric fan setup (the engine-driven fan didn't help much with the original problem- in fact to this day it still has problems for a few minutes after a hot start in the summer) so I'd like to see what the original setup looked like...

 

Your right I'm sure, David, I think it was 85, possibly 86, GM switched to the newer plastic aluminum radiators. Personally I've never had a problem with the plastic radiators but I have gone through a few of the old copper/brass ones on my different cars. (cracked solder joints being the biggest offender, followed by corrosion)

 

I can understand corrosion taking it's toll on a metal radiator, but geez- only 4 years? The original radiator lasted 10 years easily- at least.

Well I'm going to take in my original radiator to the radiator shop on Monday to see if it can be recored. I originally replaced it as the core tubes were corroded and seeping, but as far as I know the tanks themselves are ok.

If they say the original can't be recored then I'll keep looking for a Modine. The idiots I went to that told me they didn't carry Modine anymore tried to sell me a Go-Dan radiator saying they're 'really very good quality radiators'. A load of - today I found the box my replacement radiator had come in - it's a Go-Dan...