Michael Clark wrote:
[radiator is quickly biting the dust]
Man, tell me about it. Since I have always typically driven old and
used cars, I have had more than my share of cooling system woes. I'll
say this much: I miss brass radiators. Now I do coolant swaps as part
of my preventive maintenance on all my vehicles, particularly those with
aluminum radiators.
> Will I have to junk the whole radiator because of the
> plastic or can it be repaired? Would this be a good time to have the
> radiator cleaned out?
I've heard multiple stories from different radiator shops. But nobody
seemed willing to swap out plastic tanks last time I looked. It ended
up being cheaper to get a new radiator for the old S-10. I think it
really depends on where the damage is; if the tank itself is cracked, they
may be able to put a new one on. If it's the seam between the aluminum
core and tank (as it was on mine), good luck finding somebody to repair.
If somebody is willing to attempt repairs, I would definitely have my
radiator hot-tanked if I were you.
> Also can the radiator be upgraded
> with an aftermarket one or would it be worth it? If it has to be
> replaced it might as well get replaced with a "performance" grade
> radiator.
Call around everywhere you can find. I had two drop-in replacement
part #s for my S-10 (stock was 2-row "heavy duty," one replacement was
a 3-row generic Mexican part, and the other was a 2-row with special
dissipating fins), and got WILDLY different quotes. I'm not sure what
a performance grade radiator is, but my thought is that > rows == better
and I went with the cheaper 3-row replacement. Ended up costing me
somewhere in the neighborhood of US$140 around 1994.
Ron
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