Best Aftermarket radiator and where to buy it?

I'm not sure I'd worry about a radiator failure just because it's plastic . I've only had one failure myself where a crack caused a pinhole type leak .
The plastic / Aluminum radiator in my 1991 Ford F-150 is currently 25 years old. (Last replaced in 1998). It's still going strong, and I have no intentions of replacing it until I see a leak. The heater core is original, (32 years old and still going strong delivering plenty of heat).

I think the biggest contributor to short radiator life is the lack of proper coolant changes and flushes, along with how they are performed. NEVER use a flushing tee connected to a garden hose. Those things should be illegal to sell.

Most automotive radiators and heater cores are designed to operate at between 8 and 16 pounds of pressure. Most city water pressure is anywhere from 45 to 75 PSI depending where you live.

Turn that loose on an automotive cooling system, and you're looking for trouble. Especially one that is partially clogged. The pressure will build up fast. Something's got to give.

I drain and flush every 2 years. I look at engine coolant the same way as I do engine oil. Change it more often for less trouble. Oil and coolant is cheap. Engines, radiators and heater cores aren't. And it's a hell of a lot easier to change coolant and oil, than it is to change radiators and overhaul engines.
 
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The plastic / Aluminum radiator in my 1991 Ford F-150 is currently 25 years old. (Last replaced in 1998). It's still going strong, and I have no intentions of replacing it until I see a leak. The heater core is original, (32 years old and still going strong delivering plenty of heat).

I think the biggest contributor to short radiator life is the lack of proper coolant changes and flushes, along with how they are performed. NEVER use a flushing tee connected to a garden hose. Those things should be illegal to sell.

Most automotive radiators and heater cores are designed to operate at between 8 and 16 pounds of pressure. Most city water pressure is anywhere from 45 to 75 PSI depending where you live.

Turn that lose on an automotive cooling system, and you're looking for trouble. Especially one that is partially clogged. The pressure will build up fast. Something's got to give.

I drain and flush every 2 years. I look at engine coolant the same way as I do engine oil. Change it more often for less trouble. Oil and coolant is cheap. Engines, radiators and heater cores aren't. And it's a hell of a lot easier to change coolant and oil, than it is to change radiators and overhaul engines.
Excellent advice. I've not DIY'd because of the nastiness of coolant. And unfortunately, when I DIY'd the radiator on my Nissan, it slipped and coolant got all over the driveway. I had every intention of collecting the old coolant. That car was a manual, and so I didn't have to deal with cooling lines.

I've seen my BMW and my Toyota product having the coolant done at the dealership. BMW hooked up a machine, and Toyota simply drained and filled. Also interesting to me is Toyota pink was about 2X the cost of the BMW OE coolant, once again busting the myth that Japanese cars are inexpensive to maintain lol (it's astounding how at times a like part is 2-4X more on the Japanese--compare a brake sensor wire on a Lexus LS to a BMW 7 series for example)
 
Bought this one a few weeks ago on Ebay for $84 delivered from https://www.ebay.com/str/ignitioncoil?_trksid=p2047675.m3561.l2563 Fits perfect.

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depending on the vehicle you may find a NOS Modine.
That might be like winning the Powerball. I actually have an America-made one that that fits an Aerostar still in the box. IIRC, they were American-made, then shipped some production to Mexico and then exited the automotive market completely. If I remember right, I purchased it about 15 years ago.
 
I've used 2 Spectra Premiums, one went into a Ford and another into a Toyota. I would use them again if I could. I would not replace a perfectly good radiator, even on a Toyota with the famous top tank leak.
 
Thanks for all the input - I'll answer a bunch of questions at once:

- Its for a 2011 Nissan Frontier with 148K miles. The OEM is a Calsonic - made in USA - 100% subsidiary of Nissan. The earlier version of that exact rad was subject to a class action for SMOD - but this one is beyond that class action. I am not worried about that part - surely even Nissan wouldn't subject themselves to the same failure twice.

-- I have a 2008 Xterra that has the same radiator that was subject to the class action. The instant the extended warranty for the Class was up, I swapped it with a spectra premium from Amazon - made in China - which actually came out of the box showing a Koyo sticker. That one lasted 240K until I leaned over it and cracked the little hose outlet near the rad cap. I fixed it with a steel tube and JB weld for a time, but ultimately replaced the entire thing with a Koyo Branded unit again from Amazon, again made in China. When it came out it was 100% identical to the spectra branded Koyo.

- I can get a Koyo but the closest "authorized" dealer is quite a ways away, which I go near occasionally but essentially I have no warranty due to the distance (couple hours). Or for the same price I can buy one of the ones above, which also seem to be the same as the $100 ones from Rock Auto except I pay an extra $100 to not have to deal with shipping damage -- maybe.

Thanks for the input!
 
What vehicle is this? You may want to look at OE or denso, depending on the vehicle you may find a NOS Modine.
I recall that Modine had a large warehouse in Minneapolis. About 15 years ago I was able to buy a brass 3 row OE radiator there for my G-body '85 El Camino that had a 2-row from the factory for $100. I don't know if they are there any more but aluminum/plastic seems to be what's out there today. The radiator shops have largely gone away, but a rebuild of a brass unit might be possible yet.
 
The average life of the ptr rads is 100k. We kept track of failures at the shop I worked at and anything over 100 k was rare
What type of failure ? I could see replacing if they had a history of failing and caused engine damage in certain vehicles
 
I have had good luck with Nissens radiators and condensers in Euro applications. They are usually made in Europe rather than China, although I have no experience with the one for your Nissan.

Just me, but unless its leaking or plastic tank just looks bad, I might just leave it alone for now.
 
I was going to say why replace a radiator pre-emptively but then again, the one in my 2014 Grand Cherokee started leaking in 2018…

I still won’t replace radiators on other cars unless there’s an issue though.
 
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i only replaced a radiator that didn't leak once, the radiator worked fine but was full of deposits from the wrong coolant and the tank was covered in hairline cracks. it was a 20 year old radiator. i don't remember what I replaced it with, probably the cheapest name brand radiator on rockauto
 
Maybe it's case by case, and you should check a forum for your particular model.... {snip}
Definitely this! I see OP has since posted his application as Nissan but I'm doing a '14 KL right now which has a considerable drip, drip from a side tank seam. I questioned my eyes and my diagnosis a bit on a '14 MY anything that just turned 100k but in searching I found it appears these had a significant problem with side tank bonding.

I found some forums where guys reported OEM failure at 16k and then again at 40 to 60k. Also, YT vids abound on KL rad replacement so that's usually not a good sign.

Here we see that legendary FCA/Stellantis/Cialis/whatever quality!! :D
 
I recall that Modine had a large warehouse in Minneapolis. About 15 years ago I was able to buy a brass 3 row OE radiator there for my G-body '85 El Camino that had a 2-row from the factory for $100. I don't know if they are there any more but aluminum/plastic seems to be what's out there today. The radiator shops have largely gone away, but a rebuild of a brass unit might be possible yet.
I can get a CSF all aluminum performance rad - $400. But I have heard plenty of issue with them from the off road guys - speculation is they can't handle the constant banging off road.
 
Why? most radiators now days are partially plastic and are prone getting brittle and failing due to old age. Additionally on a vehicle that has a transmission cooler built into the radiator that is begging for disaster when that plastic chamber fails and sends coolant into the transmission costing you thousands for a rebuild.

The cooler inside the end tank isn't plastic, it's still metal of some sort, plastic is piss poor for heat exchange so it's not used. Plastic tank failure will not result in coolant going into the transmission.

I have used Spectra but went back to buying Delco (all I own is GM stuff). Spectra's were Chinese and would leak after about 18 months (12 mo warranty because we are a 'commercial" user). Delco's just last. Only reason I replace a rad is if the fins have gotten weak, folding over etc and it doesn't cool well. Otherwise I leave them alone.
 
On another car I have, there was extensive debate on whether an OE Toyota Denso, was the same as an Denso purchased on rock or amazon, because many failures took place among forum members on the rock/amazon part. Well, turns out, the amazon/rock is not OEM, it's aftermarket. After much argument, one forum member bought the OE, and bought the Denso, then showed on a thread they're not the same.
@John105, could you provide a link to that discussion? Thanks!
 
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