My radiator cracked.

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01rangerxl

01rangerxl

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It looks like tomorrow I will be putting a new radiator in my truck. I went to check the oil today and noticed coolant spray all over the passenger side of the engine compartment. I looked down the side of the tank and saw a tiny hairline crack in the plastic where coolant was bubbling and running out of it. It's above the upper radiator hose and the truck is still running fine, but a couple degrees cooler than it normally does. Not too thrilled to only get 11 years and almost 138K out of a simple part that doesn't move, but I wonder if wrecking the truck about 3 years ago weakened the plastic tank and it just now got bad enough to crack.

The radiator I'm getting is coming from Napa, and is their brand, but it doesn't say who manufactures it on their website. Advance has Ready-Rad, and Auto Zone has Spectra. It looks like they all come with lifetime warranties, but I'm betting quality is a [censored] shoot.

A couple questions:

How much ATF will I lose (roughly)? My truck uses the radiator to cool the PS, so I will need to top it off and bleed it afterwards. The parts websites don't list a capacity.

Should I use Teflon tape on the PS cooler lines where they attach to the radiator?
 
Originally Posted By: 01rangerxl
It looks like tomorrow I will be putting a new radiator in my truck. I went to check the oil today and noticed coolant spray all over the passenger side of the engine compartment. I looked down the side of the tank and saw a tiny hairline crack in the plastic where coolant was bubbling and running out of it. It's above the upper radiator hose and the truck is still running fine, but a couple degrees cooler than it normally does. Not too thrilled to only get 11 years and almost 138K out of a simple part that doesn't move, but I wonder if wrecking the truck about 3 years ago weakened the plastic tank and it just now got bad enough to crack.

The radiator I'm getting is coming from Napa, and is their brand, but it doesn't say who manufactures it on their website. Advance has Ready-Rad, and Auto Zone has Spectra. It looks like they all come with lifetime warranties, but I'm betting quality is a [censored] shoot.

A couple questions:

How much ATF will I lose (roughly)? My truck uses the radiator to cool the PS, so I will need to top it off and bleed it afterwards. The parts websites don't list a capacity.

Should I use Teflon tape on the PS cooler lines where they attach to the radiator?




I would say you got decent life out of a radiator. I would think NAPA would supply a decent radiator. RockAuto?

You only use teflon tape on NPT connections. So check the connection.
 
I sell radiators for a living. The average life for the plastic tanks is 100k. After that they get brittle and break at any moment. You got more than average out of yours. as far as transmission fluid you won't lose more than 2 tablespoons
 
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Rock Auto has some good prices on them, but next day shipping would be expensive at about $60. I'm getting the Napa radiator for only $125 and will have it tomorrow morning, so hopefully it is good quality. Advance wanted $165 for a Spectra that Rock Auto has for $104!
 
China, Korea, Indonesia, and Taiwan seem to be the countries of origin where I've seen radiators come from. I have a Koyo, made in China, radiator which seems to be great. I just don't know when it will fail on me and I'm always thinking about the radiator springing a leak when I'm out in the middle of nowhere in 100* plus weather. I've driven to Las Vegas a few times with the a.c. on full blast in the middle of the summer and the radiator held up.
 
I've ordered radiators from rock auto with standard shipping and gotten them 24-48 hours later.

Of course it all depends on the warehouse and where you are. They're very friendly with fedex.
 
RA is fast, but I am looking to have this wrapped up by tomorrow afternoon. My work schedule isn't conducive to bumming rides since I usually get off late at night and live 12 miles from work. I'll have the Napa radiator by 10:00 AM tomorrow and have the day off to put it in. It was already ordered this afternoon anyway. I have a family member with a commercial account.
 
Get a qt of fluid - this should be more than enough . But cap the lines while you work so they don't siphon .
Teflon tape? Not for compression fittings.
 
"Not too thrilled to only get 11 years and almost 138K out of a simple part that doesn't move"

It's unbelievable how you over look all the abuse a radiator is put through. Jolts from bad roads, repeated cycling of pressure, vacuum, heat, cold, flow of fluid, flow of air. You would be hard pressed to design and build a radiator of similar heat exchanging performance, weight, cost, and life expectancy. And the aluminum core with plastic sides last much longer than the old design of copper core with metal sides and metal bottoms.
 
I'm in the middle of helping a friend install a radiator (among other parts) in an early 90s Explorer. He bought a replacement from Napa and it looks pretty solid. Haven't put it in yet but from a side by side comparison the fitment looks good, it came with decent hardware, etc. FWIW.
 
Originally Posted By: JimPghPA
"Not too thrilled to only get 11 years and almost 138K out of a simple part that doesn't move"

It's unbelievable how you over look all the abuse a radiator is put through. Jolts from bad roads, repeated cycling of pressure, vacuum, heat, cold, flow of fluid, flow of air. You would be hard pressed to design and build a radiator of similar heat exchanging performance, weight, cost, and life expectancy. And the aluminum core with plastic sides last much longer than the old design of copper core with metal sides and metal bottoms.


I was under the impression that radiators were getting to be 200K mile parts, but I guess not. This truck hasn't had it easy, but it's not that old or high mileage either.

My Explorer had the original rad at 13 years and 158K miles. The attachment points were rusting away and it was barely hanging on, but the tanks never did crack.

Originally Posted By: rationull
I'm in the middle of helping a friend install a radiator (among other parts) in an early 90s Explorer. He bought a replacement from Napa and it looks pretty solid. Haven't put it in yet but from a side by side comparison the fitment looks good, it came with decent hardware, etc. FWIW.


Good to hear.
 
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Originally Posted By: 01rangerxl
but I wonder if wrecking the truck about 3 years ago weakened the plastic tank and it just now got bad enough to crack.


Ya think?
13.gif
 
I consider 10 years and 100-150k miles a typical lifespan for a plastic-tanked rad. If I get more time out of them, then I feel lucky.
 
I just looked, and I wouldn't be able to afford the NAPA radiator for my truck without dipping into my savings...
shocked.gif
 
Originally Posted By: Doog
Originally Posted By: 01rangerxl
but I wonder if wrecking the truck about 3 years ago weakened the plastic tank and it just now got bad enough to crack.


Ya think?
13.gif



+1...

If the crack is close to one of the mounting tabs, it could have started growing when the accident happened.

I bought a radiator for my 98 Ranger from an ebay junkyard for about $50 if I remember... original was destroyed at 240k miles by an errant wheel on the freeway.
 
I put the new radiator in today, so far so good.

The Napa radiator is a relabeled Spectra. Spectra is a manufacturer and it looks like all of their manufacturing is done at two facilities in Quebec, Canada. The radiator and box were clearly labeled made in Canada in several places. Hopefully that means quality for the long term.

Fit and finish of the radiator were excellent. It was a true, drop-in direct fit. No special hardware or adapters required. All the mounting tabs for the fan shroud and everything lined up perfectly.

Unfortunately, I can't say the same for the Dayco upper radiator hose I bought. I used to replace any hoses whenever doing a job like this, but the fitment of aftermarket hoses seems to be very poor. I had previously put a Gates upper on a few years back when I did a coolant change and the t-stat, but it never fit as good as the OE hose, which I saved. The Gates did work until it's removal with the old rad. I had bought a new Dayco at Advance, and the fit was terrible. It went on, kind of, but the way it pushed down on the alternator was not going to work, so I returned it. I ended up throwing the old OE upper back on, and it's doing fine and looked better than the newer Gates did. OE hoses are ridiculously expensive for this truck at more than double aftermarket prices, but I can't find an aftermarket hose that fits like it should. I think I'm just going to buy some OE hoses and put them on the next time I change the coolant.

For coolant, I used mostly John Deere Coolgard II that I already had, but I topped off with some Zerex G-05 since Napa was a lot closer. I didn't need much, so I went with premix out of convenience.

Also, the crack was near the mounting tab on the side that got crunched when I wrecked it. It was a very fine crack that was barely visible, but had grown to be a few inches long total. Only a couple spots on it leaked, but it was a ticking time bomb. I'm glad I checked the oil yesterday.
 
I just put the same radiator in my Ranger @ 125,000 miles. No complaints at all. I have 4,200 miles on it and the truck runs cooler then ever.
 
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