Radiator for Jeep GC: Aftermarket? OEM? Ebay?

[dnastrau]

Greetings:

It looks like the radiator on our '96 Jeep Grand Cherokee 4.0 is leaking. I started looking at various replacements and found a huge variation in price. On the low end, there are tons of no-name units on Ebay that can be had for well under $100 shipped (!) or up to $325 or so for a Mopar OEM at the dealer.

Once I purchased a cheap no-name radiator for an old Honda on Ebay and it fit fine. I just don't know what the longevity was since I sold the car a few months later. I am leery of buying something potentially low quality since the Jeep has a transmission cooler inside the radiator. If that fails you can kiss the tranny goodbye - clutch packs hate antifreeze. Anyone have any long term experience with these cheap units? It is hard to believe that a radiator for $70 shipped is any good.

I found a Ready Rad Proliance brand at Rock Auto (and Advance Auto)for $118 that looks good. Any thoughts on this one?

I am normally not such a penny pincher but money is tight right now and I don't want to throw money away on an OEM unit or high end aftermarket unit that may not be any better than an Ebay cheapie or the one from Rock Auto. It seems that the actual source of name brand parts is questionable these days. A lot of stuff is coming from the far east and you may just be paying for the brand name in some cases and not getting higher quality.

Thanks for any thoughts.

Andrew S.

 

[John_K]

I bought one on Ebay for my Dakota 3 years ago for about 80 bucks. I have a manual tranny so I didn't use the cooler but it has been fine.

Yes I really find the difference between generic and "name brand" is the price and that's about it.

John

 

[duaneb9729]

i would consider trusting rock auto

 

[Donald]

Consider the construction. If you can get an old style brass radiator then it can be repaired. If its aluminum and pressed in plastic ends, then if it beaks its toast again.

 

[eljefino]

rockauto and radiatorbarn.com typically have spectra brands, which is also what advance auto has for 70% more. buying online seems to be the way to go, must cost a lot of $$$ for local warehouse space.

I would not worry about the trans cooler loop as with oil inside and (good) antifreeze outside corrosion shouldn't be an issue.

 

[StevieC]

Don't go by cheapest price... Spend the money and get a good one if you intend on keeping the jeep. In my experiences and my dads (mechanic) it's more advisable to invest a good quality new radiator for your engines health and so you aren't replacing it again in 2 years because of poor quality design. I learned this the hard way on my Ford/Pontiac. The dealers usually sell them at a fair price, sometimes a tad more, much not by much and then you get OE quality.

(At least our dealers up here are a pretty good price)

 

[Chris142]

Originally Posted By: Donald
Consider the construction. If you can get an old style brass radiator then it can be repaired. If its aluminum and crimped on plastic ends, then if it beaks its toast again.
Don't put a all metal Radiator in the GC.

1. It's too much work to replace it when the metal one leaks in 6 months.
2. The metal one will leak in 6 months because the jeep flexes too much and this flexing rips the end tubes out.

The plastic/Alum radiators are a much better choice than an all metal in this application.

The OE supplier is Visteon for Chryslers/jeeps.

To be honest theres not much difference between brands now. Almost all come from China and they last just as long as the Canadian made originals do.

 

[StevieC]

I bought a $200 neon as a spare car and the radiator was toast. So I went to the Chrysler dealer and bought a new one, using my own advice and it was only $300 for a dealer all Aluminum one. The construction is much better than some of the [censored] I have seen at the auto-parts store. and $300 over a couple of years that I intend on keeping this spare car is well worth it. Plus I have the piece of mind that I won't have to replace it again. This car is a PITA to replace it on.

 

[dnastrau]

Visteon...

Rock Auto has a Visteon listed for $120. If that is OEM for Jeep then that is what I think I'll do.

Thanks to all for the advice.

Andrew S.