A little more searching on Google finally came up with some info that Visteon (radiators) went bankrupt a few years ago. The current company that operates under the name of Visteon only deals with vehicle electronics.
Casey
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I bought mine at MACS Radiator in Portland Oregon.
Well, lo and behold I located a shop nearby that is still in the radiator business! I spoke to them on the phone, and they said they can flush my OEM radiator with a special solution under medium pressure that cleans the inside tubes really well without having to disassemble the end tanks for $30. The higher pressure will also reveal any leaks that need to be repaired. They said to stay away from most aftermarket "OEM style" radiators since they are cheaply made.
Sounds like a good deal, but I'm a little concerned that the flush may cause a problem later on down the road due to the medium pressure they place on the radiator. Thoughts?
Casey
I have used this method for years now in my tractors, trucks, every "old" radiator....
Buy 2-3 gallons of CLR from walmart or hardware store, drain the cooling system, fill with the CLR, run the motor for a day or so and drain & flush with clean water and refill with antifreeze... or remove the radiator, install the cap and lay flat with the hose connections up, fill with CLR and let sit, roll once in a while to move the fluid around, this will remove all the crud and not bother the metal...
I like doing this on the truck so everything is cleaned, block, heater core, etc and have never had any undue results from this..
SOME OEM replacements are JUNK plain and simple... THEY FIT THE RIG, and that's about it.
The Visteon brand is a top quality replacement unit.
The supplier I used also has their own inhouse custom shop that builds radiators for all manner of specialty stuff.
I asked about getting a custom unit and their folks told me that the Visteon was every bit as good as what they could build (Longevity and cooling ability) as what they could toss together.
Instant tea works to clean a radiator too. Just don't use pre sweetened.
Just a followup on the Visteon comments. I bought one of their radiators for a 6.2L application many years ago, around 8 or more now and it was excellent quality. But, because the Asian market has offered so many replacements the radiators mfg's have had to close doors, even really nice and equipped ones.
Visteon made a great product, which is probably why they aren't producing them any more. Present consumers are predominantly interested in the initial dollar and not the long term outcome.
I am sold on aluminum radiators though (would never go back to brass/copper radiator), and alum core with plastic tanks are just fine as they are serviceable later, all welded units, not so much.
J
All good info... Yes, low buck usually gets the nod for consumers these days, which can be unfortunate. Failing access to quality aftermarket products can usually be overcome by seeking either good used/salvage or new OEM.
After thinking about it, I might be inclined to modify a 1990s rad core support to work with the earlier trucks to make it possible to use the newer aluminum radiators and fan shrouds. Jim
Thanks for all the info folks! I pulled the radiator out, and it appeared to be the original unit; it had a 1995 date code on a sticker. It was actually in really great shape, so I just ended up cleaning it out with radiator flush myself.
I installed a new HO water pump and dual 180* T/STATs from Kennedy, and also replaced the timing chain and harmonic balancer while I was at it. I also replaced every single hose (man, I never realized how many hoses are in the coolant system on these rigs!!).
I towed my camper to Branson down highway 65 a couple of weeks ago, and there are some pretty decent grades on that road. I was able to maintain between 210 to 220 on the steepest grades; in fact, I had to back out of the throttle a bit due to high EGT's instead of high ECT's this time. She seems to maintain better temp control than before.
Driving around empty, temps stay rock solid at or just above 180*, and she no longer heats up when sitting idling with the A/C on for long periods of time. Used to, on a really hot day, the ECT would continue to climb in this situation.
We are heading to Yellowstone next week, so I'm pretty confident I should have a pretty reliable tow rig at this point.
Here is my rig:
https://farm2.staticflickr.com/1742/...ddd5c192_h.jpg
Casey