Radiator: OEM or All Aluminum?

[More Power]

Nice looking rig Casey. Thanks for sharing. Makes me want to get my own 2-door finished... Jim

[arveetek]

Well, now I'm wishing that I had purchased an all-aluminum radiator! I am currently broke down in Buffalo, Wyoming. Climbing Highway 16 West out of town on a 4 mile 7% grade, and was just cresting the top when the plastic tank on the driver's side blew apart! Now there's a gaping hole in the tank. She was running pretty warm, but not overheating. We got towed back to the RV park we had just checked out of (only made it about 15 miles down the road), and I'm sitting here searching for a replacement radiator. So far the engine starts and sounds normally, so crossing my fingers no damage was done with the sudden loss of coolant.

Anybody in the Buffalo, Wyoming region that has a good radiator laying around?

Casey

[JeepSJ]

Good thing is that you are in a place where you can safely stay. Looks like there is a Napa, Car Quest, and OReilly auto parts in town. There is also an auto salvage place down off I90/204. I'd think that any of the parts places could have you a replacement within a day or so.

[sctrailrider]

This manufacture has them and they are high quality, I just applied a thermal dispersant coating on one they are having tested, the radiator is a good unit... and they will overnight it if needed...



https://www.championcooling.com/

[DmaxMaverick]

If the core is good, have it serviced and (both) tanks replaced at a local radiator shop. Same day service in most cases, at a fraction of the cost of new. It should last another 20+ years.

[arveetek]

Thanks, guys. Yes, there are a lot worse places to break down; thankfully we were only 15 miles up the road from the campground; thankfully we had cell service where we broke down; thankfully a fellow 6.5L owner happened by at the just the moment the radiator blew and helped us get off the road and get in contact with a wonderful local towing company; thankfully my daddy taught me how to fix things and I get my family back on the road with a minimum of cost and down-time.

Yes, there are three auto supplies in town, and they can have a standard Murray radiator next day. But, I hate to put a questionable quality aftermarket unit in. I checked for a local radiator shop, but there is none close by. I had my eye on a Champion radiator already, so I called their distributor in California (Ledfoot Racing), and they are overnighting a new all-aluminum radiator to the RV park we are staying at. The local O'reilly's sent their delivery truck out with a few gallons of coolant, so I should be able to get everything back up and running tomorrow.

I started the engine up after she had cooled off completely, and she starts, runs, and sounds completely normal. Crossing my fingers there won't be any long-term damage.

Thanks again!

Casey

[DieselDavy]

Good Luck Casey,
You probably aught to take a few moments and thank the Lord for all the breaks that kept you and your family safe through all of this!
We all hope the rest of your trip goes a lot better!
Keep us posted!
Dave

[trbankii]

After the plastic side tank in my '93 blew apart - not towing, not pushing it - I picked up one of these: https://www.summitracing.com/parts/sgt-cu1364

Copper radiator with metal side tanks. I only have a few thousand miles on it, so we'll have to see how it does over time.

RockAuto has it a bit cheaper: https://www.rockauto.com/en/catalog/...,radiator,2172

[arveetek]

Good Luck Casey,
You probably aught to take a few moments and thank the Lord for all the breaks that kept you and your family safe through all of this!
We all hope the rest of your trip goes a lot better!
Keep us posted!
Dave

Amen! We have done lots of praying on this trip, and the good Lord has watched over us for sure.

I got the old radiator out last night, and now we're just chillin' waiting on the FedEx truck to show up.

Casey

[a5150nut]

Well while your chilling, get out the lawn chairs and watch the next guy trying to back into a space.

Glad to hear your safe. Just think of the story you now have to tell.

[arveetek]

The FedEx truck never came today; I think they dropped the ball and the tracking info shows the package sat in the Memphis hub for 12 hours before it started moving again. Hopefully it gets here early tomorrow.

The kids are having fun swimming in the pool here at the campground and riding their bikes; they've been making friends with other campers' kids; we've met some really nice folks at the nightly ice cream social at the park office; the temps are hovering in the upper 70's to low 80's; so it definitely could be worse. I know we'll have great stories to tell later on; just doesn't feel so great right now.

Casey

[JeepSJ]

The FedEx truck never came today; I think they dropped the ball and the tracking info shows the package sat in the Memphis hub for 12 hours before it started moving again. Hopefully it gets here early tomorrow.

The kids are having fun swimming in the pool here at the campground and riding their bikes; they've been making friends with other campers' kids; we've met some really nice folks at the nightly ice cream social at the park office; the temps are hovering in the upper 70's to low 80's; so it definitely could be worse. I know we'll have great stories to tell later on; just doesn't feel so great right now.

Casey

As long as you have nowhere to be (such as work), enjoy the down time and relax.

[arveetek]

As long as you have nowhere to be (such as work), enjoy the down time and relax.

You're right. In fact, I was able to relax by the pool and even got a nap in today! So it wasn't all bad. My 8 year old boy doesn't even want to leave this campground now!

FedEx finally showed up, so I got the new radiator and installed it this afternoon! Everything seems to be working fine and normal. Will head back towards Rapid City tomorrow to spend a few days before heading home after that.

The Champion radiator seems like a really nice quality product. On the plus side, Ledfoot Racing plays contemporary Christian music when you're on hold, and they have Bible verses on their packaging. I feel pretty good about supporting that company!

I'll post pictures when I get a chance.

Casey.

[sctrailrider]

Glad it worked out for you !!!


The radiator they sent me was the same one you received, they are in the process of testing the thermal dispersant coating I applied, hopefully I will be doing more work for them, also I will have them on my web site in the coated version with test data of the improved thermal dissipating quality's also..

[arveetek]

Glad it worked out for you !!!


The radiator they sent me was the same one you received, they are in the process of testing the thermal dispersant coating I applied, hopefully I will be doing more work for them, also I will have them on my web site in the coated version with test data of the improved thermal dissipating quality's also..

Cool! (No pun intended)

So far I'm pretty pleased with the new radiator. We are almost back home to Missouri from Wyoming. Left Buffalo, WY on Friday morning, spent a few nights in Rapid City, SD, and started heading home Monday morning. Stopped overnight at St Joseph, MO and should be home by lunch time tomorrow. The new radiator has allowed the engine to run cooler, mostly because now the engine fan kicks on even sooner. I am guessing that the air flow through the radiator is better, causing the fan to heat up quicker and kick on? I'm not sure why, but now the ECT seems to be more constant and a few degrees cooler, with the fan coming on and off more than before. Today the fan was on most of the day since we were facing a head wind and the engine was working hard all day just maintaining highway speeds, but the temp stayed a constant 210 except for a few short hill climbs that caused the temps to rise just a bit above that, but then quickly came back down. Now I have to keep an eye on EGT's when climbing grades more than watching the ECT.

Casey

[arveetek]

As promised, here are some pictures of the radiator damage and the new radiator.



Here's what I discovered when I heard a loud "pop" followed by a ton of steam:





After I pulled the radiator out:







And the new Champion all-aluminum radiator:





When installing the new radiator, I was frightened for a moment since the transmission cooler lines didn't fit; it took me a moment to realize that Champion had supplied adapters and I just needed to remove the adapters, then the lines fit perfectly. The new radiator was slightly shorter than the original, so I cut some rubber spacers to make sure it didn't flop around and was clamped in place securely. Also, the overflow inlet/outlet that is on the top passenger side was one size smaller than the original unit, so I needed to adapt it up to the rubber hose that comes from the coolant reservoir.

Casey

[DieselDavy]

That looks real nice Casey. Looks like you won't have to do that again!
Thanks for the pics and I'm glad you got home alright!
Dave

[arveetek]

That looks real nice Casey. Looks like you won't have to do that again!
Dave

That's what I'm thinking! Something else is going to blow long before the radiator gives out.

Casey

[JeepSJ]

That is pretty wild. That is a huge section that blew out.