I have to buy a new radiator for the ol war wagon it's getting a few cracks and I don't want to loose the ol girl over a rediator. Which brings me to the question at hand. I have checked with the local parts convenience stores in the area and they offer copper or aluminum radiator the aluminum is around 350 the copper is over 500 is the aluminum sufficient for our rides or better to go with copper? Ron

 

Aluminum is one and done. Copper will/can last a life time if cleaned and reconditioned occasionally. That said, the lighter al. is.

 

I don't know which engine you have, but a lot of the IDI diesel guys (myself included) have had VERY good luck with the Champion aluminum radiators you find on ebay. Not the prettiest things and the workmanship can be sloppy, but they cool VERY well and are dirt cheap.

*edit* Brainfart. Thought I was in the 87-96 section.

Mike

 

I have Champion Aluminum rads' in both my trucks. Fit was great. Quality seems good. Junk the included cap for a Stant 13lb. $220 shipped to your door. Delivery was quick. Some fudging to use the trans cooler, but no big deal. Make sure you take your original radiator to a scrap yard that will pay you for its' copper scrap value. I got 75 bucks for mine! Take a magnet to it and find anything steel, rip it off, and hose it clean, and demand copper scrap value.

 

i went with the copper/brass again.
however one of he biggest reasons why though,wasn't so much this common debate/preference as to which is better,as it was the price and the lifetime warranty with it at advanced auto.
i think it was promo code P20 iirc i used.better search though.it saved a lot of $ at checkout.pretty sure they ship too.

if i can get a decent price and it has a lifetime warranty,it's real hard for me not to not try it out.i love the fact i may not have to buy something a second time.it's like free insurance,minus labor (all depends on what it is of course and how hard it is to change.)

anyway,it's something to check into if your interested.

 

Just so I'm clear on this you guys are saying that the 2 row aluminum will cool as good as well as the three row brass is that right? Thanks Ron

 

Stock is 4-row copper/brass. I'm saying the aluminum 3-row I got from Champion does a better job than the stock unit, yes. I base that on the number of times my fan clutch used to kick in with the old radiator versus the new. Good evidence? Not really, but it's all I have.

Mike

 

Thanks for the info I think I'll try the aluminum unit. If it works better for less money I really don't see a down side. Ron

 

Yeah Diesel,

The Champion aluminum is 3 row. I can't get mine over 200* with the pedal through the floorboard doing 70 plus up a 6% grade at 10k' on the I-70, or towing 10k lbs from CO to CA, even in 95* weather up the long grades of the I-40 through the So Cal desert, even when my egt's are nearing 1100*. It will be more than sufficient for IDI cooling purposes.

 

Thanks for the replys fellas I was really not looking forward to buying a radiator but that pill just became a lot easier to swallow. Nothing like saving a few bucks especially when it does a great job. Ron

 

i've had my diesel van for just over 2 years, and i've bought 2 radiators for it. the original radiator was severely corroded and leaking from many places, bought an aluminum radiator from my local parts store for it, it was a 2 row, but the rows were like 1.5" thick, so equivelent to a 4 row OEM. the problem is it had the plastic tanks top and bottom, and the seam where aluminum meets plastic, stretched. as we all know, those can't be repaired, so it was time to go shopping again.
this time i got one made by performance radiator, which is all aluminum with welded seams. the quality looks and feels a lot better, and they have enough pride in their products to put their name on it, unlike the first one. its only been a few weeks, but so far so good.

use this as an excuse to flush out the cooling system and make sure your new coolant has the proper SCAs

 

As long as this thread is getting some attention what cooland would you guys go with? I'd like to go with something that already has the sca in it, pour and play so to speak. Is there a flush kit that will do a good job would you just run fresh water through it ?????

 

for flushing, i did mine by connecting a garden hose to one of those tee adapters you can put into your heater hose, opened the radiator drain, loosened the radiator cap so it could overflow from there, and let the hose run for awhile. it works best if you can warm the engine up enough to have the thermostat open while doing it, but that wasn't possible last time i did mine.
the flush chemicals at your parts store are good at pulling off rust and scale from inside things, but may end up dropping those chunks inside your heater core where they'll clog it up. but the heater is easy to change, so don't let that scare you.

for the coolant itself, Fleet Charge is readily available from most parts stores and comes pre-charged. many of us here run it, including myself. ask for it at your local store - some stores don't put it out on the shelf