Sucks about the damaged ones. I believe I'm going to get one though.

 

I got one too about a month ago, but it came with a crack in the side. After three different shipments i got a good one. Put it in yesterday. It was hard getting the lower hose on but i think it is good enough [XX] I thought i had blown my head-gasket due to the over heating but so far so good. It also took three top off to get ride of all the air in the system.

 

I think i took a few years off the engine running a clog radiator. But atleast i didn't blow a head gasket. It runs sooooo much cooler now. I am running 30% anti freeze a bottle of water wet and the rest plan water.

 

I just got into the "looking for a radiator game" I just got a quote of $350 to rod out my existing radiator, flush and labor (I dont have much time to take out and put back in right now). Should I just go buy one on Ebay and make the time to replace it or spend the $350 to have the factory one bedazzled at the shop?

 

My old radiator my rotten so it could not be cord out. I was quoted $95 if it could be done. A new radiator is cheap and it is 1 1/2 work for a shop to do it.

 

350!? Holy crap. I had a local shop pull the end tanks, rod and acid bath and solder it all back up for 40 bucks

 

They only charged me $300. What a deal. However, I am still seeing the temperature getting to just over 200 degrees still. I am thinking of replacing the thermostat with a 160 degree one. I am here in Atlanta where the summers really get HOT

 

180F, not 160. I also had the acid flush and rod out on a 97, about $75 a year plus ago. I checked this weekend with IR thermometer and heat on fins was within 5 degrees top to bottom with truck warmed up. You'ld want to consider the temps at 40 mph, where the fan clutch plays less of a role. When parked or stuck in traffic the viscous clutch and electric fans shoulder the load.

 

A IR thermometer sounds like a great idea. I hope the cheap ones [$25 or less] work just as well. I know about those hot 110 F days I hope my Landy holds up to those temperatures. Water wet and Lucas oil here i come.

 

Think of it this way, the thermostat decides when and how much hot engine coolant to send to the radiator for processing. The radiator cools it off based on air flow, surface area, and heat transfer characteristics. The water pump determines the flow rate when thermostat is open. It will be partially open to fully open on warm days. So the displayed temp from the coolant sensor can be impacted by all of it.

Free improvement is wash out the fins of radiator and AC condenser of mud and trash. Stat is the cheap thing to change, followed by coolant cap, then viscous fan clutch, then water pump (many times done at same time), then radiator. The radiator takes what the thermostat sends it. But a radiator that is sludged up can't dispose of heat as fast, so changing to a 180 stat may show benefit now, but in summer with increased load the sludged radiator most likely won't keep up. The stat goes in this hole, spring inside the block, vent widget at 12:00 to let steam pockets pass. A 160 is barely better than no stat at all as far as temp, I ran it in Savannah in summer 135 - 145 no stat, 160, then settled on 180. Not warm enough for the frozen north in winter. Keep in mind that back in the day of the late 50's early 60's it was not uncommon for guys to have a winter and summer thermostat.

And the gauge is not too specific.