I'm leaving this forum and have deleted all my work in this thread.

 

Could be the core or the o-rings leaking

 

Core is probably going, and although it sounds like it would work by bypassing it for the summer those coolant issues always have a way of hanging around, going from one thing to the other and before you know it something you could have fixed earlier has turned into a larger project......my .02

 

You could also be sucking in the smell from the engine compartment. The act of turning on the heat does not make coolant suddenly flow thru the core, it is constantly there, summer or winter, and it should be hot and moving. There is no water valve. There are damper flaps that shift air around. If you do bypass, complete the patch way between the two hoses, don't stub off.

I guess you could test with AC on, in recirculate mode with and without heat added, to see if smell level is same.

Bad thing about heater core is the truck is built around it.

 

Wrong screw and a hole has been pricked in plastic part of radiator I am afraid.

 

Not sure on the hardware, I suspect you will be on your own. Prices will range from under $150 to $300ish, depending on source. The cheapest may not be the best (clones from the land of the great Kahn). A new rad is better than a leaky old rad. The question comes in how long it will last, etc. I generally look at Rock Auto for a base price and shop around. Mid point seems to be in the $180 - $200 range. A used rad from u-pull-da-partz boneyard may be $50, but may also be partially blocked, etc.

 

I have a Nissens in mine, no problems so far (about 9 months). the only difference between the two radiators is that the SAI version has a port for a temp sensor (for the SAI) at the bottom of the radiator. If you don't have SAI you just leave the plug installed (and conversely you have to remove the plug if you have SAI)

 

I have a Nissens for my Mercedes, but it came in box that said Nissens, and a sticker from another euro factory on the radiator. In my case it was outsourced, but Nissens does stand behind the warranty, even though it was not made in Denmark.

 

I have a D1, but other members have posted about it.

 

Pure hogwash. But you need to complete the hose circuit (bypass) vs dead ending the hoses. The water flow thru the heater core is important. The only reason you would overheat with heater core bypassed is if radiator was sludged up and heater core was handling half of the cooling.