Replacement was due to a leak in the old radiator. The screw hole at the top which holds the fan shroud in place was weeping on the driver's side and epoxy didn't cure it. It wasn't a major leak, I never had to add coolant, I just noticed that the level in the overflow went down roughly an inch in about 1,000 miles. That and when I'd remove the shroud the top of the radiator would always be wet on that side, even after epoxying it, so I went and ordered the eBay special.

Put it in this past weekend. The side rails were a little tough to get on, the tongue and groove thing at the bottom end required some force to get it to accept the rail, and the bolt hole at the top of the driver's side rail wasn't fully drilled on the radiator, but otherwise installation was as straightforward as you could want. The new one It felt about 10% lighter than what I took out, I presume that was the original radiator but have no way of knowing. I did use some extremely short stubby screws to mount the shroud this time. My opinion is that while all that extra length in the factory screws is a potential for a problem and washer or two is an easy remedy there, I think that not ensuring the screw is going into the original threads is a bigger contributor to the failure. Cut new threads three or four times and you've stretched the 15-20 yo plastic so many ways it will definitely crack. Anyway, the new rad is in and temps have been identical so far. Well worth the $60 (shipped) investment. That's the good news.

I've driven it 4 or 5 times, for a total of about 100 miles and I haven't been able to get the overflow topped up. Every time I lift the hood it takes a bit more, probably added close to a half gallon at this point. The last two times I had the radiator out It took far less coolant, and fewer topping up exercises, to call it good. I have found that when filling the system it's helpful to install the lower hose and thermostat, then fill through the top radiator hose until the coolant fills the thermostat housing before attaching the two hoses at the top of the thermostat. This ensures there's no air trapped in the radiator or thermostat housing which I think may have been my problem with a "bad" Motorad thermo a few months ago. So, then after connecting the two thermo hoses I reconnected the upper hose to the T and filled through the bleed hole until the overflow bottle was at the correct level. The last two times this method required one quick top up of less than a quart max to fully bleed the system. I do get hot heat right away with this method, and did this time as well.

The only connections I undid were the two upper hoses at the top of the radiator and the two hoses at the top of the thermostat housing, and nothing is wet at those connections or the coolant switch and hose connection at the bottom of the radiator. It does smell a little "coolanty" under the hood after it's been shut down however. This could be due to a pretty good leak at the hose which connects the bleeder T to the engine, I never removed that hose but I did loosen the engine-side clamp inadvertently and forgot to tighten it at initial startup so I lost a good amount of coolant. I would've thought that the smell would go away over so many miles without any fresh leaking though. I've parked over cardboard and there are no drips at all under the truck (yes, you ready that right). My fear is the fact that the system is actually sealed now with a fresh radiator, and this could be forcing the coolant to go somewhere else. Due to the size of the previous leak however I can't believe the pressure is that much greater now, but I'm starting to get concerned. It certainly could be that I needed that much more coolant this time due to that initial leak, perhaps that leak screwed up bleed process as well and I got some air in there. The amounts I've added now are enough that I would expect so see evidence of a leak somewhere though. I haven't done a pressure test yet, tonight perhaps, but I almost don't want to know that answer.

 

Well, it's been just over a week and about 500 miles now, and I think the coolant consumption has abated. I'll chalk this up to a loose clamp at the engine side of the hose that connects the driver's side of the bleed T to the engine. This apparently let a considerable amount of coolant out and possibly air in, and it took a while longer than anticipated to equalize. I put a piece of electrical tape on the overflow bottle and the level has finally stabilized. The coolantly smell around the front of the truck for the first hundred or so miles must have been some of that coolant which vented out the loose clamp, gotten down into a bunch of crevices, and then taken a while to burn off.

I never suspected the radiator was part of the problem, and in summary anyone who needs a DII radiator would do well to grab one of these while they're available. I'm thinking of grabbing another now just because.

 

 

 

 

I'm definitely a newbie, but not new to wrenching. I put a $60 radiator in mine the other day, and I was very impressed with the quality of fitment. Only minor issue I had was the top driver side screw hole for the radiator shroud was slightly out of alignment, but didn't really impact the shroud going on.

Time will tell, but I'm happy with the purchase. Thanks to those here who recommended it, otherwise I'd still have the old cruddy rad in mine.