Radiator replacement
#1
Radiator replacement
What's going on, just cracked my oem radiator last night, I called autozone for a quick fix radiator since I'm going away for a month Tuesday, I called and they had two to choose from, one had the core depth of 1 and 1/4 inch the other is 1 15/16th thick. The one on my car is oem and is 15/16th thick, they only had the 1 and a 1/4 inch thick rad, I ended up picking that one up and installing it in my car this morning, there was one extra nipple about 1/2 inch in diameter on the driver side left bottom of the rad, I plugged that and continued. The install went well and I drove the car a few miles to normal operating temperature and everything seems to be doing fine with no leaks. Is this okay for what I've done? I don't want any issues when I'm going on a long drive and just making sure. Thank you in advance,
#2
TECH Senior Member
iTrader: (5)
Sounds like you ended up with a LT1 car radiator witch was thicker than the LS cars.
As long as you don't have any leaking or over heating issues your good to go. Check the coolant again in the morning after the car completely cools to outside temps. That's usually when air pockets will burp out and coolant level will drop.
As long as you don't have any leaking or over heating issues your good to go. Check the coolant again in the morning after the car completely cools to outside temps. That's usually when air pockets will burp out and coolant level will drop.
#4
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Yes, it's got better heat-throw from the thicker core
(unless you get sold one with a LS1 core and LT1 end
tanks, which can happen if you're not paying attention).
With the OE radiator and A/C on, I could not hold ECT
down in the summer. With the LT1 rad, no problem.
Look at the finned part, not the ends, for thickness.
On the OE LS1 radiator you can see where there's room
for another row of tubes, and they didn't put them.
(unless you get sold one with a LS1 core and LT1 end
tanks, which can happen if you're not paying attention).
With the OE radiator and A/C on, I could not hold ECT
down in the summer. With the LT1 rad, no problem.
Look at the finned part, not the ends, for thickness.
On the OE LS1 radiator you can see where there's room
for another row of tubes, and they didn't put them.