I guess for a '93, she held up pretty well. Never had a problem.

About 2 weeks ago, I noticed my Low Coolant light on. I added some in the overflow tank, and the next day the light was back. Today I noticed a pretty nice leak, and further examination I found the side tank on the pass, cracked the length of the tank.

I'm seeing a lot of feedback on Dewitts??? Anyone know what type of cooler I have on my '93 auto? Oil or trans?

 

You might have both types of coolers on your car. Only the trans cooler is associated with your radiator. If you need a LOT of extra cooling the De Witts radiator can't be beat. If you aren't having severe cooling issues, a stock aluminum core replacement is a good unit and much more affordable. And speaking of affordable, you can R&R your radiator yourself, and have a radiator shop replace that tank.

RACE ON!!!

 

New LT1 rad from GM $175.00.. it dropped my avg crusing temps on my stroker motor from 220-230* down to 180-190* overnight.. its amazing how those little rocks that get caught between the fins kill the performance of radiator.

 

Ron Davis in Phoenix makes a good radiator that also fits.

 

Dewitts are #1 and a supportive vendor - search the archive posts, highly recommended, personal experience....

 

 

For my '92 LT1, after seeing all the fine particles that get trapped inside the fins of the core, I consider the C4 with the mail-slot air-intake 6 inches off the ground as the best road vacuum cleaner that could be made.
And, with the radiator out and on the ground, it is almost impossible to get all that fine debris out of the core -- I tried for days and got tons out each time.
About the only thing I didn't do was try my high-pressure washer that would have blown the aluminum fins into the next county.

I now think of my C4 radiator as having two purposes:
1) Cool the engine
2) A filter to take out sand-like partiicles.
As a result, I consider the C4 radiator as a "throw away" filter that will need replaced about every 50K miles.

Looking at the inside (where the coolant flows) of my radiator, it looked like new.
Looking at the external fin area, it looked like new.
Looking at the internal fin area, it was clogged with sand-like particles -- and try as I did, I just couldn't get them all out.

I put in a new OEM radiator and my coolant temps in Florida dropped about 20 degrees -- on a 95+ degree day in traffic it is about 185 degrees (160 thermostat) in traffic.

I now don't follow vehicles too close to attempt to let the sand-particles settle before my radiator injests them.

Tom Piper

 

rockauto.com 3-core rad for $185

 

from looking at the Ron Davis, and the DeWitts, it's between them. I don't think i'd go back to stock GM only because I'd like to upgrade a little, and never worry about this again. South Fl sucks in the summer, and i've always had high temps with this car. Peace of mind is what I want.

 

I'm not sure if you have one, but theres a radiator shop near me and they repaired my radiator to like new. He fixed the crack that was in it and cleaned it out real good for like $40. You could try doing that first before spending big money on a new one.

 

Another satisfied (very) DeWitts customer here

 

That copper/brass, third world wonder NEEDS a three row core, just to keep up with the one row aluminum core radiator the car came with.

RACE ON!!!

 

 

I can't say I'm impressed with the dewitts, didn't help one bit stay with stock and save a lot of cash.

 

The DeWitts radiator is well designed and larger capacity-- it doesn't have plastic tanks like the OEM.

The real problem with the C4, particularly at low-speed and sitting in traffic, is airflow through the radiator.
A radiator out of a semi won't do any good without good airflow, and the C4 simply doesn't have it.

If your C4 doesn't overheat at full-throttle while doing 70 mph but does sitting in traffic, you don't have a radiator capacity problem -- you have an airflow problem.
At speed with your foot to the floor, you are dumping boat-loads more heat into the cooling system than you are at idle. So, if it is cool enough then, the radiator capacity isn't your problem. That speed is producing good airflow.

I found that a new OEM unit is plenty good enough for mine in Florida on 95+ degree days after a few tricks.
I don't let any air bypass the radiator core -- I made rubber inserts that seal around the radiator inside the shroud completely.
I plugged all the holes in the radiator shroud -- especially, where the A/C condensor lines enter the shroud -- these holes pull hot air from under the hood into the front of the radiator.
At 95+ degree days at idle with the A/C going full blast, my coolant temp doesn't go above 185 degrees (160 degree thermostat with the fans programmed to turn on early).


Tom Piper

 

 

Identical problem here. Went to a Corvette show today and won the 50/50 drawing, which now pays for the new radiator, upper and lower hoses I am going to put in on Monday. Good timing!

 

Replacing the stock radiator with a double row is only part of the solution. Since all late model cars are computer controlled you have reprogram things to tell the car to run cooler. If you did all that and still saw no difference then chances are you never really tax the system enough to see the improvement. Most people see at least a 20 degree drop. Even GM reported a 22 degree drop with the Z06 with our two row vs the stock single row.

 

the fans are reprogrammed to come on at 170 degrees,I tax this system plenty,your rad just isn't worth the money i spent on it. runs at the same temps as the stock rad,and for the 600 dollars i spent in my opinion it wasen't worth it.On an 85 degree day sitting in traffic it runs 210-220,if I turn the air on its 235-240.

 

Wow something sounds wrong with your setup.. my stroker motor with my old, 177k mile plugged radiator (with tons of stones blocking it) didnt run that hot.. sounds like you might have other issues at play..

IMHO Toms radiators are very nice units and are improvements of factory.. The real benefit is for the person who performance drives alot (i.e. HPDE, drag racing, etc..etc) The stock radiator (in good condition) does well for MOST applications... in the other applications Toms radiator is the only way to go.. Kinda like the vigilante converter, other units are good also.. but if you can spare the coin there is nothing better!