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It is amazing how our factory radiators seem to crack in the exact same way. Clearly this unit is failing to maintain pressure and needs to be replaced; an attempt to repair it will likely be temporary at best and catastrophic at worst.
I am leaning heavily towards an upgrade; if you agree or disagree please chime in. My engine is currently stock aside from LT headers, it will get power-adders later when it is no longer my DD, so I figure upgrading now is not a bad idea and I can't imagine a bit of extra cooling ability being a bad thing.
This is one I had in mind as it appears to be a direct replacement. Car is a manual, so the AT cooler portion I suppose is not needed?
It is amazing how our factory radiators seem to crack in the exact same way. Clearly this unit is failing to maintain pressure and needs to be replaced; an attempt to repair it will likely be temporary at best and catastrophic at worst.
I am leaning heavily towards an upgrade; if you agree or disagree please chime in. My engine is currently stock aside from LT headers, it will get power-adders later when it is no longer my DD, so I figure upgrading now is not a bad idea and I can't imagine a bit of extra cooling ability being a bad thing.
This is one I had in mind as it appears to be a direct replacement. Car is a manual, so the AT cooler portion I suppose is not needed?
This is just me, it had that old school butterfly style which is what I'm used to and thought it was a bit spongy while trying to turn it.
It was leaking at the threads even though it had Teflon wrapped and was on tight. when I tried to drain it the butterfly just kept spinning, It's been swapped to the electrode thanks to a forum member.
At the time I daily drove my c5 and Yes it's only a few dollar fix but if it leaks on you and you have no tools or far from home.
Again it's only a $5 fix and not saying the radiator is junk, just that drain valve. It's a bigger radiator so takes a bit longer to warm up since you daily drive so you know.
This is just me, it had that old school butterfly style which is what I'm used to and thought it was a bit spongy while trying to turn it.
It was leaking at the threads even though it had Teflon wrapped and was on tight. when I tried to drain it the butterfly just kept spinning, It's been swapped to the electrode thanks to a forum member.
At the time I daily drove my c5 and Yes it's only a few dollar fix but if it leaks on you and you have no tools or far from home.
Again it's only a $5 fix and not saying the radiator is junk, just that drain valve. It's a bigger radiator so takes a bit longer to warm up since you daily drive so you know.
Electrode? This replaces the butterfly valve? I have never heard of this.
Why not upgrade? I went with a DeWitts radiator with oil cooler. It handled my LS3 all day at the race track and had no issues.
Upgrading is what I am planning on, but I have no plans to track it at this point. A Dewitts unit is mighty expensive, $600+ is a bit out of my price range. I currently a student working part-time so my budget is a bit limited. The ECP unit is only about $260. For my DD it looked like a reasonable option.
Upgrading is what I am planning on, but I have no plans to track it at this point. A Dewitts unit is mighty expensive, $600+ is a bit out of my price range. I currently a student working part-time so my budget is a bit limited. The ECP unit is only about $260. For my DD it looked like a reasonable option.
Do what you feel you have to, but for a project car (and whether you like it or not, a 20+ year old car IS a project car) you should never pass on an opportunity to upgrade. At some point you will get a hair up your *** to upgrade something else on the car, and then have to come back and spend the money you should be spending NOW to upgrade the radiator.
Case in point-- I pulled my fuel tanks for bad sending units two years ago. At the time I had no plans on doing any power upgrades. I figured since I was in the tanks anyway I might as well upgrade to C6Z fuel pumps (my car is late 03 so I have the C6 fuel system). About two years later my LS6 let go and I decided to put in an LS3. Now I didn't need to upgrade the fuel pumps (with the associated NIGHTMARE of dropping the fuel tanks). Same goes for the radiator-- I put in my Dewitts before the LS3 was in the cards.
Dig through the couch, roll your pennies. Buy once, cry once.
I just replaced my 19 year old radiator with a new replacement from amazon. $69 shipped. I figured if the original plastic radiator lasted that long, the replacement should last the duration of my ownership. No problems thus far. The only thing I didn’t care for was they are all automatic radiators these days that have the provisions for the transmission lines.
I've ran ECP for 4 years with 402 and supercharger. I've had no issues with it and works great. Lifetime warranty so I'm good with it. I've got another buddy with one and he has had it longer with no complaints.
I just replaced my 19 year old radiator with a new replacement from amazon. $69 shipped. I figured if the original plastic radiator lasted that long, the replacement should last the duration of my ownership. No problems thus far. The only thing I didn’t care for was they are all automatic radiators these days that have the provisions for the transmission lines.
Radiator failure - Replacement suggestions
