most of that stuff is all from china and generally the quality is pretty good but there is occasionally some strange stuff goes on, for example the GT40 radiator I run on my mirage comes from china, but stock the whole thing is an air lock (side tanks, with entry and exit at the bottom with no way of bleeding it) so gotta be careful and make sure there are no design changes that could impact the performance.
Be aware that radiators with alloy tanks can be more prone to corrosion as they conduct electricity differently from those with plastic tanks. Make sure you keep coolant changes up to date and you will be fine.
strobo,
Dec 18, 5:45am
It's All Good
franc123,
Dec 18, 9:35am
Best long term fix is to recore the one you have, most of them are upgradeable to triple core if so desired. In the unlikely event a local radiator shop can't help surely one for something like that would be available ex Australia. I tried fitting one of these fancy full alloy radiators to a Falcon once and it was utter cheap and nasty crap, it didnt bolt into the vehicle properly and the tanks were ridiculously bulky and fouled on the air con pipework. Ugly welds everywhere, blerk.
intrade,
Dec 18, 9:45pm
if you buy one make sure to flush with hot water. The manufacturer are not allowed to flush them at the manufacturing place. i think i recall its fluoride . white crap. i was wondering what that was when i fitted brand new holden astra 480 bux from holden 4 years ago. found out after the above is what it is and it detroyes in short order the coolant if you dont flush it first with hot water.
martin11,
Dec 18, 10:52pm
Probably residue from the flux used to weld the Radiator .
marte,
Dec 19, 8:54am
That makes sense too. I decided to look it up the Flux MSDS & it's got. Lithium chloride & Sodium cryolite & Sodium fluoride in it. The stuff needs either hot soaking & time or warm water & hard scrubbing to get it off & since it goes to near clear after use it's not that easy to to see.
martin11,
Dec 19, 7:35pm
Alloy Rediators are cleaned and the flus neutralised by the manufacturers before the sell them .
rj-001,
Dec 20, 4:28am
Thank you for the replies. I will probably have mine re-cored locally - but this did seem like an interesting option.
intrade,
Dec 20, 4:58am
no they are not . i found that out after the fact in a training that the cost to the manufacturer to clear the fluoride is to high to comply with enviromental rules. Thus if the end user flushes it there is less polution in 1 spot . the manufacturer is in the clear no water after treatment bills and no resoponsibilty as they do not cause any fluride pollution at all. While some may be clean. but dont count on it the white crap is the fluoride when you flush it with hot water. its not hard to do but one needs to know because the fluoride will turn your coolant to Foobar. plus there is no notice to do this. The astra radiator had white crap. that i did not flush just did wonder what the wit crap was . then the waterpump leaked then the cambelt snapped and i spent 20h rebuilding that head . due to that its not possible that the waterpump could lock up in 20,000km. but it can if you know how the dominos start falling. Expensive when you learn the facts afterwards.
The Toyota place replaced a water pump with a new genuine one on a Toyota Coralla we used to own and it only lasted for less than 20km it was replaced again the next day at their cost and gave no trouble since . Apparently the shaft in it was bent slightly in the first one .
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