radiator leaking, what replacement is everyone using

Disclaimer: Links on this page pointing to Amazon, eBay and other sites may include affiliate code. If you click them and make a purchase, we may earn a small commission.

Doubeleive

Wes
Supporting Member
Joined
Nov 7, 2017
Posts
26,532
Reaction score
39,948
Location
Stockton, Ca.
Dang. I have a buddy with an excursion and his is going on 4 years.

Well… I can tig aluminum… if it does leak and it’s somewhere I can fix it.. there is that.

I just pulled the Amazon trigger on it.
good luck, I had bought a coldcase which "seemed" to have the best reviews, when it started leaking I pulled it out and took it to a radiator shop that has been here over 50 years and they said it was un-repairable, it was leaking out of one of the fin crease exiting one side of the tank end. when I had bought it was on backorder for 3 months, and I wasn't going to wait another 3 months for a replacement so I just returned it.
one guy here has had the mishimoto for a couple years but may have a turn of bad luck not too long ago if I remember correctly.
anyway it could go well, fingers crossed.
only thing I can suggest is perhaps keep the mounting bolts just snug so it can expand/shrink and maybe not get stressed or twisted
 
OP
OP
F

Fifty

Full Access Member
Joined
Jun 26, 2015
Posts
813
Reaction score
218
Mishimoto went in today.

Fitment was ok. The lower fan mounts were off and I had to trim the fan shroud.

The mount for the ac lines on the passenger side was too far off and I had to zip tie the bracket instead of bolt it.

A lot thicker than stock, so that is good. Hopefully it lasts a good while.
 
OP
OP
F

Fifty

Full Access Member
Joined
Jun 26, 2015
Posts
813
Reaction score
218
So far so good. It does stay a lot cooler than the oem cooler. I’m afraid that it might trip a code.

Where before it would be in the 210 range it’s in the 200 range, and when it would be in the 190-193 range it’s in the 170.

I only know these numbers as I converted my colorado to a new radiator and spal fans and had to retune the ecu fan pwm controller and drove around logging the Yukon because the oem fan tunes and ect targets were the same.
 

snives

TYF Newbie
Joined
Feb 15, 2023
Posts
19
Reaction score
26
Location
Chicago
I took the Tahoe to the Silver Lake Sand Dunes this past weekend and ended up blowing the radiator. It cracked on the front corner of the drivers side inlet tube, about a 5" vertical crack. Plastic end tanks, smh. So, I'm looking at getting a 3 row aluminum aftermarket radiator and have looked at ebay and amazon and finding mostly Chinese ones, but the ones that made my short list are the AlloyWorks ($320) and the Mishimoto ($1000) one. I was wondering if anyone has had experience with either of these. Or if there is another one people trust/have had good luck with then chime in.
 
OP
OP
F

Fifty

Full Access Member
Joined
Jun 26, 2015
Posts
813
Reaction score
218
So far I’ve been happy with the mishimoto. We had two heat waves since the install and the ecu has had no problem keeping the ect in the targets

I was worried with how much thicker the core was that the truck would have a hard time staying in the target temps.

The only fitment issue I had was the bracket that held the ac lines on the passenger side.
 

Geotrash

Dave
Supporting Member
Joined
Feb 16, 2018
Posts
6,511
Reaction score
16,216
Location
Richmond, VA
I took the Tahoe to the Silver Lake Sand Dunes this past weekend and ended up blowing the radiator. It cracked on the front corner of the drivers side inlet tube, about a 5" vertical crack. Plastic end tanks, smh. So, I'm looking at getting a 3 row aluminum aftermarket radiator and have looked at ebay and amazon and finding mostly Chinese ones, but the ones that made my short list are the AlloyWorks ($320) and the Mishimoto ($1000) one. I was wondering if anyone has had experience with either of these. Or if there is another one people trust/have had good luck with then chime in.
Like Wes, I had an all-aluminum 2-row radiator in my 2012 for 3 years before it started leaking. The original was still fine, but I wanted what I thought would be better cooling and better durability. And like Wes's, mine was unrepairable but also no longer returnable. In my opinion, they're a marketing gimmick. Denso is the OEM manufacturer, and that's what I put in it when the aluminum radiator came out. The OEM radiator in my '07 went 16 years and 240K. Hope you guys have better luck, but I'm on my 4th Suburban/Yukon now, with a total of 716K miles on them, and the only radiator that I will ever put in any of them again is OEM or Denso.
 

Doubeleive

Wes
Supporting Member
Joined
Nov 7, 2017
Posts
26,532
Reaction score
39,948
Location
Stockton, Ca.
I took the Tahoe to the Silver Lake Sand Dunes this past weekend and ended up blowing the radiator. It cracked on the front corner of the drivers side inlet tube, about a 5" vertical crack. Plastic end tanks, smh. So, I'm looking at getting a 3 row aluminum aftermarket radiator and have looked at ebay and amazon and finding mostly Chinese ones, but the ones that made my short list are the AlloyWorks ($320) and the Mishimoto ($1000) one. I was wondering if anyone has had experience with either of these. Or if there is another one people trust/have had good luck with then chime in.
the Mish should not be $1000 unless the price has gone up significantly recently for some reason, you shopping at Macy's for that one?
 

Forum statistics

Threads
132,788
Posts
1,874,268
Members
97,630
Latest member
Acha
Top