Best place to get a radiator?

[Nanook]

Originally Posted by Banshee

I got mine from Natrad in Richmiond. About half the price, from memory, compared to the stealer. I also replaced the upper & lower hoses, due to the upper having a bit of a bulge. They were about 8 years old as well.

The stealer didn't even HAVE lower hoses!

My TJ had a Natrad radiator put in it here in Newcastle. I had a hell of a time sealing a leak on the bottom hose because the pipe the hose slips onto for some reason was scalloped.

I could never get a hose clamp on tight enough to seal it. I ended up covering it in vulcanising tape with 2 hose clamps before I eventually stopped it.

Apart from that it was a pretty good radiator.

[MightyMouse]

Originally Posted by warnabrother

Where did you buy this from mate ??

DBOR and fitted it on the front lawn at home Not a difficult job, if you can change a stock radiator then you can fit the Mishimoto.

Had it in for a few weeks now and have done some hard / sustained driving with it and it certainly does the job even on 38C days ( 95 C thermostat - 96 C water temp ). Fan runs less than before and when it kicks in the temperature drops rapidly back to normal, unlike stock where it dropped quite slowly.

A mates Pentastar in the same tracks and dunes climbed up to 3/4 on the gauge even with the fan running flat out ( forced on with a scan tool ).... so perhaps there's justification on some 3.6's as well.

IMHO not a necessity for daily drivers but for those that do low speed stuff / sustained high load or drive in hot conditions there certainly is a worthwhile difference and its "insurance" for me.

Apparently also now available to suit the Pentastar ( mines a 3.8 ).

[MightyMouse]

Originally Posted by Nanook

My TJ had a Natrad radiator put in it here in Newcastle. I had a hell of a time sealing a leak on the bottom hose because the pipe the hose slips onto for some reason was scalloped.

I could never get a hose clamp on tight enough to seal it. I ended up covering it in vulcanising tape with 2 hose clamps before I eventually stopped it.

Apart from that it was a pretty good radiator.

I had a Natrad supplied replacement, was well priced at the time BUT it had a small weep from one of the tank ends when hot ( you could smell coolant ) and the surface that the cap sealed too wasn't flat and would leak unless the cap was on "just right".

Ended up having to file it flat which mostly fixed the cap problem, but there was nothing that was easily done about the weep and it was very small so just ignored it.

[PureCaboose]

Originally Posted by Johnboy

Pulling the rad on a 3.8 manual is a 10 min job I often pull it after a muddy weekend cos the the hose never gets that last 30% of block fins

After having done my CRD, I can see why the petrol would be a quick and easy affair. The hard part was getting the three head exchangers separated so I could get the radiator out.

[Banshee]

With mine being a manual petrol, all I had to do was separate the oil cooler. And power steering cooler, I think?

[Banshee]

Well, it seems 3 years is the lifespan for the one from Natrad. I now have a leak from the top pipe running across it.

I'll look around & just keep it topped up until I can afford to replace it.

[eksjay]

Save yourself a lot of time and trouble and get genuine Mopar. There is a major difference between the lifespan of one of these and the garbage being sold in the aftermarket. Been there done it in an XJ Cherokee for 23 years. I gave aftermarket a chance up to the point that their second rad packed it in in 6 months. The first one was toast in 4 months. Cut my losses and went back to Mopar which have lasted 6-8 years on average (I am on my third one in 23 years of ownership). It was installed by Joe Mechanic. The aftermarket ones had been installed by so-called reputable radiator specialists.

You WILL pay more to buy the genuine article, but the trouble it saves you in the long run is MORE than worth it.