'94 coolant leak at oil cooler line.

[Caman96]

Yes! And at the time, the '06 was still behaving so we drove it for the morning's work.

That’s a pretty good deal installed. Garage may have paid half of $270 for part and other 1/2 was for labor.

 

[HotWheelsBurban]

That’s a pretty good deal installed. Garage may have paid half of $270 for part and other 1/2 was for labor.

No telling, it was a radiator shop I've used before. I could've done it myself but didn't have time. I was still working full time then...

 

[someotherguy]

I bought a Spectra duel core 3 years ago from Advance Auto for $165.00. 2 year warranty. Been my daily for 3 years.

CU624

Spectra Premium believes in a green and sustainable economy. That's why it uses its core competencies of metallurgical transformation, heat transfer and high quality assembly capacity, as well as its extensive expertise, to stand out in the booming vehicle electrification sector in Quebec.

ecat.spectrapremium.com

Now that their site is back up, looks like they don't carry that anymore. When I punch in that part # I don't get the Spectra listing, just a couple of "Carquest Premium" radiators for $235 and $250. Amazon has it for $199 free ship w/prime, or the $186 from Rock I mentioned earlier + ship but knock off a few bucks for whatever discount code.

BTW I tried looking up a brake hose, some seals, and a few other items on Advance's site and was pretty disappointed. Had to order what I needed elsewhere. I did need to get some Brakleen, wheel bearing grease, and some cotter pins - today - so I went over there and spent $33 on what felt like $20 worth of stuff...

Richard

 

[Caman96]

Now that their site is back up, looks like they don't carry that anymore. When I punch in that part # I don't get the Spectra listing, just a couple of "Carquest Premium" radiators for $235 and $250. Amazon has it for $199 free ship w/prime, or the $186 from Rock I mentioned earlier + ship but knock off a few bucks for whatever discount code.

BTW I tried looking up a brake hose, some seals, and a few other items on Advance's site and was pretty disappointed. Had to order what I needed elsewhere. I did need to get some Brakleen, wheel bearing grease, and some cotter pins - today - so I went over there and spent $33 on what felt like $20 worth of stuff...

Richard

Definitely AA can be a crap shoot. I can’t remember how or why, but at the time I got information that if you ordered one from AA you’d get a Spectra. First one that came wasn’t so I returned and ordered another and got the Spectra. So I don’t recommend ordering it from them, I’d use RA if it was today. What’s shipping with RA?

 

[GMC_YA_L8R]

Yeah, it’s down for me too. Could just be maintenance. 3 years ago it was about the same as RockAuto price and then with their typical 15% off is what I paid. You certainly don’t need to spend $350.00 on a radiator. So for $85.00 more minus 5% plus shipping, you have a brand new part.

A new GM Genuine radiator is right around $350 on Rock Auto right now. The way I see it, if the original made it 33 years then it's not much of a gamble to replace it with an identical one. Also, lifetime warranty on the GM one. Buy once cry once?

 

[Caman96]

The way I see it, if the original made it 33 years then it's not much of a gamble to replace it with an identical one.

If you believe the new GM radiator is of the same quality. GM/Acdelco are just middlemen today, they don’t manufacture, they use their boxes and mark them up. It might even be a Spectra, who knows, at least they manufacture their own parts.

 

[GMC_YA_L8R]

If you believe the new GM radiator is of the same quality. GM/Acdelco are just middlemen today, they don’t manufacture, they use their boxes and mark them up. It might even be a Spectra, who knows, at least they manufacture their own parts.

GM Genuine would imply that the part is built to exact specifications as the original part was. Same number of rows, welds in the same location, etc. The pictures of the part looks identical to the radiator I had in my hands when I took mine out. I'd be inclined to believe they are built the same and, hopefully, that translates to the same quality. You could be right though. It may be complete junk, but with that lifetime warranty I wouldn't sweat it a bit. Just warranty it and roll on. Whereas if your Spectra springs a leak you'll need to buy a new one and then you'll be at the cost of the GM Genuine part but still only have two years of warranty. Different strokes for different folks, I guess.

 

[someotherguy]

It's a roll of the dice either way. Lifetime warranty is great but not if something still turns out to be junk and you're replacing it all the time. It's a reasonable gamble, don't get me wrong, but doesn't always work out in the better's favor.

Richard

 

[Caman96]

GM Genuine would imply that the part is built to exact specifications as the original part was. Same number of rows, welds in the same location, etc. The pictures of the part looks identical to the radiator I had in my hands when I took mine out. I'd be inclined to believe they are built the same and, hopefully, that translates to the same quality. You could be right though. It may be complete junk, but with that lifetime warranty I wouldn't sweat it a bit. Just warranty it and roll on. Whereas if your Spectra springs a leak you'll need to buy a new one and then you'll be at the cost of the GM Genuine part but still only have two years of warranty. Different strokes for different folks, I guess.

…and your talking about a single core, I upgraded to a duel core. Your $350.00 + $100.00 you’ve already spent = $450.00. I could buy 3 Spectra single cores($140.00) for $420.00. I doubt I’m putting 3 radiator’s in this truck. But then again, it is a Chevy 400 with only 80k.

 

[GMC_YA_L8R]

…and your talking about a single core, I upgraded to a duel core. Your $350.00 + $100.00 you’ve already spent = $450.00. I could buy 3 Spectra single cores($140.00) for $420.00. I doubt I’m putting 3 radiator’s in this truck. But then again, it is a Chevy 400 with only 80k.

Is a single core less efficient than a dual core if the dual core is comprised of two smaller cores? From my understanding, the advent of dual core only reduced the size of each individual core. Fluid dynamics tells me there is a marginal, if any, improvement in heat dissipation between one larger core versus two smaller cores. It the dual core was made with two cores of the same size as the single core then, yes, by all means it would be more efficient.