Cracked radiator end tanks, replacement radiator Autozone?

[tmak26b]

While beating on the car yesterday, the end tanks exploded. After barely limping home, I am now in need to fix the car quickly as the registration is expiring on it Saturday. With that in mind, I just ordered an Autozone radiator for $220. Has anyone ever use that? If so, hows the fitment? Also does it have the dual transmission oil warmer for the 94+ cars or do i have to get an aftermarket one just in case.

Thanks

[qship96]

Should be a direct fit.....some may say it might not be quite as good as buying a factory new part {$500-600}, but certainly it is way better than a 8-10 year old factory radiator before the leak began due to it being brand new and free of internal/external wear and blockage

[maxnix]

Hope you didn't over heat the heads. gauge is very slow to respond.

[tmak26b]

Hopefully not, car seems to run okay. I will find out. I got the part in. It is aluminum with plastic end tanks, everything seems like a perfect fit with TWO oil coolers. I guess people with 90-93 can use this as an upgrade simply by running an oil line from one side to the other

Hope you didn't over heat the heads. gauge is very slow to respond.

[maxnix]

It is aluminum with plastic end tanks, everything seems like a perfect fit with TWO oil coolers.

Two heat exchangers, actually. Operating coolant temperature is ~195° F while ATF is happier at 176° F. Why we always recommend an auxiliary ATF cooler.

[JedCoop]

This is bizarre. My radiator failed last night on my '94 Q.It was a small crack around the smaller hose near the petcock. Then, when I went to remove the upper radiator hose, I loosened the clamp and tried giving it a twist - usually this only works when the hose is new, but it came loose easily.

When I got the hose off, I saw that the outlet looked all rough, and there was no bump to hold the hose on. At first I was incredulous that the hose stayed on there, and pissed that someone had done this to my radiator (I bought the car with 84K miles after all the under-plenum hoses were replaced).

Ah, but then I looked inside the radiator hose, and there was the rest of the plastic from the tank.

Basically the plastic on this tank has gotten way too brittle. makes me worrythat other radiators might have this same issue?

In terms of ordering a radiator, I googled CU2053 (The SPI part number)and found http://www.rockauto.com/catalog/catalog.php $153 + $13 shipping

or even better

http://www.yourautocoolingsour...61759$131 + $13 shipping

But delivery was still next wed/thursday.

Then I called 1-800-radiator (really). They had one an hours drive away from my house.

3 hours later it was at my front doorstep for $181. Sweet.

Meanwhile I need to buy a bunch of hoses - I don't like these kinds of failures. Seeing that temp gauge up that high scares me. After hours of cooling I refilled the radiator and drove the 2 miles home with the radiator pressure cap loose. Car ran fine. Whew!

p.s. my other username on this forum is ericthered....

[tmak26b]

I needed the car running quick, so had to order locally. I paid $50 more, but I got to have it next morning. Everything is in and is running well, I even replaced the original alt and AC belt. The previous owner mickey moused a new mounting point with some nasty concrete stuff, so a new radiator was inevitable. I guess they all fail. I think the one from Autozone is SPI too.

This is bizarre. My radiator failed last night on my '94 Q.It was a small crack around the smaller hose near the petcock. Then, when I went to remove the upper radiator hose, I loosened the clamp and tried giving it a twist - usually this only works when the hose is new, but it came loose easily.

When I got the hose off, I saw that the outlet looked all rough, and there was no bump to hold the hose on. At first I was incredulous that the hose stayed on there, and pissed that someone had done this to my radiator (I bought the car with 84K miles after all the under-plenum hoses were replaced).

Ah, but then I looked inside the radiator hose, and there was the rest of the plastic from the tank.

Basically the plastic on this tank has gotten way too brittle. makes me worrythat other radiators might have this same issue?

In terms of ordering a radiator, I googled CU2053 (The SPI part number)and found http://www.rockauto.com/catalog/catalog.php $153 + $13 shipping

or even better

http://www.yourautocoolingsour...61759$131 + $13 shipping

But delivery was still next wed/thursday.

Then I called 1-800-radiator (really). They had one an hours drive away from my house.

3 hours later it was at my front doorstep for $181. Sweet.

Meanwhile I need to buy a bunch of hoses - I don't like these kinds of failures. Seeing that temp gauge up that high scares me. After hours of cooling I refilled the radiator and drove the 2 miles home with the radiator pressure cap loose. Car ran fine. Whew!

p.s. my other username on this forum is ericthered....

[3Q Jay]

can anyone confirm the pedigree of the spectra premium (SPI) CU2053?

auto cooling source lists it as 2-row, copper core, but other sources, including spectra premium website (would tend to belive this) say 1-row, aluminum/plastic.

what is confirmed direct fit, including driancock---besides the $491 OEM?

[Q45tech]

If 90% of oem cooling capacity is enough for you and maybe half oem life?

Still 5-7 years maybe ok for some. Tyhe loss of 1,2,3 minutes in time to overheat [reserve ] is probably more significant in hot climates.

[qship96]

If 90% of oem cooling capacity is enough for you and maybe half oem life?

Still 5-7 years maybe ok for some. Tyhe loss of 1,2,3 minutes in time to overheat [reserve ] is probably more significant in hot climates.

The above comment sounds like a WILD *** GUESS to me.....quite an assumption to say that all aftermarket radiators have only 90% cooling capacity of OEM, or even 1/2 the lifetime of the OEM radiator without testing the 2 under controlled lab conditions!!! Aftermarket radiators produced by competant companies are designed for the BTU requirements of the specific application,and many have lifetime warranties, unlike the Nissan part.......

[Q45tech]

Having replaced hundreds of rads on Q [various years]. T3 [3 shops 10 techs] probably changes 4-6 per month in Summer on Q and triple that number on Lexus since 1995.

In 1998 before I chose to have a custom rad built for my Q, I spent 3 days data logging the coolant temperature vs time idling at 750 rpm in drive and park with a brand new oem rad, my 140k rad, and 2 after makets cheapo rads. I only takes an hour to swap rads. Wasting time until the ambient warms up in the shade kills the day.Even brand new rads overheated on early Q in certain stopped traffic situations [eventually after 15 minutes].............what I was trying to do was to find a method to push it to 20 minutes....................to me an over heat is 196F + whereas some think 230F is an overheat

90% was a rounded up number, it was closer to 88% but I was giving benefit of doubt. 90% at idle is only 2F hotter coolant since the NEW OEM rad at most drops the coolant 15F --depending on humidity.

All about the selected aluminum alloy and it's thermal coefficient.

Remember idle is the most critical point since air flow is so low compared to 55 mph. If you are moving even 20 mph any rad will be fine.

I don't guess at anything I measure scientifically and acurately every day it's my job.

I revisit this coolant F vs time [stopwatch] read on Consult with an ambient electronic thermometer about every 2 years to see how the $800 rad [10 year old] is holding up. I use distilled water to minimize variances and air to blow out the condenser and rad.............................trim IAC to make sure rpm is equal to previous tests not the lab but close enough.

A simple test is to weigh the new rads and look for any differences. Many cheap rads are a pound+ lighter than oem!

[Jesda]

The moral of the story is... unless you plan on putting another 150,000 miles on your old Q, buy an aftermarket radiator. Sure, you love your car and might intend to keep it forever, but accidents happen.

[3Q Jay]

Having replaced hundreds of rads on Q [various years]. T3 [3 shops 10 techs] probably changes 4-6 per month in Summer on Q and triple that number on Lexus since 1995.

In 1998 before I chose to have a custom rad built for my Q, I spent 3 days data logging the coolant temperature vs time idling at 750 rpm in drive and park with a brand new oem rad, my 140k rad, and 2 after makets cheapo rads. I only takes an hour to swap rads. Wasting time until the ambient warms up in the shade kills the day.Even brand new rads overheated on early Q in certain stopped traffic situations [eventually after 15 minutes].............what I was trying to do was to find a method to push it to 20 minutes....................to me an over heat is 196F + whereas some think 230F is an overheat

90% was a rounded up number, it was closer to 88% but I was giving benefit of doubt. 90% at idle is only 2F hotter coolant since the NEW OEM rad at most drops the coolant 15F --depending on humidity.

All about the selected aluminum alloy and it's thermal coefficient.

Tech, by thermal coefficient, i'm assuming you mean the convective efficiency of the wet mix to Al and then Al to air transfer?my understanding is that the Al to air 'thermal resistance' is the most influential piece of the heat transfer equation.would it be possible to get some of the other data from your tests, such as core material and dimensions, mfg. name and model (to see what to be suspicious of)?