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Aluminum Radiator Leak

amrg

amrg

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I have a dual core griffin radiator on my H3. Griffin sells them without the trans cooler and they are really thick radiators (2.7"). They are very troublesome to instal as no HD electric fan will fit on it with a proper shroud. Any good fan will need to be mounted on the side as to not interfere with the waterpump pulley.
I just redid my setup and had the dual fans mounted on an aluminum shroud as opposed to ties through the radiator core, i was only able to get 5/32 " clearance between the fan and the radiator before the engine pulleys were too close (less than 1/2 " )

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Traxx

Traxx

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Lol you will be more likely to blow a cv or front diff vs an oem radiator with only 40k on it.

rascole said:
An option but the unreliability with the possibility of a failure while out on the trail or a 100 miles from civilization is not worth it for me.
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rascole

rascole

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Traxx said:
Lol you will be more likely to blow a cv or front diff vs an oem radiator with only 40k on it.
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Well, since my CV's did last longer than 2 of the OEM radiators. Besides, CV's are an easy fix in the middle of nowhere and you can drives for days (slow speed of course) try that with a cracked radiator. Everyone has a preference and you will find detractors for almost every option, stick with what works for you and your budget.
 
Clark

Clark

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Would you guys believe I've been to 5 radiator repair shops this past week only to be told by all of them "nobody fixes radiators anymore we only replace them". Now these are shops who advertise radiator repairs. If it wasn't for this winter weather I would've made the attempt myself, to fix my radiator. Also Please pass this Warning on
DO NOT BUY THE ALUMINUM RADIATOR I HAVE PICTURED AT THE BEGINNING OF THIS THREAD!!! Its being sold on Ebay for $180.00 Its poorly made. I bought it just to save myself a BUCK. BIG MISTAKE.


 
the_real_hacksaw

the_real_hacksaw

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Freeborn
Clark said:
Would you guys believe I've been to 5 radiator repair shops this past week only to be told by all of them "nobody fixes radiators anymore we only replace them". Now these are shops who advertise radiator repairs. If it wasn't for this winter weather I would've made the attempt myself, to fix my radiator. Also Please pass this Warning on
DO NOT BUY THE ALUMINUM RADIATOR I HAVE PICTURED AT THE BEGINNING OF THIS THREAD!!! Its being sold on Ebay for $180.00 Its poorly made. I bought it just to save myself a BUCK. BIG MISTAKE.


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Not sure where you are but my local rad shop fixes them. If you want to ship it to Minnesota I can get it fixed for you.


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Traxx

Traxx

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All that running around you could have just put one in and saved all the headache. Those cheapo ebay chinese radiators are prone to failing why waste the $ fixing it when it will most likely just fail again?
 
Clark

Clark

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RADIATOR UPDATE
You guys gotta hear this. I froze my rear end taking off my radiator and I took it today to a radiator repair shop I found online.Here is the kicker.....The man put his corks on and he placed the radiator in his water tank while pumping air into the rad.
NO BUBBLES WHAT SO EVER!!! Now when I walked into the shop the radiator had the dry Orange dex-cool stain.
He told me there is no leak and more than likely my leak was very minimal only when the radiator was HOT and expanding.
I should go buy a new radiator because the minimal leak would've gotten worse anyway.
I finally asked him can you repair my radiator his answer was.......I wouldn't know where to start. Put the radiator back on and let the leak get worse..
Do You believe this??? With my luck my radiator will burst open and leave me stranded.
 
4speedfunk

4speedfunk

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Tardville
What’s the issue? He couldn’t find a leak, so hows he supposed to fix it? I agree. Run it until the leak gets detectable or just replace it while you got it out.


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Clark

Clark

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The guy pointed out that the leak is there but its very minimal with no bubbles to be seen, but leaks under heat pressure when the rad is expanding. The rad had antifreeze stains. I was standing right there with the guy when he pumped air into the rad and had it in the water tank. I'm not going crazy!!! lol To begin with the leak I saw had half the bottom of the rad where the fins meet the tranny tank covered in with antifreeze. Nothing at all was leaking anywhere else.
 
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amrg

amrg

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Well obviously a hot and pressurized tank will expand more than a cold one. With our pressure cap the intank coolant temps can theoriticlly go all the way to 250* before boiling.

But since the rad is out change it. Oem aren't expensive and last at least 40K miles (I changed 3)

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Clark

Clark

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amrg said:
Well obviously a hot and pressurized tank will expand more than a cold one. With our pressure cap the intank coolant temps can theoriticlly go all the way to 250* before boiling.

But since the rad is out change it. Oem aren't expensive and last at least 40K miles (I changed 3)

Gosh I too changed 3. But in my case I went thru an OEM, An A/C Delco and now this all aluminum radiator. I have really bad luck with
plastic tanks that's why I went with all aluminum. I use to have a Jeep XJ and I went thru 2 plastic tanked radiators, then I went with
a Champion aluminum rad that I eventually blew also. But Champion gives lifetime warranties. The pain there was having to pay the $100 shipping
to send the bad rad across the country in order to get a new one. Because champion is based in California. If Champion had a east coast
warehouse and they would've made a Radiator for an H3 with a lifetime warranty. I would've bought one already. The warranty is the key..lol
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amrg

amrg

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I got a griffin radiator on my H3. I cant tell on longetivity but its a good radiator.
Its a dual core radiator, probably 2.5x the thickness of the oem (2.6" thick)

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Can007

Can007

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360
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Palmdale, CA
amrg said:
I got a griffin radiator on my H3. I cant tell on longetivity but its a good radiator.
Its a dual core radiator, probably 2.5x the thickness of the oem (2.6" thick)

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The H3 runs hot!!! Just replace Rad but install trans cooler & electric pusher fans. Best Mod I did so far!!!
 
Can007

Can007

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amrg

amrg

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Can007 said:
The H3 runs hot!!! Just replace Rad but install trans cooler & electric pusher fans. Best Mod I did so far!!!
Click to expand...
My setup is abit more complicated than that, I had to cut part of the body to fit it and modify other parts all to squeeze those thick cooling fans + thick radiator + thick trans cooler



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J

JPaul

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I'm no welder nor metallurgist, but has anyone tried fixing the leaks using the aluminum brazing rods you can get? I have some I got at Harbor freight and tried them out on some scrap aluminum and it held surprisingly well. It's not as strong as a weld obviously but you don't really need to weld in this situation I think.
 
Clark

Clark

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New York
JPaul said:
I'm no welder nor metallurgist, but has anyone tried fixing the leaks using the aluminum brazing rods you can get? I have some I got at Harbor freight and tried them out on some scrap aluminum and it held surprisingly well. It's not as strong as a weld obviously but you don't really need to weld in this situation I think.
I bought that plastic racing solder, I'm told its just as strong as weld. but since I have a leak that can't be found. I Ordered a plastic tank rad
just to get me buy for now until the warmer weather sets in..lol...Wish me luck.
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J

JPaul

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Maybe later you can fill it with some water and UV dye (after scrubbing it down) and cap it off and set it in the sun during a hot summer day and see if it leaks out anywhere.
 
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