Hi all. I need to buy a radiator for my 94 Explorer. Those that I viewed have options to pick from A/C inlet/outlet. How important is it to have the A/C cooling thing in your radiator? What is a good site to buy it from? Any suggestions are welcome. I am naive to this.
The A/C cooling thing is seperate from the radiator. The automatic transmission cooler is integral to the radiator and is not an option. If it doesn't have it I'd say it's the wrong radiator. Clean the transmission lines before disconnecting and cover them to protect against contamination.
I bought two cheap radiators from Star Auto Parts in Southern California for about $150 each and have had no problems after a few years in my '91 and '92. They have a long warranty (forget how long) so the worst I would have to do is change them again. Ford wanted about $450 for OEM. The Ford is aluminum and the cheap one may not be. The different metals could conceivably lead to electrolytic reduction and an untimely death. Same thing with the heater core.
This goes back a long ways, but I seem to recall that first generation Explorers had the top tank attached to the core with some kind of epoxy, and vibration would ultimately cause leaks at the tank/core joint. When I replaced the radiator on my 91 many years ago I was advised to a: buy a new one (wrecking yard radiators have already, or soon would fail) and b: be sure the replacement had the tank attached to the core with solder. I followed that advice and had no further radiator problems. Good luck, RJ
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