Aftermarket Radiator for Honda

I need to get a new radiator for my 1993 Honda Civix EX..the mechanic that I use who used to work for a Honda dealership is going to install a Brand new aftermarket Radiator with coolant & thermostadt. The total is $350.00 with everything including labor.....are aftermarket radiators good to use? Honda want $300.00 just for the Radiator

Reply to
piperspost
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snipped-for-privacy@webtv.net wrote in news:17097-45788EFA-302@storefull-

3337.bay.webtv.net:

Use the aftermarket rad and relax.

The coolant and thermostat should be OEM, though! Do not use aftermarket for those!

Reply to
Tegger

Not to plug where to buy one, but I had a really good experience with Radiator.com: A week ago, I needed a Subaru radiator. Had a good quality replacement in my hands the next day for not crazy money.

You may want to try them. Remco

Reply to
Remco

don't just buy any old radiator though dude. there's a fair amount of garbage out there. stick to stuff made by known names, not the cheapo metal tank stuff where the welds start to leak.

Reply to
jim beam

what he said!

Reply to
jim beam

The replacement I received was better than the original, imo. This one was actually metal - the original had plastic elements that were just crimped.

Personally, I'd buy another one there after this experience.

Remco

Reply to
Remco

believe it or not, the plastic/crimped thing is a better radiator. pressure/temperature is relatively low, so it's well within the mechanical capacities of the material. the most important benefits of plastic are:

  1. it doesn't use solder. on the metal tank types, that tends to creep and leak.
  2. it's inert regarding corrosion. the more metal, and worse, different metal types, the worse the corrosion equation.
Reply to
jim beam

There are good aftermarket parts and there are not so good aftermarket parts. If the radiator is from a major supplier like Denso, Valeo or another quality supplier then it is no worries. There are also no-name radiators brought in from China, India and such which personally I wouldn't use. Aftermarket radiators for a Civic are generally $125 or less. You can look at some parts prices at

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Reply to
John Horner

To Tegger, Why not use an aftermarket thermostadt & coolant?

Reply to
piperspost

Most likely I will second what Tegger says, but just to get it out there:

Aftermarket thermostats are not necessarily set at the correct temperature settings, for one thing.

Aftermarket coolants have a reputation of destroying the water pumps very quickly. IMO there is one exception to this: Havoline Dexcool (the orange stuff).

wrote

Reply to
Elle

snipped-for-privacy@webtv.net wrote in news:4822-4579AD92-537@storefull-

3336.bay.webtv.net:

Aftermarket thermostats are often poorly made and mays not fit or function properly. Also they may be incorrectly rated. For the few dollars savings, it's not worth risking cooking your expensive engine due to a faulty thermostat.

Aftermarket coolants are not necessarily compatible with the Honda stuff and may destroy the extended-life corrosion protection compounds. In fact, this may happen no matter what's in there now. Unless you use the exact same stuff as you removed, corrosion protection will go back to the baseline 2 years. And some coolants will react badly together and may be corrosive right off the bat. Not worth the chance, to me.

Reply to
Tegger

Well, I learned something new. Not sure about the dissimilar metals, but do see your other points.

Reply to
Remco

galvanic corrosion. the coolant is supposed to suppress this, but when it ages and the mineral content starts to climb, that's when it starts to be a factor. in addition, the more different types of metals, the worse it is. this is the reason the modern hondas use aluminum-core radiators rather than copper-core - keep galvanic potentials to a minimum. and of course, once you're using aluminum core, plastic tanks are by /far/ the easiest way to go...

Reply to
jim beam

Anytime two dissimilar metals are in contact with the presence of an electrolyte you have created a battery which produces electricity through a chemical reaction and results in corrosion as the point of contact.

You can find a brief write up here:

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John

Reply to
John Horner

"Remco" wrote in news: snipped-for-privacy@80g2000cwy.googlegroups.com:

It doesn't matter whether the tanks are metal or plastic. That's not the determinant factor in radiator life.

Reply to
Tegger

While I cannot state an opposite opinion positively, I still have the original radiators in my:

1955 Studebaker President State sedan 1956 Studebaker Power Hawk.

The '55 radiator has been recored to a four row to accommodate the hot Texas weather but the '56 has only been rodded about every ten years.

The radiator in the '31 President coupe is also the origianl honeycomb unit.

If I had my druthers, I'll take metal over plastic (anything) any time.

JT

Reply to
Grumpy AuContraire

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