Getting tired of doing things twice....

[Lattimer]

Pulled my 1 month old radiator back out today. Leaking from the seams on both tanks in multiple places. Started as a weep in one spot, but today the rest of it let loose and soaked my driveway. What a POS. Luckily it has a lifetime warranty, and luckily it didn't happen along the road. Sucks that I have to get new mounting strips for my fans (again). Also ripped the lower hose getting it off. That was new too.

We will see how the replacement works, but so far I am not impressed with this Spectra radiator.

Should have the new radiator and hose tomorrow, new mounting strips probably on Friday.

The truck had an aluminum universal radiator in it, but it leaked since I had the truck. It was too big to mount correctly in the truck anyways. So I replaced it with a vehicle specific Spectra from Autozone. Price was ok and the lifetime warranty is attractive. Not sure how I feel about that right now though.


end of rant

[alsriv2]

Thanks for the heads up on your experience. I need a new radiator for my '69 C10 BB and typically use Autozone for my parts purchases. Let us know how the replacement works out.

[Ol Blue K20]

Thanks for the heads up and it sucks that alot of companys have no QC or pride

[jhwkns]

Wow, bummer. I imagine that you just got a bad one. Seams leaking on a new radiator can't happen very often. It's a good thing the warranty backs you up.

[Daner]

Make sure your rad cap pressure isn't too high. The radiator is usually the part of the cooling system that fails.

[ScottG]

the great thing about buying parts from a chain store is, obviously, the price, and lifetime warranties. The downside will always be the quality of parts. I've been a parts guy for 24 years, and learned a penny saved, is a penny spent doing the same job all over again. If the cost is not outrageously different, always try to go with the better quality parts.

[Lattimer]

Originally Posted by Daner

Make sure your rad cap pressure isn't too high. The radiator is usually the part of the cooling system that fails.

Cap was a brand new Stant 16lb cap. Unless that was bad right out of the box

[DT1]

Originally Posted by Ol Blue K20

Thanks for the heads up and it sucks that alot of companys have no QC or pride

Yea, I know the feeling. Installed a "Lifetime" water pump and it didn't even last a week. Installed a brake booster and got almost a month.

[KEL]

I have Spectra Premium gas tanks in both of my old convertibles.
Fit is good and never had a problem. Sorry you got the "monday
morning" or "friday afternoon" radiator. Their stuff is usually
Prettygood.
Posted via Mobile Device

[Lattimer]

Originally Posted by ScottG

the great thing about buying parts from a chain store is, obviously, the price, and lifetime warranties. The downside will always be the quality of parts. I've been a parts guy for 24 years, and learned a penny saved, is a penny spent doing the same job all over again. If the cost is not outrageously different, always try to go with the better quality parts.

I always try to get the better stuff when I can. In my area, we have basically 4 parts stores: AutoZone, Advance, Napa, and Pep Boys. There are a few independents still around, but I've had worse luck with them.

I generally don't mind buying stuff online, in fact I buy a lot that way. But some stuff I need to be able to take back to the store, not have to ship it and wait a month.

A radiator is a pretty basic part, so anybody should be able to make a quality one.

Napa and the online guys wanted over $400, and with the sale, etc. AutoZone was $160-ish. Kind of hard to justify, until the radiator fails in a month

[Lattimer]

Originally Posted by KEL

I have Spectra Premium gas tanks in both of my old convertibles.
Fit is good and never had a problem. Sorry you got the "monday
morning" or "friday afternoon" radiator. Their stuff is usually
Prettygood.
Posted via Mobile Device

I have a Spectra tank in my truck as well......hoping it better than their radiators.

[pineywoodsauto]

The cheapest products often have "lifetime warranty" and you pay for it in the price of said product. If there was no warranty, it would be $50.00. Always buy the best, you'll never be sorry. If its brass, have a local radiator shop repair your old one. Auto Zone is never going to have better quality parts, their market is Joe Bob Shade Tree chasing the cheapest part in town. JMO

[JointTech]

some words from a wise man:

Memorable quote from Tommy Boy

Tommy: Let’s think about this for a sec, Ted. Why would somebody put a guarantee on a box? Hmmm, very interesting.

Ted Nelson, Customer: Go on, I’m listening.
Tommy: Here’s the way I see it, Ted. Guy puts a fancy guarantee on a box ’cause he wants you to feel all warm and toasty inside.

Ted Nelson, Customer: Yeah, makes a man feel good.

Tommy: ‘Course it does. Why shouldn’t it? Ya figure you put that little box under your pillow at night, the Guarantee Fairy might come by and leave a quarter, am I right, Ted?
[chuckles until he sees that Ted is not laughing]

Ted Nelson, Customer: [impatiently] What’s your point?

Tommy: The point is, how do you know the fairy isn’t a crazy glue sniffer? “Building model airplanes” says the little fairy; well, we’re not buying it. He sneaks into your house once, that’s all it takes. The next thing you know, there’s money missing off the dresser, and your daughter’s knocked up. I seen it a hundred times.

Ted Nelson, Customer: But why do they put a guarantee on the box?

Tommy: Because they know all they sold ya was a guaranteed piece of shi*. That’s all it is, isn’t it? Hey, if you want me to take a dump in a box and mark it guaranteed, I will. I got spare time. But for now, for your customer’s sake, for your daughter’s sake, ya might wanna think about buying a quality product from me.

Ted Nelson, Customer: [pause] Okay, I’ll buy from you.

[Square_78]

I feel your pain. Installing my air ride has been a nightmare of trial and error. Reinstalling diff parts and spending money over and over again.
Posted via Mobile Device