dave6666
Enthusiast
Not sure if I'm making statements here or asking questions or none of the above, but with my current Gen 2 radiator collection at three I started noticing some design differences. So I guess this is where you can either yawn and hit the back button, nod and go uh-huh, or add comments.
I've tried 2 brands of aluminum radiators that failed very quickly. More recent customers of those 2 brands have posted that those brands have been redesigned, but one of the 3-pass ones I have is an early generation - pre redesign - and would lose about 1/2 a gallon of coolant going to the Quickie Mart. It was removed over this past weekend. I also have a brand new Alan's 3-pass. It has always gotten good press, but I have not tried it yet. The 3rd one I have now, and what I put in the car a few days ago, is my 3-cored factory one. The factory radiator having never leaked in the 9 years I used it before re-coring it.
They always fail in the corners is my experience. There was some pretty good discussion in a recent thread about all of that and hence I started noticing that all 3 of mine are different in the corners. And here lies that gray area to this thread. Not sure if any of it means a darn thing, so this could just be trivial nonsense. Right down my alley!
The factory radiator is below. Highlighted is the area I suspect may be key. To something.
Looking even closer the offset I have the red line on, is that done that way to allow expansion and contraction - the yellow arrows?
The next 2 pics are the Alan's on top and the failed 3-pass on the bottom. Very different looking.
A different angle of the dead 3-pass you can see the frame restricts the core from expanding. At least that's how I see it.
The Alan's at a different view too. I can't really say that big mess of weld there makes an expansion joint either, but is it?
Finally, back to the Alan's on top and the other beneath it, look at the different fin counts.
Now tell me what it all means
I've tried 2 brands of aluminum radiators that failed very quickly. More recent customers of those 2 brands have posted that those brands have been redesigned, but one of the 3-pass ones I have is an early generation - pre redesign - and would lose about 1/2 a gallon of coolant going to the Quickie Mart. It was removed over this past weekend. I also have a brand new Alan's 3-pass. It has always gotten good press, but I have not tried it yet. The 3rd one I have now, and what I put in the car a few days ago, is my 3-cored factory one. The factory radiator having never leaked in the 9 years I used it before re-coring it.
They always fail in the corners is my experience. There was some pretty good discussion in a recent thread about all of that and hence I started noticing that all 3 of mine are different in the corners. And here lies that gray area to this thread. Not sure if any of it means a darn thing, so this could just be trivial nonsense. Right down my alley!
The factory radiator is below. Highlighted is the area I suspect may be key. To something.
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Looking even closer the offset I have the red line on, is that done that way to allow expansion and contraction - the yellow arrows?
You must be registered for see images
The next 2 pics are the Alan's on top and the failed 3-pass on the bottom. Very different looking.
You must be registered for see images
You must be registered for see images
A different angle of the dead 3-pass you can see the frame restricts the core from expanding. At least that's how I see it.
You must be registered for see images
The Alan's at a different view too. I can't really say that big mess of weld there makes an expansion joint either, but is it?
You must be registered for see images
Finally, back to the Alan's on top and the other beneath it, look at the different fin counts.
You must be registered for see images
Now tell me what it all means
