M1009 radiator replacement 432098; engine oil cooler lines don't fit

I have been getting undamaged radiators from Autozone. I spoke with a zone manager and he said he was going to take care of the shipping issue. He did. I just bought 3 and they were 100% damage free. I was delighted. But the last one I had to shave the oil cooler lines and all 3 of these were 3 core not 4. Same part number as I ordered 3 months ago. And the 3 months ago shipment were all 3 core. IDK. Don't matter they hold the same amount of fluid.

The alum. ones usually show up at A.Z.in good shape,but the brass,copper ones another story.Took me months to get a good original equipment brass/copper radiator.If in a hurry accept the alum one.

cucvrus said:

I have been getting undamaged radiators from Autozone. I spoke with a zone manager and he said he was going to take care of the shipping issue. He did. I just bought 3 and they were 100% damage free. I was delighted. But the last one I had to shave the oil cooler lines and all 3 of these were 3 core not 4. Same part number as I ordered 3 months ago. And the 3 months ago shipment were all 3 core. IDK. Don't matter they hold the same amount of fluid.

Click to expand...

Rick, were these the Spectra Copper/Brass or Aluminum?

Thanks

They were the copper / brass radiators. I think they are the best you can get now that the OEM Harrisons are no longer available.

cucvrus said:

I happen to like aluminum and plastic radiators. I had been using them for years as GM direct replacements. They discontinued copper and brass radiators for te CUCV's many years ago. 15 years ago I had a collision and the other person was at fault. I sent my M1028 to a body shop at a GM dealer and they did the repairs. Repainted the entire truck original camouflage . And when I went to get it I noticed it had a GM plastic and aluminum radiator installed in it. And they did an awesome job on the repairs.

Click to expand...

Rick, do you prefer the alum or the copper/brass radiators? Im sure you have a number of each,can you do a comparision of them.

Personally I like the plastic tanks and the aluminum core. That is what GM offered as a direct replacement for years after the OEM copper and brass radiator was discontinued. I have nothing but good to say about them. The original radiators that came in the CUCV's lasted a long time. Terminus M1009 has never had the radiator replaced. It still has the factory GM hoses top and bottom and the heater hoses. I was testing it on Saturday to check everything out. It passed so I will do some updates on it. i don't like to wake sleeping dogs. And I do like to say if it ain't broke don't fix it. But in this case when I am trail riding I want to ride not do repairs. So to answer your question. I never had an all aluminum radiator in anything I ever owned. And the plastic tank aluminum core is my preference. But the brass/copper are the ones I have access to at $300. they do just fine. Lifetime warranty no problem. I will take it.

scottladdy said:

A few things:
1. Advance also has a deal that can be used on what looks like their version of the ADPI radiator http://shop.advanceautoparts.com/o/Local-Search-P20-Detail?cm_mmc=ACQ-_-Google-_-Enhanced-_-Cooling_System_Radiators_phrase_chz&_Air_Conditioning&jt=1&jap=1t1&js=1&jcpid=8a8ae4cd468849b40146aeb61efc5944&jkId=gcp:se_34339:t_kwd-10789360:ag_17824347325:cp_186118165:n_g:d_c:cr_74150831365:fi_&jsid=34339&gclid=Cj0KEQjwwIKxBRDKhOz7ytT30vkBEiQAT1NaPQXT-H2njyqzlgcrp571YEBH5nHqmjvzyF9hW86SSckaApDY8P8HAQ#utm_source=acq&utm_medium=google&utm_campaign=enhanced&utm_content=cooling_system_radiators_phrase_chz

http://shop.advanceautoparts.com/p/carquest-or-toughone-radiator-432098/3900681-P?navigationPath=L1*14922|L2*15022

2.I've had issues getting the copper version of the CU850/B850 shipped without damage. The radiator is HEAVY! (compared to modern aluminum/plastic tank models). Spectra packages it in cheap corrugated. The vendors don't repackage in tougher material more suited to shipping. I went through 6 at my local AZ before I got a "good" one, which just developed a leak after being installed for a year. The staff at the store were really good about it, but could NOT get the shipping team to properly package no matter how hard they tried (and they tried).

3. A number of recent reviews have indicated that they are now shipping a 3 core or aluminum/plastic version from Spectra. Their site now lists it as a 3 core.

http://ecat.spectrapremium.com/prod/CU850

http://www.amazon.com/review/R3MK3X...etail-glance&nodeID=15684181&store=automotive

http://www.amazon.com/review/R399JVSXV1FO96/ref=cm_cr_dp_title?ie=UTF8&ASIN=B000C7QIKW&channel=detail-glance&nodeID=15684181&store=automotive
Note: A good write up on copper vs aluminum radiators - http://www.caparadiator.com/aluminumvscopper.html

4. While I'll probably pursue the lifetime warranty on the now leaking unit as I paid for it, for < $150 plus shipping I just ordered the ADPI unit from RockAuto just to see how good it is. Unfortunately this is the wrong time of year to test cooling capacity up heeyah in the Nor'east. Anyone have experience with this unit?
http://www.rockauto.com/catalog/moreinfo.php?pk=3606795&cc=1053021&jnid=478&jpid=0

Click to expand...

Scottladdy, did you ever get this radiator installed from Rockauto? (part number APDI/PRO 8010607)

https://www.rockauto.com/catalog/moreinfo.php?pk=3606795&cc=1053100&jnid=480&jpid=0

Thanks, David

Genessis seems to be out of the aluminum radiators and now is when mine springs a leak. Has anyone else found a $200 alum radiator with lifetime warranty besides Genessis?

Genesis has the radiators back in stock and I ordered one and got it yesterday. They are made by Silla and they seem to be pretty nice. The material is a little thin but I've never owned an aluminum radiator before so I have no frame of reference. It is a direct fit but I had to trim the bracket that is next to the cap a little to allow the cap to fit and add some rubber under it so it didn't sit metal to metal. My Murray radiator cap would not seal because the plunger wasn't long enough. The correct radiator cap to use with these radiators seems to be a stant 10208.

Rustyshackelford said:

Genesis has the radiators back in stock and I ordered one and got it yesterday. They are made by Silla and they seem to be pretty nice. The material is a little thin but I've never owned an aluminum radiator before so I have no frame of reference. It is a direct fit but I had to trim the bracket that is next to the cap a little to allow the cap to fit and add some rubber under it so it didn't sit metal to metal. My Murray radiator cap would not seal because the plunger wasn't long enough. The correct radiator cap to use with these radiators seems to be a stant 10231.

Click to expand...

I had to do the same to mine and has been great for almost 3 years.

Side note, I would highly recommend an external trans cooler over using the one in the radiator. I burned out my 700R4 on my Suburban 6.2L diesel. I now run one and is much better. On a TH400, it may be okay, but I would still use one to be safe.

My M1009 radiator started leaking badly and pretty abruptly. When I removed it I saw lots of corrosion so decided to replace rather than repair.


Based on the recommendations here and my own research I decided to go with the aluminum radiator from Genesis (PN 2098AA).

The radiator was $198 with free shipping. Ordered it Sunday and had it by Tuesday. Pretty great.

I was impressed to find that everything fit right up. Trans and oil coolers- perfect fit. All hoses etc worked great.

Getting the little OE rubber mounts to work was a bit of a fight. Ended up doing a garden-hose cooling system flush and replacing thermostat gasket. Install took me about 3.5hrs.

Genesis rad looks pretty good. Not the prettiest welding by any means, but as long as it doesn't leak I don't mind!



One thing that's weird about Genesis is they don't provide any info on the cap. I contacted them and it turns out the OE will not work, (altho it kind of seemed fine.. ), they specified Stant 10235. Since no one local to me carries Stant products I cross-referenced that to CST 7020, or CST 7720 (incl. safety cap). I went for the 7720 and it was $10 at AutoZone.


Finally, I bit the bullet and bought a water-temp gauge. Having that temp dummy light go on suddenly while I was up in the mountains was not a great feeling!

It does not appear to fit in the mounts on the top. Are you going to be OK with that fit?

cucvrus said:

It does not appear to fit in the mounts on the top. Are you going to be OK with that fit?

Click to expand...

You must be seeing something I'm missing.

It was an ok fit in the OE rubber radiator supports. Pretty challenging for me to line it all up, especially the lowers- but it's in there good- clamped in and doesn't move around or anything...

** Edit ** It just occurred to me that I may have taken that pic before readjusting the rubbers. I got the radiator installed and then realized it was resting on the steel cross member at the bottom- I had one of the supports in the wrong spot. Had to unclamp it and readjust. Bit of a task but did eventually get it lined up.

** Edit II ** Just went back out to take a look. Genesis welded on little aluminum coupons top and bottom, ostensibly to fit within the factory mounts. They appear to be a little too wide. The rad is clamped in nicely and all on rubber, but the passenger side is a bit outboard.



I can't tell if will eventually shift or stay put. Seems solid now but might not hold off road. Thanks for catching that cucvrus! I'll have to put some more thought and energy into this...

I know this thread is a couple years old, but does anyone know of another source where to find a good All Aluminum Radiator for a reasonable price for the 6.2L now?
Looks like "genesis" went out of business, as their site is no longer up.

The stock radiator on my Dads M1008 split an entire seam back about 7 years ago when he and my Mom was driving in Montana. He had to replace it with a Napa one, which took 3 Orders and almost 2 weeks to get one in that didn't look like it had been ran over... and it was supposed to be "brand new"... but looked more like a reman to me. In any case, it worked for a couple years, but then it too started to leak at the seams. Took everything out again, he had it repaired, it went another 6 months to a year and once again started leaking. Took it out again, I found a large pin hole spraying coolant about 7 to 10 feet away when under a few psi of pressure. I soldered that up myself this time, did another pressure test to find *at least* 4 more leaks, with at least one coming from the inside cores... I don't want him having to take this thing apart again, and to be honest, I'm tired of taking this radiator out myself, as I think this is about the 5th or 6th time that I've pulled it. Just ridiculous in my opinion.

Looked at a lot of the plastic/aluminum rads too, looks like no matter what "brand" you buy (spectra, murrey, APDI/PRO, Vista, etc) they are all the same... they even use the same stock photo...
Would really love to find an All Aluminum rad if possible, but I also don't really want to buy a no-name ebay one, as I've seen about half of reviews are bad about them too. Some people apparently get great one's, but others not so much. Seems the quality control is really lacking to say the least.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks
Warren

Have you flushed your system and refilled with me antifreeze and monitored it's PH?

doghead said:

Have you flushed your system and refilled with me antifreeze and monitored it's PH?

Click to expand...

Hi Doghead! Thanks for the Reply!

To answer your questions:
Yes... and no.
Yes, when we first bought the truck, when doing all the other maintenance we completely flushed the system (which it didn't appear to need, but did it anyway) and everytime we've had to pull the radiator for repairs or etc, I've always refilled the system with Prestone antifreeze and distilled water.
I also usually add a bottle of RedLine Water Wetter which I have used for quite a few years in a lot of different applications with very good results in preventing any corrosion in the system. And its supposed to add a bit more lubricate for the water pump too.

But no, never checked the PH... actually never heard of checking the ph in a coolant system I'll have to look into that.

Another thought I have is, maybe you have exhaust/combustion gasses getting into your coolant system causing corrosive damage.

Head gaskets or heads could be the cause.

doghead said:

Another thought I have is, maybe you have exhaust/combustion gasses getting into your coolant system causing corrosive damage.

Head gaskets or heads could be the cause.

Click to expand...

Yeah it blew a head gasket about 3 years ago. Had to replace the heads (old one's were "riddled with cracks" from what the shop who fluxed them said), new head bolts, gaskets, thermostat, etc etc. Redid everything new.

I did this once before, and thought about this again a few weeks ago, so I did another "combustion gas" test at the radiator cap. But it was good, no gases detected at all, or at least there was zero color change in the testing fluid. So I was at least relived to a degree, that it most likely isn't a head gasket issue.

So replaced with "antifreeze" does not help us seeing as MANY kinds of antifreeze exist... are you using 2 year? 5 year? 10 year? ELC? SCAs?

Can't help you on a rad, I just put in used ones everything is junk that is new... Had a alu one looked good but did not fit well... had to mash down the rad supports at the top to hold it but it was used... so lol.

Matt5 said:

So replaced with "antifreeze" does not help us seeing as MANY kinds of antifreeze exist... are you using 2 year? 5 year? 10 year? ELC? SCAs?

Can't help you on a rad, I just put in used ones everything is junk that is new... Had a alu one looked good but did not fit well... had to mash down the rad supports at the top to hold it but it was used... so lol.

Click to expand...

Hi Matt5, Thanks for the Comment!
The antifreeze I use is Prestone Concentrate Extended Life Coolant with "CorGuard" for "All Makes All Models". Its rated for 5 years / 150k miles. Don't see anything on the jug about ELC or SCA.
My Dad has only put about... 8k miles on the truck in the last 5 years, mostly just weekly 20 mile trips, and monthly 60 mile trips, to the two closest towns to their house. And because of the previous times the radiator had to be removed for rad leaks and other unrelated engine problems (replaced heads and replaced fuel injection pump with a new-rebuilt, besides the other rad issues), the current antifreeze I just drained out probably didn't have 1,000 miles on it.


I don't think the antifreeze is the issue, as I've used Prestone for many years.
Never fooled with the "cheapest price" generic store brands, as the time and effort of having to change it more often isn't worth what little money is saved to me.

Personally I just think this napa radiator is junk, which is why I was asking if anyone had a good source for a new all aluminum one. As this is the 2nd Copper/Brass rad that we've had in the truck, and both have had seemingly the same issues.