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Radiator brand help!!!

G

Grandprix27

New member
I've been looking online and calling my local parts stores (O'reillys, Autozone, Advanced auto parts, Napa, LKQ Salvage yard, Summit Racing, ZZP, Grandprix Store, ClubGp, you get the picture) for a replacement radiator for my car. It's a 1998 Pontiac Grandprix GTP. All these parts stores as well as online stores have my stock radiator which is the 1" core thickness. For the money of the 1" core, I can get the 1 1/4" core thickness for about the same price from (ZZP, Summit Racing, and Advanced auto parts...ONLINE) Summit Racing has the Spectra Premium brand, Advance auto parts has their Ready-Rad brand, and ZZP has their own brand. Now if all these radiators are 1 1/4" thick, and all aluminum, what's the difference between these 3 brands? I don't see a difference in any of these radiators. I didn't see where ZZP listed their specification for that radiator besides it being 1 1/4". I guess it comes down to the money part... ZZP has it for $200 plus shipping, Summit Racing has it for $135 plus shipping, and Advance auto parts has it for $194 minus $30 for an online sale, plus free shipping cause the order is over $150, so its actually $164. I hear a lot of good things about ZZP, but their price isn't persuading me to buy from them. Is there something different in any of those radiators, besides the obvious 1 1/4" and all aluminum? Which brand is better? They seem all the same.
 


I recently ordered a stock replacement from Rock Auto. It was like $135 shipped and works great. If you look around, you can find 5% off coupons for rock auto.

Between ZZP, Summit and Advance, I would personally go with Summit. I've never had an issue with them. ZZP tends to not ship things for nearly a month when I place orders with them and their customer service isn't the best to say the least. Advance is usually where I go if I need something in a bottle or a can or if I have to have something that day, but NAPA is usually cheaper on car parts.
 
I've never heard of Rock auto, I'll have to check and see what they can offer. I agree ZZP does take a while to ship out there products, lol. So if you could get a stock replacement and an upgraded 1 1/4" for almost the same price, why didn't you go with the upgraded radiator? Thanks for replying to my post, all this radiator similarities is driving me crazy, lol
 
Unless you're HEAVILY modded, you will be fine running a stock radiator. I know of some 12 second quarter mile GPs still on the stock radiator.
 
oh wow, lol yeah mine is very, very stock, lol. It's just getting up to 210 degrees while driving around town, but on the highway it stays at around 175-180 degrees. I've replaced everything in this car... All the gaskets, except for the head gaskets, thermostat, water pump, hoses, the radiator cap, flushed the fluid twice, cause I originally had the orange antifreeze in there, and I found some chunks of disgustingness in the drainage of the orange antifreeze, so I switched to the green antifreeze and it still wants to heat up. It started heating up after I flushed the system the very first time, which was weird. I feel like I should've never flushed it that first time, but the antifreeze was chunky, so what do ya do, you know? I haven't replaced the fans yet, but they come on at 210, like normal... If they come on at an early temperature I haven't noticed it yet, lol. So yeah the radiator is my next troubleshooting step, hopefully its the radiator, if its not, I'm gonna put a bullet in the block, lol j/k. Just swear at it a couple times, lol
 
210* is a normal operating temp for a completely factory car. Its supposed to give you the best fuel economy and some other reasons behind it. If that's what you're concerned about, you don't need to be. You could pick up a 180* Thermostat and watch the temps sit lower. Your fans wouldn't come on until you tuned them for the thermostat settings though.
 


Before I flushed it, it was always at 175 or 180, It would never move, no matter if it was 110 degrees or -5 outside. Only after I flushed it, it would fluctuate to 210, and come all the way back down to 175 or 180 when I was driving on the highway. I know it sounds weird, and I can't figure out why it would do that all of a sudden. I've gone through 6 thermostat's to make sure it wasn't the thermostat. I have a 180 thermostat in there, and its still heating past what it should be. I even took it to a Pontiac dealer, and they said they couldn't figure it out. Great help they were. $100 for them to look at it and tell me they don't know what's going on with it. What a waste of money. I haven't tuned the fans, I just noticed while letting it sit at idle and watch the heat go up, that they came on at 210*.
 
That's odd. One of my ex's is having the same exact problem with her slightly modded 99GTP. I thought it was because the shop she took it to for gaskets replaced her 180* tstat with a stock 195* but I haven't had a chance to try a 180* in there to see if it takes care of it. My friends 07 almost stock base model ran 210 until he changed his stock tstat to a 180, without his fans tuned it runs around 185-190* IIRC.
 
I would bleed the system first, just to see if maybe it has an air pocket. Then if not, replace her radiator cap, and if that doesn't work then replace the thermostat. I think I'm gonna try the radiator from Advance, if it works or doesn't work i'll post back on here. I was hoping other people would have some experience with these bigger radiators or the best brand to go with. Trial and error, I guess, lol.
 


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