Any Radiators Made in the USA?

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pmt

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I'm searching for a quality replacement radiator for my 96 T-Bird. I'd prefer a name brand radiator made in the USA. But based on my experience so far, this is not as easy as it might seem.
I wanted a Modine radiator, but learned that Modine sold its replacement radiator business to an outfit named Proliance. So I asked the guy behind the counter of my local auto parts store if the new place was maintaining Modine's quality, and, of course, he answered yes. When the radiator arrived it was from the Ready-Rad division of Proliance, was made in China, and the outward appearance looked nothing like a Modine, or for that matter, like the orig radiator that is in my T-Bird.
My next try was a NAPA, that recommended Visteon radiators, some of which are still made in the USA. But evidently not for my T-Bird. Closest Visteon for it is made in Mexico - which I am considering.
I'm also thinking about buying one from a Ford dealer, though I know the cost will be quite high and probably no guarantee that it would be made in USA - although one would think it would have to meet Ford standards.
Can anyone give me any help with this? All I want is a reasonabley priced radiator that I don't have to worry about cracking on a highway trip out in the middle of nowhere.
Thanks in advance.
 
The Ford dealer would be your best bet if made in USA is your 1st priority. Still no guarantee that what they sell you will be US made. Let us know what you find out.
 
no guarantee on it being made in the USA or still being available. being that your car is a 96, it is past the 10 year rule for parts availability. very few ford or mc parts are made in the US from all the labels i see at my work.
 
Any rad that you find that was made in USA will have been on the shelf many years before being sold. I can still get Valero rads that are made in Canada. Probly the closest you will find.

99.99% of the new rads are made in China. CSF does have plants in other places such as Tiawan,and Indonesia(sp?).
 
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For the 96 tbird, you can put the real nice 03 cobra radiator and fan in there.

Info at tccoa.com..

That would be the upgrade for that car, if you want to spend the money.
 
Originally Posted By: wavinwayne
The Ford dealer would be your best bet if made in USA is your 1st priority. Still no guarantee that what they sell you will be US made. Let us know what you find out.
Visteon makes Rads for Ford. Many Made in Canada unless he get some old stock.
 
If made-in-USA is your priority, Spitty has a great suggestion.

Depending on what's wrong with your current radiator, you local radiator shop can likely fix it up. I've had radiators re-worked by local shops many a time for customers, and have usually been impressed by their work. Most places can even fix up aluminum radiators.
 
Originally Posted By: onion
If made-in-USA is your priority, Spitty has a great suggestion.

Depending on what's wrong with your current radiator, you local radiator shop can likely fix it up. I've had radiators re-worked by local shops many a time for customers, and have usually been impressed by their work. Most places can even fix up aluminum radiators.
We can weld one up if a rock punched a hole in it. Other than that we do not mess with the ones with plastic tanks. The cost to put a new tank on on is nearly as much as a whole new rad. The tubes in the alum ones are too narrow to get a rod through.

Basically throw aways with a 100K lifespan.
 
Thanks for all the input so far. Yes - the radiator is aluminum with plastic end tanks. The car is getting up in miles where those plastic end tanks start to crack - about 100,000 mi. I've had plenty of experience with such failures on cars in my family and on cars owned by friends. (I wish it was a copper/brass radiator - I've had many of those recored on older cars.) That's why I want to replace this one before the orig radiator's tanks crack on the road somewhere.
 
I've had really good success with the aftermarket brass/copper type. I have to assume from the price that they're made offshore, but my 2 (or was it 3?) core was way less than an OEM throwaway and didn't have ANY of the, seemingly inherent, corrosion issues (within the OEM spec'd time/mileage) of he OEM aluminum/plastic rad.

This is one time I'm glad the antiquated technology got handed off. The state of the art sucks, imo.
 
Originally Posted By: Gary Allan
I've had really good success with the aftermarket brass/copper type. I have to assume from the price that they're made offshore, but my 2 (or was it 3?) core was way less than an OEM throwaway and didn't have ANY of the, seemingly inherent, corrosion issues (within the OEM spec'd time/mileage) of he OEM aluminum/plastic rad.

This is one time I'm glad the antiquated technology got handed off. The state of the art sucks, imo.
Glad to hear that you had good luck with those all metal ones. We won't sell one unless we have no other option. The qualty control on the all metal ones is pretty bad and we have to keep warrantying them
Which cut into our profit and irks the customer.

The ones for the Jeep Wranglers are the worst! If the Jeep goes offroad any the core support will flex and rip the tubes right out of the header. No problems with the plastic/ alum ones in them though.
 
Well, maybe I got mine on a day that the provincial boss man was feeling good and only shaved 1/2 of his usual corrupt cut off the manufacturing process
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I just can't handle the vulnerability (at least apparent vulnerability) of the aluminum/plastic OEM's. Not in "strength" ..but I never saw more trash in the tubes (with GOOD care) than I have since this evolution took hold. I think it was a devolution in the market place.

That said, my only failure with a radiator was along the gasket seam ..but more than couple of heater cores have let go. Those will trashcan a perfectly good car for the sake of the cost of labor in replacement. If it lets go in my Wrangler, it's a $500+ job (and that's not Jest Coast LARGE money either) and even if I do it myself, the AC need to be recharged.

For the few oz's saved in weight, it wasn't worth it, imo. Obviously any cost savings in terms of OEM manufacturing haven't been passed on to the consumer in the after market.
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Originally Posted By: Gary Allan
... For the few oz's saved in weight, it wasn't worth it, imo. Obviously any cost savings in terms of OEM manufacturing haven't been passed on to the consumer in the after market...

The last time I was at the SAE Congress, the copper industry advertised that copper radiators were actually lighter than aluminum radiators. With copper, heat transfer is more efficient, and the copper radiator can actually be lighter and smaller for the same thermal requirements when compared with aluminum.
 
What about the composite tanks? While they're stronger (at least according to my FSM) they can't take a hit ..and cannot be repaired. They turned most radiator shops into replacement shops. They may get some work with HD stuff ..or are they using composites in BIG rads too?

Hey, pal. If copper makes a come back ..and they ditch the composites ..I'm all for it ..but seeing as the industry appears to do a few things backwards from my perspective, I don't see any evolution favoring "better" on all fronts.
 
IMHO...
With the commodity price of copper through the roof in recent years, you will never see OEM copper radiators outside of HD diesel applications.

Drew
 
Originally Posted By: Chris142
Originally Posted By: Gary Allan
I've had really good success with the aftermarket brass/copper type. I have to assume from the price that they're made offshore, but my 2 (or was it 3?) core was way less than an OEM throwaway and didn't have ANY of the, seemingly inherent, corrosion issues (within the OEM spec'd time/mileage) of he OEM aluminum/plastic rad.

This is one time I'm glad the antiquated technology got handed off. The state of the art sucks, imo.
Glad to hear that you had good luck with those all metal ones. We won't sell one unless we have no other option. The qualty control on the all metal ones is pretty bad and we have to keep warrantying them
Which cut into our profit and irks the customer.

The ones for the Jeep Wranglers are the worst! If the Jeep goes offroad any the core support will flex and rip the tubes right out of the header. No problems with the plastic/ alum ones in them though.


I also have problems with the all metal one (some of the people I know have the same issue on Honda-Tech). IMO the most likely reason is their mountings and fan mount position isn't rigid enough that vibration gradually tear it apart. The extra trouble it cost me isn't worth the additional expected life out of it. Just think of plastic tank radiator as disposable, and replace every 100-150k miles.
 
I'm still looking for a non-made-in-China radiator for my T-Bird. As Chris142 states above, Valero is evidently a Canadian company, but the Radiator Barn replied that they could not assure me that all of their radiators were made in Canada.
But I've run onto another Canadian aftermarket radiator manufacturer - Spectra Premium Industries. And my E-mail inquiry to them concerning where their specific radiator part # for my car is built was answered - Canada. All their radiator manufacturing plants are located in Canada (so far anyway).
Does anyone have any experience with Spectra Premium radiators or have any other knowledge about their products?
Thank you.
pmt
 
LOL! Even if you opt for factory OE units straight from your stealerships, chances are, with global trades and manufacturing facilities all over the world, you just cannot guarantee that it's not coming from China.

Yes, I've been using Spectra Premium and Modine on all my vehicles and my servicing (client's vehicles) for years, and they are all over the place: from Mexico to Thailand to China to Canada....you go figure.

Q.

p.s. Unless you have an underlying agenda with China-made radiators to begin with, otherwise, why not? And if you think China radiators are gaining popularity, just wait til India comes along...
 
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