OE aluminum core radiator or SILLA radiator?

[roguetrip]

I've been trying to locate a aluminum core radiator for my 1990 dodge daytona ES V6 and this site carries a couple of them. Does anyone know why I should go with the $155 Silla radiator over the $112 replacement alu core radiator which are both just replacements?

I called Silla directly to see if it would be any cheaper and they quoted me about $190, kinda weird that auto parts warehouse has it soo much cheaper!!

I've tried radiator barn and some local stores but they all carry copper brass core which is horrible and falls apart easy!

link to radiators:
Radiator Dodge 1990 Daytona - AutoPartsWarehouse.com Dodge

[roguetrip]

Ok, I went with the SILLA, has a lifetime warranty but hope its good, I talked to the live help with charlie and he confirms its aluminum and also gave me $10 off on the $154.22 pricing, not too bad.

Hopefully no one has bad news about Silla Radiators!

[roguetrip]

Ok, since it looks like no one has used a SILLA alu radiator I figure I'd post some pics, I just got it today and I have to say it was fast as hell shipping, ordered monday night, got it by wednesday afternoon, I don't even get a e-mail with a tracking number yet and its here!!

So I'll show a quick pic of the radiator out the box:


A pic of the old radiator that is maybe 2 years old from advance auto parts (this is actually my 2nd replacement from advance cause the first I bought started doing the same thing in the first year and replaced it while under warranty):


And just for the heck of killing bandwidth a side by side pic


As for install it went great, just like an OEM, as for cooling it seems to be getting alot hotter on the aluminum fins and ends its transferring more heat and at idle waiting to get the air out the system it took forever to heat up and thats while changing the radiator with a warm engine!

[roguetrip]

lol, like anyone reads this, but figured I'd update.

Well the monday before last I ordered the Silla alu core radiator, got it wednesday but only installed and didn't drive it till thursday, it was working until sunday morning when I was on the freeway and noticed the smell of coolant and my engine temps going up, I was only cruising around 65mph the whole time.

Got to look and the radiator uses a drain plug off the side of the end tank, well took the drain plug out to find a plastic retainer for the drain plug had cracked so it couldn't hold the plug in anymore, called to see if i could get a replacement retainer but they said no and had to send the whole radiator back to silla even though I got it from AutoPartsWarehouse.com, I'm pretty worried the new one will also do the same thing, I'm thinking of just getting my money back and looking for a different one.

[tryingbe]

So, final word is Silla is no good?

[speeduphoria]

Quote:

Originally Posted by roguetrip Got to look and the radiator uses a drain plug off the side of the end tank, well took the drain plug out to find a plastic retainer for the drain plug had cracked so it couldn't hold the plug in anymore, called to see if i could get a replacement retainer but they said no and had to send the whole radiator back to silla even though I got it from AutoPartsWarehouse.com, I'm pretty worried the new one will also do the same thing, I'm thinking of just getting my money back and looking for a different one.

I used to make/mold those kind of plastic endtanks everyday for 4yrs. The drain plug is just molded plastic as well(lesser strength, doesn't matter) and has an O ring(did yours have an O-ring?). The threads in the end tank itself are molded that way, there is hydraulic screw in the mold that unscrews when the tank is cooled a little, to create those threads.

Basically what I'm saying is that 1st of all they must have poor QC, if they dont test for leaks. In my shop they helium tested every radiator and oil cooler(trans cooler) before shipping. The next thing is that basically every part will be the same, unless it was just a prob they did not catch like a missing O-ring. Or if they dont have a specific torque driver that installs/torques the drain plug in, then maybe that would crack it, but since the plug is made of lesser material, no fiberglass, then I dont see that happening, should just tear up the plug 1st.

Normally the only things with that threaded hole that can go wrong is that is if the cooling time is dead wrong, which will have garbled threads so the drain plug wont even go it. Or if the stop on that hydraulic screw is set wrong then and the hole will be "flashed" over with plastic. Other than that if the screw or sensor is "off" the part(end tank) will snap/break and possibly the mold will break when the mold opens.

So yeah I would try to get a rad somewhere else

[roguetrip]

Quote:

Originally Posted by speeduphoria I used to make/mold those kind of plastic endtanks everyday for 4yrs. The drain plug is just molded plastic as well(lesser strength, doesn't matter) and has an O ring(did yours have an O-ring?). The threads in the end tank itself are molded that way, there is hydraulic screw in the mold that unscrews when the tank is cooled a little, to create those threads. Basically what I'm saying is that 1st of all they must have poor QC, if they dont test for leaks. In my shop they helium tested every radiator and oil cooler(trans cooler) before shipping. The next thing is that basically every part will be the same, unless it was just a prob they did not catch like a missing O-ring. Or if they dont have a specific torque driver that installs/torques the drain plug in, then maybe that would crack it, but since the plug is made of lesser material, no fiberglass, then I dont see that happening, should just tear up the plug 1st. Normally the only things with that threaded hole that can go wrong is that is if the cooling time is dead wrong, which will have garbled threads so the drain plug wont even go it. Or if the stop on that hydraulic screw is set wrong then and the hole will be "flashed" over with plastic. Other than that if the screw or sensor is "off" the part(end tank) will snap/break and possibly the mold will break when the mold opens. So yeah I would try to get a rad somewhere else

The drain plug isn't like the other types I've dealt with, I don't know why they changed its design cause I've never had issues with drains before now. The drain screw had a rubber grommet. This radiator drain had 4 parts, the radiator, the drain plug retainer insert, and a drain plug screw w/grommet. The part that failed is the drain plug retainer insert. It clips into the radiator then the drain screw screws into it and uses tension from the threads to hold it in. The retainer insert was plastic and right at the threads it cracked where it could no longer have tension for the drain screw so it leaked coolant ($20+ dollars of coolant since it was 50/50 and redline additive).

I took pictures on my GF's camera of the drain screw and retainer clip, just waiting for her to send me the pics so I can upload them.

As for the Radiator itself, if they went back to the original drain plug design like others do it would be a great radiator, the cooling fins were thick and sturdy, the cooling was great, my cooling usually stayed at the 1/4 mark at cruising speed and the cooling fan was really getting a break, my current copper/bass core gets up to 3/4 mark and pretty much sits there till the fan kicks on then temps drop a touch till the fan kicks off and temps climb right back up to the 3/4 mark at city or freeway speeds.

The radiator should be arriving at Silla tomorrow, unfortunately they said it could take up to 4 weeks to process the RMA, WTF!!!

I'm still ticked as to having the part from APW less than week by UPS, but then had to send it to the manufacturer under Silla's warranty! It's like buying a TV from Best Buy and it breaking within the week and dealing with the manufacturer where I should just be able to take it to best buy for exchange and they deal with it!!

[roguetrip]

ok, got the pics, although not the greatest since I lack skill of pitcure taking but anyways:






As you can see the plastic insert has a long crack following down the side, I took pics for evidence if silla wants to mess with me