My radiator adventure
Posted: Mon Nov 20, 2006 10:33 am
My radiator sprang a leak at the radiator-endtank connection a few weeks ago after 167k miles, which I suppose is acceptable.
A new radiator for a non-turbo automatic is $360 from the dealership. Subiegal can get you one for $307+shipping. Thinking I might be able to save a few bucks I went to autozone to see what they had, and last Monday I ordered their fanciest radiator for $180. It claimed to be heavy duty. They claimed it would fit. I picked it up Wednesday, and from my brief inspection it looked to be about right. It had lines for the trasmission cooler which was a good sign. It also said made in mexico on the side which I guess could be a bad sign. Then Thursday at lunch I decided to open up the box.
The hose attachments were in generally the right place, but there was nowhere for a radiator cap. It had one small fill/drain hole on the side, and barb for a coolant tank was on the wrong side. Or upside down or something. Oh no bad. I'm driving to Phoenix on Tuesday to spend thanksgiving with my aunt and uncle.After a slightly frantic phone call to subarugenuine parts, I found out that Subiegal was unavailable and they didn't have one in stock. Luckily Timmons Subaru is just down the street from where I work, and said they could have one in by Monday. Their price? $395. I was like, uh, MSRP for that is $359.99. I can get it for $307 online. He dropped the price to MSRP and I got to go down there and spend a total of $390 to get one here. Damn. I even went in there with a printout that had the $307 price and he wouldn't come down. Not much I could do at that point.
Moral of the story is that if I had called Jamie in the first place I would have saved myself about $50 and a lot of trouble. Also Autozone is not a good place to buy a radiator.
I've heard of a koyo all aluminum one but I think it's only for turbos. As far as I can tell from searching, there are a few places you can get one, namely performance radiator.
Extra searching seems to indicate I may have recieved a turbo radiator. Oh well I'll have an OEM replacement which I guess is good.
A new radiator for a non-turbo automatic is $360 from the dealership. Subiegal can get you one for $307+shipping. Thinking I might be able to save a few bucks I went to autozone to see what they had, and last Monday I ordered their fanciest radiator for $180. It claimed to be heavy duty. They claimed it would fit. I picked it up Wednesday, and from my brief inspection it looked to be about right. It had lines for the trasmission cooler which was a good sign. It also said made in mexico on the side which I guess could be a bad sign. Then Thursday at lunch I decided to open up the box.
The hose attachments were in generally the right place, but there was nowhere for a radiator cap. It had one small fill/drain hole on the side, and barb for a coolant tank was on the wrong side. Or upside down or something. Oh no bad. I'm driving to Phoenix on Tuesday to spend thanksgiving with my aunt and uncle.After a slightly frantic phone call to subarugenuine parts, I found out that Subiegal was unavailable and they didn't have one in stock. Luckily Timmons Subaru is just down the street from where I work, and said they could have one in by Monday. Their price? $395. I was like, uh, MSRP for that is $359.99. I can get it for $307 online. He dropped the price to MSRP and I got to go down there and spend a total of $390 to get one here. Damn. I even went in there with a printout that had the $307 price and he wouldn't come down. Not much I could do at that point.
Moral of the story is that if I had called Jamie in the first place I would have saved myself about $50 and a lot of trouble. Also Autozone is not a good place to buy a radiator.
I've heard of a koyo all aluminum one but I think it's only for turbos. As far as I can tell from searching, there are a few places you can get one, namely performance radiator.
Extra searching seems to indicate I may have recieved a turbo radiator. Oh well I'll have an OEM replacement which I guess is good.