Help me cool off Oppo, you’re my only hope.

"PowderHound" (PowderHound)
02/05/2016 at 18:00 • Filed to: None

The stock plastic/metal radiator has started to leak in my 03 WRX at the bottom seam where metal meets plastic. I’m trying to search for a replacement but the prices are pretty wildly scattered, about $50-$200 and then about $250-$350 for an aluminum. I’m probably going to stay with stockish, unless someone convinces me strongly otherwise since I’m a bit on the poor side right now but I’m afraid to get the super cheap stock one and have it be junk. Does anyone want to point me in the right direction for this? Car is a 2003 WRX wagon with the 5 speed.

DISCUSSION (27)

Aaron M - MasoFiST > PowderHound
02/05/2016 at 18:07

I put a no-name $90 in my Celica when the radiator blew and it lasted the rest of the life of the car. Just get one and put it in, because if your radiator blows and you need to tow it to a dealer, it’ll cost about $800. Ask me how I know...

415s30 W123TSXWaggoIIIIIIo ( •_•))°) > PowderHound
02/05/2016 at 18:10

A few things I don’t cheap out on are radiators, batteries etc... Sometimes it’s easy to say it doesn’t make any difference, but they can leave you stranded and then you have to pay again. I had to get a new one for my Z so I got an all aluminum and all welded one, no plastic. Mishimoto are expensive but good, haven’t heard anything bad about the Megan radiators, they are cheaper.

http://www.meganracing.com/product.asp?pr…

Arch Duke Maxyenko, Shit Talk Extraordinaire > PowderHound
02/05/2016 at 18:12

Go for aluminum

RiceRocketeer Extraordinaire > 415s30 W123TSXWaggoIIIIIIo ( •_•))°)
02/05/2016 at 18:15

Had a Mishimoto radiator in my RSX, that thing was overkill for a daily driver though.

I have a cheapo in the Camry since nobody really makes performance parts for old Camrys, and it’s been ok for the last 3 years or so.

banjo cat ghost of oppo past > PowderHound
02/05/2016 at 18:15

First I went on my favs DSM sources since we usually enjoy cost effective tuning, found the cheapest aluminum radiator(CX racing), searched for a WRX version, lo and behold

$129

http://www.cxracing.com/mm5/merchant.m…

HammerheadFistpunch > PowderHound
02/05/2016 at 18:17

How long do you plan on keeping it? If I remember you were interested in letting it go in a few years...that being the case go lower midrange

415s30 W123TSXWaggoIIIIIIo ( •_•))°) > RiceRocketeer Extraordinaire
02/05/2016 at 18:19

It also depends where you live, how much it’s punished. If I lived in a hot place it would make sense to get it as cool as I could, I’ve been looking for one that would fit in my diesel Merc, the summer can bring it up to the higher end of normal levels. need to measure some stuff, I don’t want to get nuts but a better one would be nice.

PowderHound > 415s30 W123TSXWaggoIIIIIIo ( •_•))°)
02/05/2016 at 18:19

My only concern would be overkill like Rice Rocketeer said. Not a bad problem to have

PowderHound > HammerheadFistpunch
02/05/2016 at 18:20

Sounds about right. Who knows though, I may keep it for a good while. Probably stay in the mid range

415s30 W123TSXWaggoIIIIIIo ( •_•))°) > PowderHound
02/05/2016 at 18:21

It depends where you live too, if you sit in hot traffic, you can get a 2 core, you don’t have to get crazy and get a 3 core like my 240Z.

PowderHound > banjo cat ghost of oppo past
02/05/2016 at 18:21

Is that one from CX racing themselves? Not seeing who actually made it, not that it really matters

415s30 W123TSXWaggoIIIIIIo ( •_•))°) > PowderHound
02/05/2016 at 18:27

I don’t have a Mishimoto actually, I found a guy through my friend’s shop who made his own and only used high end fittings. Wasn’t much more so I went with it, he guarantees them forever. It’s a pretty big three core. It keeps it nicely at normal temps and on a hot day when I lift on track or on the coast highway I can watch my temps drop.

Kinja'd!!!

Urambo Tauro > PowderHound
02/05/2016 at 18:33

Can you get a pair of pliers or Vise-Grips in there? Sometimes all you have to do is pinch the metal fingers a little tighter to seal that seam back up.

PowderHound > 415s30 W123TSXWaggoIIIIIIo ( •_•))°)
02/05/2016 at 18:34

I'm in park city. Take the occasional trip down to the desert so aluminum would probably be nice

Matsayz > PowderHound
02/05/2016 at 18:35

Do you live in a hot climate? Maybe spring for the aluminum one. If you're broke just get a no-name or whatever off of Amazon or Rock Auto.

PowderHound > Urambo Tauro
02/05/2016 at 18:36

Oh yeah! Just have to take off the plastic under shield. definitely worth a closer look

PowderHound > Matsayz
02/05/2016 at 18:37

Park city so... Sort of. It stays cool up here but when I go south to the desert for mtn biking it’s hot.

banjo cat ghost of oppo past > PowderHound
02/05/2016 at 18:55

*shrug* its CX’s website? C’mon roll the dice and benefit some extra coooling capacity and and something shiny under the hood.

Matsayz > PowderHound
02/05/2016 at 19:51

How much is a stock radiator? I don't know how much of a pain replacing it is but it has to be easier than my 2012 WRX I had

PowderHound > Matsayz
02/05/2016 at 19:56

Unbolt some stuff replace rad burp system real easy

TheRealBicycleBuck > PowderHound
02/05/2016 at 20:26

I put a slightly oversized all-aluminum radiator in my truck. It does the job, but I'm pretty sure it was overkill. It's not like the old plastic-capped one didn't last 200,000 miles....

MR2_FTW - Group J's resident Stig > PowderHound
02/05/2016 at 20:41

Plastic has no place in a cooling system. Ditch it for an aluminum one. You’ll never ever have to replace it.

f86sabre > PowderHound
02/05/2016 at 22:20

The radiator in my Evo failed in a similar way a year ago. I went Mishimoto. It wasn't much more than OEM. It was a tad thicker though. Something to look out for. I had to tweak a couple of things to get it to work.

PowderHound > f86sabre
02/05/2016 at 23:35

Right now it seems like all aluminum is about $200 more than oem

AMGtech - now with more recalls! > PowderHound
02/05/2016 at 23:43

In my years turning wrenches the biggest issues I’ve seen with cheap radiators are fitment and application related. I don’t recall having seen one fail in untimely fashion. The fitment issue is generally more on weird configurations of uncommon cars, but I doubt you will have any issues. Go for the cheapo.

PowderHound > AMGtech - now with more recalls!
02/05/2016 at 23:48

It’s $200 cheaper. The last one worked fine for 180k miles I think.

AMGtech - now with more recalls! > PowderHound
02/06/2016 at 00:29

Definitely go with the cheap one. You could put 3-4 in for the same price of the expensive one probably.