oneprblmcat

Just bought a new radiator. I had called around and was looking specifically for either Denso, Toyo, or Koyo. So I buy from a supplier (Completes Plus) that says they have a Denso for $130+tax. But when I get it home and look in the box it does say Denso but made in Indonesia and on just a plain white sticker with a part number. Usually I've seen Koyo, Toyo or Denso printed on the top. So is this what Denso is doing now or did I just buy another cheap after market p.o.s.? I've had bad luck with the Valeo and Spectra radiators already.

bdmlilburn

ive used the spectra from autozone on a few occasions and they never went bad on me. maybe you have another problem somewhere else?

ive never seen denso products without their famous tag so ide be guessing that the one you have is oe comparible not oem

oneprblmcat

Figured I'd update this because I found info that numbers of Honda and Toyota radiators were going to be made by Denso of Indonesia due to high demand or something like that. It began recently this Jan. Here's a couple links. There was an article also mentioning Honda but can't find it now.

http://www.denso.co.id/OEM.html
http://www.globaldenso.com/en/newsre...101208-01.html

And on top of that, the owner of Completes Plus where I bought from came by our shop. I am a ground support mech. for an airline and we've used Completes Plus for a while. They used to be Imperial Radiator a while back near us at LAX. They've done radiator repair and industrial rad. supply for us for at least 13 years. When the old owner sold Imperial a few years ago, the office manager took most of the employees and started Completes Plus. She showed up in our shop promoting the fact they were getting into selling a broader range of GSE parts. I asked her about the radiator I had bought a few days ago from her company, Completes. She told me pretty much the same thing that Denso of Indonesia supplies OEM for Honda and Toyota but also sells to others but without the nice Denso stamp. She feels this Denso product is a notch above the Koyo brand and wouldn't seel them otherwise. I've basically been buying from either her or her company for the last 13 years for work and any street vehicle I work on or get radiators for. The last Koyo from Imperial I put in my own Honda was in '03, about 160k miles ago. Imperial and Completes radiators are the only ones I haven't had any issue with. I will post if there's any problem with this Indonesian Denso though.

Maybe I just had a run of bad luck with the Spectra and Valeo brands for the regular parts stores. One issue was a fit problem and the other was a failure in another car. If I didn't have the leasure of time like I do now I probably would have opted for the Valeo that was in stock at the A.Z. up the street just to give them another try. But for $20 more I bought from a familiar supplier who I almost know personally and haven't had issue 1 with. Just the plain sticker from Indonesia threw me. I was figuring Denso only came from Japan but I guess not. Glad I looked into this more.

oneprblmcat

Just an update. 45k miles and 3.5 years later with no issues. The claim that this is an unstamped Denso radiator seems to hold up so far. Though I'd prefer to have more miles now to be sure.