I have been noticing a pretty significant coolant leak as the car has been sitting for winter. I investigated this and it seems the radiator has a nice crack near the cap. Has anyone seen this on the Denso type plastic radiators? Seems like its just old and brittle and been through a ton of heat cycles. Basically what I am getting at is should I replace it with another OE Denso or shoot for the metal Showa (at least it was metal in my gsr IIRC). Probably going to shoot for the Showa unless someone steers me otherwise. Cheers

 

The radiator in my 01 ITR and any of my GSRs has always been plastic tanked. The fin material is aluminum....but the tanks are plastic.

Everything has a life span. My ITR radiator developed a crack in one of the fins. It took me months to find out where the Ffffff the coolant smell was coming from. To be honest...I wasn't looking that hard...but still.

My EM1's radiator got swapped when it got clogged enough with bugs and the fins got eroded away so much that it got hotter than chernobyl at the race track.

The radiators can go in a number of ways. No biggie. You could upgrade to a fully welded aluminum one. That's what I did. I used fluidyne for the R ($50 used!!!). Looked nice....total overkill...but no more fear of cracking at the track or anywhere else.

 

Ah interesting. My gsr had front end damage and had new rad put in I wonder if maybe it was aftermarket then. It said showa on it tho. I don't mind the koyos or fluidyne but I want to run ds class autox so I need to do a little research there to see if its legal.

 

The plastic tank oe radiators all generally fail from a crack near the upper hose/ cap area. I don't see how a aftermarket radiator is an advantage at autocross. Should be legal, I recommend the koyo unit.

 

That really struck me funny.

The OEM rad from my 01 ITR sat araound unused for 6 years in Alabama heat. Replaced the OEM (all metal) rad in my 94 GSR and still works great and that was 18 months ago.

 

My (2000/LS) OEM radiator had a cracked plastic tank, in 2006.
I replaced it with an all aluminum 1 1/2 radiator. It's working fine.

I replaced my (2001/ITR) plastic radiator, after an accident, in 2008.
I replaced it with a double thick Koyo, all aluminum radiator in 2008.
It's working fine.

I guess that if I had stayed with OEM radiators back then, they too, would have cracked by now.

 

that koyo is a solid part. brazed tubes that are either brass of copper. thick, perfect fit

for some reason cars in general seem to have issues with plastic rads about 10 years of age or 100k miles

 

Remember the manufacturer is mainly looking to get the car to last past the warranty period. I know ppl scream OEM until the cows come home but there are some aftermarket parts that I truly believe to be far better than stock.

 

so the oem radiators don't seem to last? I was reading other threads on this from t-t, etc. Yet it seems each time I've had a coolant leak on my 97 gs it has always been an old hose, the radiator looks fine and original and doesn't leak with 240k+ miles on it.

 

Depends on the environment they're used in. A DD used in a nicer environment is going to have more parts longevity.

Also...10 years/100k miles is a long time for something to last.

 

Yup and thats right in line with my caR, 108k and always been in the midwest. Im debating the KOYO but like I said I want to stay in DS class for autox and aftermarket rads are not legal in that class.

 

I see nothing wrong with the plastic endtank stock units. Mine lasted until 2010(the original) and 125,000kms(7x,xxx miles) without an issue. I only replaced it because I had the engine built and wanted something blingy(Koyo). I did at least 10 track days on it with no signs of overheating or extra wear and tear. I ended up selling it used for $50 locally as it was still operational.

 

Mixed here...

- 95 GSR stock Showa radiator lasted over 150k with very heavy track miles. Replaced with another stock one, that I believe worked fine until the car met its demise at just above 250k.

- 96-spec ITR had the stock Denso radiator pop before 100k KM. I replaced it with a koyo and spal slim fans.

 

Just an FYI if you have A/C, and are replacing your OEM radiator with an aftermarket one. Some of the aftermarket ones do not come with the 2nd fan mounts, and it is not cheap to have them welded on. I found this out the hard way.

 

koyo makes some cheaper plastic rads. I have one in my civic. Not sure about integras though but i wouldn't doubt they have some for integras also.

 

If you just want a stock replacement you can get a Denso replacement from Rock auto for around $60.

 

mishimoto rads are also a good alternative

 

i have the mishimoto xline on my car. i like it alot. temps stay around 170-180on the highway like normal, but you notice a bigger defference in traffic. my fans turn on around 204 but it takes a long time for the actual temp to get that high.