theres a hole in my radiator, need to replace it, oem or is there a better aftermarket one?

 

no shops around your area that can toss a quick fix on it?

 

its the core, so itll need replacing eventually so no time like the present

 

just did this a few days ago myself. i bought http://http://www.rockauto.com/catal...php?pk=1063129 only 4 remaining at that price. theyve got a cheaper one ,but it wasnt in stock.

found this after the fact on ebay, much cheaper. http://www.ebay.com/itm/Dodge-Dakota...pt=Motors_Car_
thats a better price,dont know about quality though. not sure what a repair will cost.

when you drop it out, in case you didnt know ( i didnt) to disconnect the transmissions cooler lines at the bottom... slide the white plastic rings back to get to the snap rings that hold the lines into the fitting. you dont need to loosen the fitting that looks like a big flare nut.
careful with that a/c condenser too. 4 little screws hold it onto the radiator & support.

 

If not too many tubes are damaged, they can be blocked off with no consequence. I would take it to a radiator shop and get an evaluation. Depending on the construction of the radiator, it may be rebuildable if too many tubes are cut - all these approaches are usually quite a bit cheaper than a new rad, and if the entire radiator is toast, a lot of the shops can sell you a refurb with a good warranty.

 

thanks for the tip, the 3.7 and 4.7 same radiator?

im not really familiar with it, but by tubes, you mean the lines running across? because there is one line with a hole in it. im in a small town now so idk what shops i trust/capable of doing it. back home 50 minutes away, can i make it that far?

 

as far as i know its the same for both.
none of the ones i saw had specifications showing a different listing v6 vs v8 , std /auto ,etc, except for the one shown being out of stock claiming "heavy duty" but it had the same dimensions/capacity as the others.

the one i got looks/fit just like oem except it didnt have the little holes in the sides where those plastic pins push into that hold that rubber flap onto the stock one. youll see what i mean when you get into it.

youll have to reuse some of the mounting square nuts that snap into tabs on the radiator. i just laid the old & new side by side to see what it came with & what was missing.

 

hopefully i can find a shop and find out details, before they run out of them, incase they cant fix it, but it sounds like they can, referring to Alfons post

 

The coolant tubes run through the fins & if you only have 1 tube leaking, you'll probably be good for a 50 minute drive - it all depends on how fast it leaks. I would heat up the engine and see how much flow comes out by putting a container under the leak and see how much would come out in about 5 minutes. Multiply this volume by 10 and you can see if you can make it. If it's a close call, take a couple of gallons of water with you and stop every 15 minutes to add some, you don't need mixed coolant, water works really well.

 

If you want something custom size, you would have to check the dimensions and order bigger. I'm looking into it myself. I will let you know if i find anything, but it may not be until next month before I do anything. Our radiator really is pretty flimsy and thin. I would much like to upgrade since I do a lot of towing. Then I wouldn't feel bad about an efan as well. something like 8000 cfm would be needed for the stock radiator. I pulled a 3000lb boat through the appalacians on a 110* day and roasted my motor. Had to swap out plugs and sit for a few hours before I could go again. just way to stinking hot!!!