Apparently my first reply died because I forgot to clip off the trailer.....
Dunno how you got a plastic tank - my 1993 Suburban K1500 4X4 has always had
all metal. I'm pretty sure it's NOT because mine is a GMC - same production
line.
The R&R is duck soup - pull off the plastic cover above the radiator (lots of
10 mm hex head sheet metal screws and a few Phillips), split the fan shroud
and remove the top half, remove the two brackets (top left and right) holding
the radiator down, drain the coolant, disconnect hoses and the transmission
and oil cooler lines, and if it looks too close for you remove the fan.
Installation is the reverse, no gotchas at all, except making the lower hose
connection next to the lower shroud is a little bother.
If you want a real PIA cooling system job, do the heater core, or the rear
heat and AC lines on that vehicle - but I digress...
Ours was recored once (by a radiator shop that used to be good, but turned
crappy around that time), and then the tank side seam began leaking again a
couple years later, which they fixed N/C. It began to leak again this past
year, and last summer I took it back for another recore. Their job was
horrible and it became their radiator - I wouldn't use it. I ordered a Modine
(somewhere else), under $250 for the very best one they make for the
Suburbans, and I don't expect to look at it again unless I need to pull it to
get at something else. Modines are the best IMHO - I've never had to have one
repaired. And yes, it's all metal - pretty heavy metal. Maybe thicker than
the original Harrison.
The side seam is a big leaking point on Suburbans because of the large tank
and high pressure cap - there's a lot of force for that kind of seam. Lots of
people run a lower pressure cap to save the radiator. The extra temperature
capacity a higher pressure cap would hold is hardly necessary anyway. Our
Suburban has always run cool, even towing heavy trailers in the summer.
Good luck !!
Karl
> Have a leak in the radiator on my 1993 Chevrolet Suburban 4x4. This is a
> composite aluminum-core/plastic-tanks radiator. The leak appears to be in
> the seal between the left tank and the aluminum core. Coolant is wetting
> the back side of the aluminum core on the rear face all the way up and
down
> the seal.
>
> Do they rebuild these things or does the plastic warp so that re-sealing
is
> a bad gamble?
>
> Are there all-metal radiators available?
>
> It looks like I am not going to have a lot of problems with the R&R. Are
> there any gotchas or tips for the R&R?
>
> Phil Ethier West Side Saint Paul Minnesota USA
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