Aluminum tanks and plastic fins?? I might have read that wrong but it reads like the center piece is plastic and the tanks are aluminum.

 

High-conductivity plastic.

 

The plastic tanks are not "glued on" There is a rubber gasket similar to a o-ring that sits in a groove in the aluminum header. Then the plastic tank sits on that,then the tank is squeezed down on the rubber gasket,then the aluminum tabs are folded over and squeezed over the lip of the tank to hold pressure on the gasket. We don't like to "fix" them,but some people don't have the money for a new one and have us try that repair to get them by. And you're pretty lucky to not have those csfs come back that often. Have you ever seen one in a test tank under pressure? Core bulge up the a** if they're more than 2 years old. Split tubes on the outside rows are soon to follow.

 

Picked up a Plastic top/ bottom, alum cooling section today at NAPA for $126.95, lifetime war.

I'll open this thread back up if I have issues.

Repo

 

Just make sure to flush the engine out real good first,and get a good mixture of new antifreeze in there. And make sure there is no stray current in the cooling system,aluminum cores don't like electrolysis. I found this site that gives you a good rundown on how to check for it http://www.rondavisradiators.com/tech.htm

 

That's pretty much what it looked like to me. I was hoping to remove the metal band/clamp and pookie some RTV along the groove as a temporary fix. I chickened out when I couldn't see a way to reattach the band if I did cut it off. I have ordered an OEM radiator that should come in on Saturday. In the meantime, I'll just keep dumping water into the old one. Takes about a quart of water to top it up after a one-way work commute.

It seems that on a truck this age, everything rubber or plastic is dried up, cracking and ready to fail.

 

If it is the gasket (and not a crack in the tank at the lip) get a pair of vice grips and carefully squeeze down each one of those metal tabs. You want to set the vice grips to where they almost lock when you squeeze down on it,but make sure they don't lock. You want to get a good amount of pressure on there,but if you squeeze it too hard you can crack the tank at the lip and cause a whole new problem. Do this while it's cold and not under pressure. You might get it to stop for awhile,or at least slow it down for awhile by doing this. Like I said though,don't crush those tabs down too hard. Good luck.

 

Thought I'd drop in one last time to say I did what looks so far like a successful radiator R & R. I'll reserve further judgment until it survives the heat of summer

Since I was gonna be hip deep in it anyway, I went ahead and changed the leaky exhaust manifold gasket. Note to others: The exhaust manifold gasket kit that I got from O'Reilly's did not include a gasket for the "air injection tube" (as my Haynes manual called it). Hit 3 other parts stores in town before I found a gasket. The exhaust manifold gasket didn't seem to have a blow-out... it looked more like the torque on one or two bolts wasn't right. Exhaust gas appeared to have been blowing past both sides of the gasket. I a little nervous as to how that could be the case. Nobody's messed with this exhaust system before as this truck is a single owner... me! I did overheat it once about 3 summers ago when a brass fitting blew a pinhole leak.

Anyway, got it back together and the cooling system seems fine and it no longer sounds like a wheezing dragon. Thanks for the advice in here, guys!