You can get an OE radiator for $250. Knowing how crappy most aftermarket radiators are, and how their fitment is iffy at best I'd likely go OEM and be done.
You can get an OE radiator for $250. Knowing how crappy most aftermarket radiators are, and how their fitment is iffy at best I'd likely go OEM and be done.
Just got an order from them myself and they have been great to deal with this time and umpteen times in the past.
Needed a new pass front caliper for the Miata and Advance didn't have it in stock, Pep Boyz said they had one in stock at their local store, so I reserved it online and spent 30 min going to get it to find out that their online system lies and they "never stock that part" from the counter guy.
Went home and plunked down a rock auto order on Friday night, had parts on my doorstep Monday morning with the standard shipping. Plus it was half the price even with shipping.
Bobzilla wrote: You can get an OE radiator for $250. Knowing how crappy most aftermarket radiators are, and how their fitment is iffy at best I'd likely go OEM and be done.
What if the OEM radiator has plastic end tanks?
GameboyRMH wrote:Bobzilla wrote: You can get an OE radiator for $250. Knowing how crappy most aftermarket radiators are, and how their fitment is iffy at best I'd likely go OEM and be done.What if the OEM radiator has plastic end tanks?
They all do. I don't think there's a FWD OE radiator made in the last 15+ years that doesn't have them. The Honda's had more issues with the trans cooler leaking internally than the plastic tanks leaking. They've had a few revisions over the years to correct those. It seemed like every aftermarket radiator we ever tried A.) failed within a year or 2.) didn't fit correctly causing no end to the problems.
while the rock auto axle would bolt up, it was a 27mm diameter axle, while stock was 32mm...
Yeah, there's no way that could withstand 1/4 the power of an Audi. 
I've gotten a couple of wrong items from RA before, but their customer service is excellent and i have no complaints after several years of transactions.
Vigo wrote:while the rock auto axle would bolt up, it was a 27mm diameter axle, while stock was 32mm...Yeah, there's no way that could withstand 1/4 the power of an Audi.
I think it was likely an A4 axle, rather than an S4 one. In addition to the shaft diameter, the CV joints were also clearly undersized compared to stock.
I don't think there were any problems with sending it back, just relating a story about a wrong-part-received. I've bought a bunch of stuff from rock auto myself and never had a customer service problem with them.
GameboyRMH wrote:Bobzilla wrote: You can get an OE radiator for $250. Knowing how crappy most aftermarket radiators are, and how their fitment is iffy at best I'd likely go OEM and be done.What if the OEM radiator has plastic end tanks?
You say that like it's a bad thing.
Joe Gearin wrote: Good to hear that Rock Auto has been treating you guys well. To the OP--- mistakes happen--- did you contact Rock Auto and let them know? It seems from the other posts here that they'd at least make an effort to make things right.
Their automated system labeled it as a not needed part. I haven't found a phone number for after hours so I will email trying to explain they are listing the wrong radiator for that year. I don't have time for another wrong part so I went to Advance.
Bobzilla wrote: You can get an OE radiator for $250. Knowing how crappy most aftermarket radiators are, and how their fitment is iffy at best I'd likely go OEM and be done.
I picked the aftermarket because it has the brass transmission connectors to prevent the strawberry milkshake the OEM design can give you. It wasn't the cheapest. All the radiators listed are the wrong ones. Since getting rid of the OEM radiation is a common problem with this model I'm sure they had others tell them its the wrong radiator.
Knurled wrote:GameboyRMH wrote:You say that like it's a bad thing.Bobzilla wrote: You can get an OE radiator for $250. Knowing how crappy most aftermarket radiators are, and how their fitment is iffy at best I'd likely go OEM and be done.What if the OEM radiator has plastic end tanks?
I think it is, they seem to only last a few years, while radiators with metal end-tanks last until you smash them.
May be a regional thing. The aluminum corrodes through long before the tanks fail, assuming that the core support isn't mangled and stressing it funny. Even then, I've seen banana shaped radiators that still held up.
My car has the OE radiator and it's an '02. Boss's truck has the OE radiator and it's an '01. He upgraded his Grand National to a plastic/aluminum unit for a 3rd-gen F-body - much lighter, and no oil cooler taking up half of the passenger side tank. Engine runs at 170 in the summer even with the A/C set to stun, now 
My take on all-metal aluminum radiators is that they never fit right and are a "project" to install. I'd rather pay more for something that fits rather than some cheap all-metal POS.
I've had a moderate number of wrong parts from Rock. Return of wrong parts has been hit and miss with them.
I've learned to be very careful going through Rock's listings. They frequently get vehicles and subcategories of them wrong, which can easily lead you to wrong parts. So to do a number of their parts suppliers.
I've further learned to Google search the part numbers from Rock and see if that part is indeed the right one for a particular vehicle, as per the manufacturer of the part, or other vendors. Not a guarantee of rightness, but it helps.
When it comes to weird or even semi-weird vehicles (something I have a habit of collecting), I generally don't order from Rock because of the time and expense of dealing with wrong parts. I'll pay more in order to get the right part the first time.
I've had success with their parts, probably 10-12 orders with no problems.
I email Rockauto. They said that the factory was miss-marking the radiators. The one I got was for an Odyssey. I am still not sure if this is the case because the radiators dimensions listed were the same as the one I received that was wrong. They will pay for the return shipping.
I got an overpriced radiator from Advance auto. It was built as badly as an OEM one so I will probably be changing it again in a few years. I also found a leak in the thermostat gasket.
It is all back together and passed the pressure test. The funny thing is it still smells like antifreeze. I hope it is just the overflow from the stupid way Honda has to be bled because they forgot to put in a bleeding port.
In reply to pjbgravely:
It's not uncommon to get misboxed items from anywhere. A lot of times when parts get returned, the old box is technically there but not shelvable, so a new box is used, sometimes they put the wrong sticker on it. Or when a model line gets changed, they'll send out new boxes and re-box the old stock with the new model name.
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