Just how do you know, if a radiator repair shop is doing what your billed for?? I've had issues the past few years with my fix it shops for radiators, several in fact, I know I'm a slow learner, so it took several repeat radiators to get the jest of being scammed and billed for having done nothing but giving it a nice coat of paint and cashing my checks of course. How do you guys handle radiators, do you fix them when they leak, do you have them cleaned when major engine work is done, or when issues come up, just throw them away and buy a new one, what? We've always fixed them when they leak, always have them cleaned and checked over when we're doing major engine work and when its needed, put new cores in or a complete new radiator. I'm curious if I'm the only odd duck that actually has radiators fixed, does their own work to remove and put back in and takes them to a radiator shop to have fixed?? Right now I am down to two shops that will actually work on radiators that anyone I trust will recommend, one is 55 miles away and the other is 100 miles away and both are talking about retiring, with nobody to take them over, meaning one day soon the doors will close and that's it, done for good. There are a few others in the area, but have a history of doing shabby work, both for me and many others who I trust their answers and when comparing notes, we all have similar results with shabby work, or basically doing nothing to a radiator but washing it off and spraying a nice coat of paint on it and cashing the customers checks and saying, sorry, must have been a fluke, bring it back and we'll screw you again is about the jest of how they operate. Is this the norm for most area's, or do you guys have great shops nearby that offer excellent work and have years of decades of service life out of older radiators once repaired?
Only one shop in the Seattle area I and many others recommend anymore. The guy is my age so I don't expect him to be around more than a couple of years if that long. Last time I talked to him he told me the cost of a core now is about the cost of a new radiator in a highway truck. He won't touch much of anything automotive now. Big truck and equipment radiators is all he will do. He is good so is always back logged for at least two weeks.
there a thing of the past only one good one around here its a hr from me the rest are a waste of time
Last guy I used, he had me send my guy to move the radiator around, he's so old he won't move them around in his shop, and I don't know anyone else doing radiator work. In other bad news, I was told that the starter /alternator shop in town had also closed up.
Next time crawl up on that radiator job & get after it ...... The tools & solder are pretty reasonable if ya know what to do with them . HeavyEquipmentForums
My experience on semi trucks was that new OEM was about 3 times the cost of a recore. New aftermarket was about the same cost as a recore. But, the aftermarket radiators never fit or cool right. We always pushed for a recore. The problem for truckers was the time. No one wanted to wait a week or two to get their rad back. We have a few shops around that do a good job, but you have to call around to get anything done quickly.
Mine is an hour away, also. They pick up and drop off to a local logging outfit or the parts store I use.
you can buy auto radiators brand new for less than a re core, I have fixed many radiators with acid core solder, if you need a big core boiled out you can try home doing it with muriatic acid( just have to be careful) or if you have the time, vinegar will dissolve much of the build up in the radiator, it just has to sit for several days as its a low % acid..or be at the mercy of a radiator shop..I dont know the cost of bigger equipment radiators for core replacement or to buy new..
A lot of what I work on just isn't available any more. So if it needs to keep running it has to be repaired. I remember having a small fitting blow out on a Kenworth plastic radiator when it was only about 10 years old and it was already obsolete from KW. We took it to the shop and we and they did some work with a file or something to adapt some other fitting from a GM truck or something. But I will not attempt to repair plastic or brass radiators myself because of several rules I have for working on stuff 1. It is somewhat of an art with tricks I do not know and have no master to apprentice me. 2. If the hillbillies that got there before me and attempted it could not make it last, what makes me think I will be any better than they were 3. A good shop will be able to see what went wrong and make improvements This is why I always sub out certain jobs like starter/alternator repair, radiator repair, re-winding copper, etc.
Its an EPA thing, too. EPA wants them closed down, says they pollute, that's why so many are just giving up...
Most all truck radiators are plastic or carbon fiber tanks with aluminum cores for the last 12 years. 1,750 for a new Freightliner radiator and the aftermarkets don't fit up very well. If compression gets in the cooling system it's good by radiator, we had one that blew the side right out of a tank. We can change one out in a Freightliner Coronado in about 55 minutes. We call it drive through radiator replacement. If it's a brass bolt on tank type sometimes we just buy the core and gaskets and replace the core our selves. Truck Shop
Rex radiator Here in Chicago land I've been using them for 30 years very few problems they always stand behind their work. Bob Rex himself is an old timer with years of experience cool tricks and expects his guys to learn and do the job properly the 1st time If He ever quits or gives up I don't know what we'll do around here
I have a local shop with an older fella. He will let you drop off after hours and is a straight shooter. He usually dunks them and does a pressure test first thing and he lets you know the results before he will touch the radiator. I had him fix one and he told me to replace two. The aftermarkets radiators that I have bought were less than half the price of a new OEM so I'm good with that.
There is a tremendous needs for many things in this country, radiator repair shops are one, along with shops that will do engines, line boring, machining, crank work, cylinder head work and everything associated with engines and then injection pump shops. In my area, there were four shops that work on engines, one specializes in blocks and line boring,along with crank rebuilding, they weld up and turn down cranks and cams, one in heads and one that does a mix of work, then the last does it all but welding, turns out after all these years, I found out the first three are owned by the same outfit, and there are talks of selling or shutting the doors, and the last independent is who I get now, is talking about shutting the doors, he's in his mid 70's and can't find anyone to take it over. So really soon there might not be anyone to do any of that type of work in my area or state. A couple shops are trying to get going on engine work, but only do valve jobs and simple things and from talking to them, have no plans on ever doing anything more. Then there are pump shops, not to step on pump guy's toes, but there needs to many more local shops to do the work needed being done, those are going by the wayside really fast, I think I've lost two this past year alone and the ones left are so backlogged on work, I don't think they have time to even see their spouse let alone go anywhere or have a life. Anyway, back to radiators, about 10 years ago now, when one of my semi radiators had issues, I had a very hard time to even find anyone who knew what a low flow radiator was, let alone would work on it, so I had to do some major head scratching as to where to even go to have it checked out, not even Peterbilt themselves knew what it was or how to fix it........................ok, you guys sold it new, but don't know anything about it or will work on it now?? As far as I'm concerned, there are plenty of business potentials across the country some younger people could get into that have virtually no competition anywhere and would give lifetime job security if they had even a smidgin of ambition.
EPA and anything to do with any type of lead. Big killers of industry right now. If you're not grandfathered in, you ain't getting in. Too costly for a start up with minimal returns
Not to mention insurance, workers comp and on and on and on
I don't know where you are in Iowa, but Bill's Radiator in Dewitt is excellent. As for engine machine shops, Abraham's in Davenport is very good. But, they don't ever get in a hurry. I've had them do all kinds of stuff, weld up and grind cranks, line bore mains, etc.
There was an appliance repair shop in my area, that did mostly service calls, did good work as far as I know, owner died suddenly and that was that.
Wes, thanks for the name of the business's, I'm not close to them by any means, but at least I now know of options that exist. At the rate radiators are going, lead and copper isn't going to be an issue shortly, most of the newer ones are made of aluminum and plastic it seems. I know about the epa and the lead issue, many are also having issues with high levels of heavy metals in their blood and are forced to quit doing radiator work or else be fitted with a toe tag.
I know two good radiator shops. The close one is only 20 miles away. The owner is in his 70's. Last year he spent time going to the hospital for chelation therapy for lead poisoning. But he still fixes them all, from antiques to plastic tanks with aluminum crimp flanges. The other is 120 miles away, and that fellow is also in his 70's, and also talking of retiring.
you have hit on a systemic problem in this country..the lack of blue collar workers and hands on skill..and I dont think its not on purpose..not to get political here, but the young are not taught in school about hands on work, most schools have gotten rid of all shop classes and everyone is being told you must go to college to be anyone and thats the farthest from the truth..I dont equate education with intelligence or the ability to make money. ,then all the regulations that force many businesses to close that do any type of repairs, and you are almost forced to buy new unless you do the repair yourself.. can you see how systematically the government is changing the face of small repair business across the board..
I dunno guys. Radiator shops aren't closing because there are too many radiators to fix. It's supply and demand. It's not the good old days of soldered copper and brass. Same with engine machine shops. It used to be if you got 100,000 miles on a vehicle engine, it was time for a major overhaul. Some less than that. My uncle used to run a VW shop and he always said there was no such thing as a VW that didn't need a valve job. Today you can get 200,000 on the original spark plugs. The machine shop I go to still does a fair amount of heads for car engines, but they rarely bored a block or anything like that. Industrial and ag engines still get rebuild, but even that is much less frequent. There was a time when every ag or equipment dealer had a rod hone and a boring bar setup and likely a brake lathe and flywheel grinder. Today, they just throw in a reman engine and ship it. Of course, it's equally the customers fault. If you tell a customer you need 2 or 3 weeks for the machine work on their engine they will literally come unglued. Everyone expect everything yesterday.
I hate water leaks and i havent owned anything that was very new so when i buy something and i plan on keeping it and its radiator looks just a little funny i replace it. I have a truck f600 that i gave $375.00 for not runing it has a 400.00 radiator one less thing to go wrong.I got 2 back from haveing them fixed and they had holes that i spoted before adding water.
Hobby time, that is part of the issue, the other major missing piece is nobody wants to own the business, everyone is told their worth 50-100k plus a year then full benefits and only have to work at most 40 hours a week and never on weekends, and they also are entitled to at least a month of paid vacation every year, plus sick leave and the list keeps going. Wes, everyone wants to pass the buck onto someone else, lets say a Kenworth dealership puts in a remanned cummins engine and a remanned allison transmission in a customers truck, the warranty on both are then done with those companies doing the remanned work, not the dealership themselves, turn around for the truck is so much quicker, and the dealership can pass the buck if problems come up, so if the truck comes back in for repairs while under warranty, the dealership gets paid by the company that did the remanned components, or can bill the customer, all the way around its a win for the dealership and another layer of buck passing when problems come up. Then to top it off, the dealership can do more trucks in a given amount of time, and keep the shop full, customers happy and have few liability issues on the dealership's part and don't forget they make the markup in price between the remanned price and what they quote the customer to pay.
I bought a new heater core and it had a leak from the factory . Yanked it back out & soldered it up . Takes to much time to send them back for a replacement . Fire up the torch & hand me the solder . LOL !
I replaced the heater core in my ford. I couldnt get a replacement so i had to get one that was close and modify it. The parts store had a book with sizes and pictores i found several that was the same exactly size but one was 80.00 and one was 30.00 so i got the cheaper one cut, rebuilt and solder.
This heater core was around $ 30.00 . Just had a small leak from the factory . I would have had more time trying to send it back then just grab the torch & solder . Truck & equipment shop I worked in also did radiator repair , each employee took turns at it depending on the work schedule . Still doing it today only on a smaller scale . Aint shy about twisting fins & yanking tubes .
My latest radiator repair AGAIN, this will make four times in the last 12 months on the same radiator, so as they say, live and learn. I've had the same guy now doing my radiators for almost 20 years, but now we're onto someone else, an old timer who seems to give me a straight answer, had a few radiators to him already, but this last one took the cake, just got the call as to what's been going on. I've had nothing but issues with the radiator, seems either it or me will survive but not both, so after having only a few hundred miles put on the truck its in, since the last time it was out, we've switched repair guys, so we get a second opinion you might say on the same radiator. Turns out I've been billed for the last guy doing nothing, I paid to have it rodded and cleaned, repaired four times in the last 12 months, had to replace one water pump but it was older and leaking anyhow, so ***, might as well put it in new as well, new hoses, new antifreeze more than once due the leaks we've had on this radiator, and now I find out, and was shown, there has been nothing done to it, there was hardly any flow through it, to the point................it would have blown the gaskets out of a water pump, along with the same fittings off the top of the radiator like its done three of the last four times its been out. So it turns out, I've gotten a lot of practice taking out and putting back in the same radiator, and the guy fixing it, has claimed it was cleaned, rodded, and he was just chasing some leaks on it, was total BS, I think he's charged me for doing nothing but solder the same fitting back on each time, spray a coat of paint on it, and probably laugh his way to the bank as he cashed my checks, so after having spent enough money on it over the past year to pay for the new radiator, I now get to actually buy and pay for the new radiator, this just keeps getting better and better every day, wonder if my other problem child radiator has been on this same program the last few years. But I did learn something over this ordeal, my new fix it guy showed me how to flow check a radiator, it really wasn't all that scientific either, he held his hand over the lower hose port as he filled the radiator and once full of water, he took his hand off the lower port and then said, see, water should flow out here, as some tickled out, he then added it should flow out about as fast as it can, not like a 70 year old man with prostrate issues. So I asked, maybe it just got plugged, he looked at me and said, the engine was just overhauled, the block was steamed and you put everything back together new, you had the radiator cleaned, rodded and flushed, not once, twice or three times, but four in the last 12 months, drove the truck maybe 1000 miles since all this was done and it somehow miraculously somehow got plugged up in that sort of time to the point nothing flows out the bottom even when the radiators full......................................................he then scraped some junk out of the bottom of the radiator with a screw driver and said, that's been in there for decades, not months. He then asked me, why didn't I do the same test he just showed me before and after I took the radiator in for repairs to compare the flow difference and see if I could tell how good of job my prior fix it guy had done?? Honestly the only thing I could think to say was, [when police read you your miranda rights, you have the right to remain silent,] so I did just that remained silent as I wrote out the check to pay for my new radiator.
Had a local guy would still repair the OLD solder tank radiators, he retired, shop is closed. He tried to sell but the EPA regs shut every potential buyer down before could even talk finance. Only other shops are KC and STL, 4 hours and two hours away IF they will consider working the Old Cores.
Our local rad shop is pretty decent. Usually we send all of our leaking rads or coolers to them and they have them back to us usually by the next day. If they can't fix them then we buy new.