is Modine a high quality brand?

rockin_rick said:

I just got a new "high quality" heater core from Latemodel Restoration Supply, and it's a Modine. Does Modine have a reputation of being high quality or not??

If I'm going to the trouble of replacing the heater core, I don't want to put a low quality one in there, only to have to do it again soon. Any thoughts?

Rick

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rockin_rick said:

Here's a new twist. I peeled back the Modine label to find another label. It's a Ready Aire #39 8307. Does Ready Aire source Modine's heater cores? Is someone trying to pull a fast one? Did the two companys (recently) merge?

Latemodel Restoration Supply listed this as "Made in America" in their catalog, and the box says "Made in Mexico". Should I make them take it back? Or is Ready Aire a high quality product, also?

Rick

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Michael Yount said:

Rick - in the global economy that we're all a part of (even those in denial) it's very common that companies will either buy parts for resale from another manufacturer, or buy the whole company to participate in a new market segment. Modine has been known for years in the heat transfer coil business -- my guess is, as with so many other things, they found they could buy the core from another supplier and resell it for a greater profit margin than they could manufacture it themselves. Probably from an offshore supplier. Would it surprise you to know that Ford Racing makes virtually none of the stuff they sell? Others make it and their name goes on it -- in the case of 1.7 rockers, you can clearly see the "Crane" logo on every one.

No fast ones have been pulled - put your heater core in. A tip for making it last. The coolant in our cars picks up minerals from tap water (should use distilled) and from the metal bits it's circulating in. It often creates a solution that will actually conduct small amounts of electrical current. In effect your engine/coolant system acts like a week battery - and the heater core becomes a sacrificial annode - actually losing metal as the 'battery' operates. It's called galvanic corrosion and it occurs whenever you have dissimilar metals in a common solution that will conduct electricity. It's the same process that causes water pump and t'stat bolts to corrode and break off (usually when you need to change the pump and are stranded far from home with the wrong tools). As more metal is lost from the core, it eventually springs a leak. In the worst cases a new copper core can be leaking in as little as 2-4 years. To avoid that, when you install, take a piece of wire and strip the insulation back. Attach it to your copper core and then ground the other end of the wire to the chassis somewhere. I simply stripped about 2" of insulation off, wrapped the expose wire around one of the copper hose connections, and put a stainless clamp around it to hold the wire in contact with the core. That ground connection basically keeps the core from being a sacrificial annode in the weak electrical circuit that can form from salts in the coolant, and the dissimilar metals of the block, heads and heater core. Your heater core will last longer. A freebie from Mikee.

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