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  • 1979 - 1995 (Fox, SN95.0, & 2.3L) -General/Talk-

Murray Heat Transfer Radiator From Oreilly's Auto Parts

  • Thread starter Thread starter BKM48198
  • Start date Start date Oct 19, 2013

BKM48198

15 Year Member
Jun 7, 2008
377
27
49
Ypsilanti, Michigan
Oct 19, 2013
#1
  • Oct 19, 2013
  • #1
Just an FYI post about the Radiator I bought at Oreilly Auto Parts:

My radiator started leaking and I needed to replace it over a weekend back in July. I bought one from Oreilly. It was a Murray Heat Transfer radiator with plastic end caps and an aluminum core. The caps are crimped on.

I installed it and had no problems for about 7 weeks. Then it started leaking a little bit. I filled it back up and tried to make the 20 miles home. The whole end blew off before I got there. The aluminum portion was fine and the crimped ends were not bent. The plastic cap had to have been pulled in and blown off. Oreilly's replaced it.

I assumed that maybe it was just the one bad part. Before I put the new one in, I mixed up some JB Weld and coated the crimps on the end cap. If this unit did the same thing, it hopefully wouldn't blow off completely.

Last week, the new one started leaking too. When I got home I pulled it out and found the plastic had pulled in from the crimped ends. Oreilly's did offer to replace it again but I wasn't going to go through it all, yet again. I wanted a refund and after contacting the district manager, eventually got that refund.

I bought a fully welded aluminum radiator from NPD. It was only $160 plus tax and it keeps my car cooler than it has been in years. My motor is almost 100% stock. It has no high volume water pump or anything else that I think should cause a problem.

Do not buy a radiator from Oreilly's unless you like continually replacing them. They are Made in China. I would not normally have bought the one with plastic ends but it was the weekend so I had to either; buy it and drive, or wait. I should have waited. When the 1st one blew , I even went from the stock 192 thermostat down to a 180 thinking that it might help.
 
Last edited by a moderator: Oct 20, 2013

mikestang63

SN Certified Technician
Aug 27, 2012
11,606
8,859
214
In the garage
Oct 19, 2013
#2
  • Oct 19, 2013
  • #2
I gave up on the 2nd sentence man. Sorry.
 

2000xp8

SN Certified Technician
Aug 8, 2003
8,031
1,623
194
NJ
Oct 20, 2013
#3
  • Oct 20, 2013
  • #3
I no longer use pretty much any part for any car from a chain store. Usually they have low budget crap that about the only time they do you any good is if you are selling the car.

With that said, way back i put a 3 row in from pepboys, (like $120 back then), and it lasted and worked fine all the way until i did the terminator conversion. And even then i gave it to someone else who used it.

Nowadays, i prefer the economize with the best theory.
 

Noobz347

Stangnet Facilities Maint Tech... Er... Janitor
Admin Dude
Jan 4, 1985
43,145
21,318
234
Box behind Walmart
Oct 20, 2013
#4
  • Oct 20, 2013
  • #4
BKM48198 said:
Just an FYI post about the Radiator I bought at Oreilly Auto Parts:

My radiator started leaking and I needed to replace it over a weekend back in July. I bought one from Oreilly. It was a Murray Heat Transfer radiator with plastic end caps and an aluminum core. The caps are crimped on.

I installed it and had no problems for about 7 weeks. Then it started leaking a little bit. I filled it back up and tried to make the 20 miles home. The whole end blew off before I got there. The aluminum portion was fine and the crimped ends were not bent. The plastic cap had to have been pulled in and blown off. Oreilly's replaced it.

I assumed that maybe it was just the one bad part. Before I put the new one in, I mixed up some JB Weld and coated the crimps on the end cap. If this unit did the same thing, it hopefully wouldn't blow off completely.

Last week, the new one started leaking too. When I got home I pulled it out and found the plastic had pulled in from the crimped ends. Oreilly's did offer to replace it again but I wasn't going to go through it all, yet again. I wanted a refund and after contacting the district manager, eventually got that refund.

I bought a fully welded aluminum radiator from NPD. It was only $160 plus tax and it keeps my car cooler than it has been in years. My motor is almost 100% stock. It has no high volume water pump or anything else that I think should cause a problem.

Do not buy a radiator from Oreilly's unless you like continually replacing them. They are Made in China. I would not normally have bought the one with plastic ends but it was the weekend so I had to either; buy it and drive, or wait. I should have waited. When the 1st one blew , I even went from the stock 192 thermostat down to a 180 thinking that it might help.
Click to expand...
mikestang63 said:
I gave up on the 2nd sentence man. Sorry.
Click to expand...



Yes... that was pretty bad. I am by no means a grammar expert, but I took the liberty of going through your post and cleaning it up so that it's at least readable.

When posting on a forum, you should ALWAYS read what you have written aloud. This is how you know if it will make sense to the next guy.

Additionally: This post does not ask a technical question, nor does it answer one. It's a product review and belongs in the TALK section.

--thread moved to talk--

Glad you got your issue resolved.

Had you asked that question in this forum before purchasing, you'd have gotten a hundred responses telling you not to purchase that radiator. lol

Fully welded is always the way to go.
 

Bullitt347

I have been doing it wrong this whole time
15 Year Member
Mar 23, 2007
3,975
2,958
194
Middle of Maine
Oct 20, 2013
#5
  • Oct 20, 2013
  • #5
Maybe living in and having to spell Ypsalanti kind of skews and scrambles ones brain
 
I

itsshock

New Member
Dec 4, 2013
1
0
2
Dec 4, 2013
#6
  • Dec 4, 2013
  • #6
Hey
BKM48198

I just bought the same radiator. Did yours come with a new radiator cap? Mine did not and the standard radiator cap that I had from my previous radiator does not fit on my new.
 

David Pepiton

Active Member
Dec 17, 2011
662
68
49
Laveen, Arizona
Dec 5, 2013
#7
  • Dec 5, 2013
  • #7
as a manager for O'Reilly I would have refunded the money the first time and sent pics to the manufacturer. the radiator was likely built by vista pro or 4 seasons and I have seen many issues with some radiators from poor QC to thin walled plastic end caps and even tubes that leak. A fully welded radiator is ALWAYS the way to go in any application plastic does not belong in high temp applications for extended periods of time. I know you were probably trying to be economical to start but it ended up costing you in the end.
 
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