Don't bother to replace the radiator before you test it! Make sure it's bad first.

Do this simple test: take off the lower hose of the radiator. Block it with your hand, and fill the radiator with plain water. Take your hand off and the water should gush out in as big a stream as the lower opening. If it runs out in a smaller stream, the radiator has blockage inside and should be replaced or repaired.

Also, remember that a brand-new aluminum radiator is only $43 USD, but requires a bit of fitting.

wiki - Radiator

Quote:Nope.

A common cause of overheating is changing the coolant. With the A-series it is difficult to fill it fully. After a while of driving, when it reaches full temp the air will bleed off, so be sure to refill it after a full warm-up.

you only need to recore if the rodding fails or you want to have a really good radiator, you live where it's hot, a denser core wouldn't hurt but it will cost a bit... maybe $200 total instead of $70.

I called a radiator shop and they said they could rod it for 70 bucks. Not too shabby. I did ask him about recore-ing the radiator but he recommended just rodding it.

Save yourself the trouble and recore the radiator with a heavy duty 3 core one.
I did it and never looked back.

any radiator shop worth it's solder can recore a radiator or upgrade it to a 3 row or whatever.

I ask them to do odd things like put the bung from a sunny radiator in for the electric fan switch.

If they can't find a core find another shop.

Have you asked your radiator shop?
They sell & fit cores at radiator shops.

Where can I find a core?

here a rod out is about 60 -80 $ a flush is 30 -40$

Personally... I don't flush, just run proper coolant, and every 10 years get the rad rodded, it's a great time to put in a better core too.

The radiator core is made of many tubes, usually oval shaped, that transfer coolant from the top tank down to the botom tank. Because these tubes are small the radiator actually serves as a fairly efficient filter by traping lumps of crud that are liberated from the block.

This crud slowly but surely blocks the small tubes in the radiator & reduces its ability to shed heat by restricting coolant flow.

Rodding the radiator refers to a process where the top & bottom tanks are removed from the radiator, usually by a radiator specialist, & a small rod is pushed along the tubes in the opposite direction to coolant flow in an attempt to restore flow in the radiator core.

If the core is badly corroded, or damaged, or too solidly blocked to clear, then replacement is the fix. If a heavy duty core is available, then it is often a good idea to spend the few extra sheckles & have it fitted. I use a cheezecloth condom kind of coolant filter in the top tank of my new radiator & this has captured much more crud than I had believed it would. Now my 1200 runs right on the money even when cruising at highway speeds during even the hottest days.

Spend what it takes to fix it now rather than wait untill your engine is damaged when you need to pay to fix both the radiator AND the engine.

Please forgive my ignorance, but what is a rod out and how much does this usually cost?